You cannot take one set of issues from one country and apply it to another. They are all different, in terms of history, and the religious compositions of the populations involved.
The co-existence of religious values in the lives of individuals and secular rules in the governance of the state should be clearly defined.
Syria is the proud heir of an ancient civilization that has a unique spectrum of minorities that encompasses Muslims and Christians of various denominations. There are at least ten such ethnic and religious groups.
Although the Nasser revolution of 1952 was secular, the culture remained deeply religious - but it was a faith of moderation and tolerance. Women made up nearly half my class at university, and my senior academic adviser there was a woman. In Alexandria, my friends were Christians and Muslims.
One hundred religious persons knit into a unity by careful organizations do not constitute a church any more than eleven dead men make a football team. The first requisite is life, always.
I was a religious 'SNL' watcher all through middle school. I was obsessed with Molly Shannon, Ana Gasteyer, Cheri Oteri - they were on right when I found the show. Then I started watching the older episodes, and it just totally blew my mind that my dream show already existed.
I believe that the FCC and Tribal Nations share the same goal-ensuring high-speed Internet access to anyone who wants it, while respecting and preserving sites with historic, religious, and cultural significance to Tribes.
I grew up in a very religious family. I could read the Qu'ran easily at the age of five.
The point is that there is tremendous hypocrisy among the Christian right. And I think that Christian voters should start looking at global warming and extreme poverty as a religious issue that speaks to the culture of life.
I'm not religious in any formal sense, not in any God sense.
