Judy, the second link is a repeat. Can you repost it?
________________________________ From: authfriend <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, February 5, 2012 5:54 PM Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Fireplace Delusion by Sam Harris Via Andrew Sullivan's Dish blog on Daily Beast, two pieces that discuss points raised in Curtis's recent post on the protected status of religion. The first, a longish blog post, details the history of anti-blasphemy laws in Great Britain--not quite the same as Curtis's framing in terms of factual challenges to religious belief, but dealing with many of the same types of trends, since factual challenges would qualify as blasphemy in certain contexts. The writer then explores a point it had occurred to me to make in my discussion with Curtis but never got around to, as we were distracted by other details: that the protected status of religion has always been a sociopolitical manifestation more than a religious one. Her analysis is thorough and fascinating and establishes that it has almost nothing to do with the reason-vs.-belief aspect Curtis emphasizes. http://kenanmalik.wordpress.com/2012/01/29/beyond-the-sacred/ The second piece, by Frank Rich, published in New York magazine, is an analysis of Romney entitled "Who in God's Name Is Mitt Romney?" It deals, in part, with Romney's religious identity and how it might affect his actions in the role of president. It's a much more thoughtful approach, IMHO, than Curtis's fear that Romney might shape U.S. policy based on the "odd beliefs" of Mormonism. http://kenanmalik.wordpress.com/2012/01/29/beyond-the-sacred/
