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Michael Kessler
Michael Kessler is Associate Director of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University, a Visiting Assistant Professor of Government, and an Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center. He works in Ethics (theological, philosophical, and political approaches), political theory, and the nexus of law, politics, and religion. Kessler received his Ph.D. focusing on Religion and Moral and Political Theory from the University of Chicago, where he was a William Rainey Harper Fellow and held a Henry Luce Dissertation Fellowship. Kessler received a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. He graduated with a BA with honors in Theology and a second major in Philosophy from Valparaiso University.
AT THE CENTER
CENTER NEWS
May 21, 2013Tom Farr Quoted on Religious Freedom and Extremism by FrontPage Magazine.
May 21, 2013
Tim Shah Featured in Deseret News Story on State Department Religious Freedom Report
May 20, 2013
Tom Farr's Presentation at the Common Word Conference on April 24
May 20, 2013
Roger Trigg Explores the Links between Philosophy of Religion and Religious Marginalization
May 20, 2013
Roger Trigg's Address to the Iona Institute Conference on "What We Owe Christianity"
May 16, 2013
Junior Year Abroad Network Annual Report
May 10, 2013
The Faith of the Novelist
May 7, 2013
Providing Relief by Need, not Creed
May 2, 2013
Article by Roger Trigg Claims Religious Freedom is Not Just Special Pleading
April 29, 2013
Timothy Shah Presents Paper on Religious Freedom, Democratization, and Economic Development
April 29, 2013
New Video: Tom Farr Addresses Religious Freedom and Terrorism with EWTN's Raymond Arroyo
April 29, 2013
The Terrorists Next Door?
April 25, 2013
Tom Farr Talks with EWTN about Kidnapped Syrian Bishops
April 25, 2013
Jean Elshtain Named Kluge Chair in Modern Culture at the Library of Congress
April 23, 2013
Faith and Trafficking in Cambodia
Just Law and Religion
Ethical values, based on religion and reason, shape the kinds of law and policy citizens desire to govern their community. At the same time, the law shapes how we become moral persons and the kinds of communities we hope to build. Law, morality, and religion are intertwined. Yet ideologically-charged policy debates, the grittiness of political compromise, and the impersonal rule of law often don't correlate with--and can even damage--our deepest religious and moral commitments. We talk about law achieving a just order, but we too often struggle to develop notions of justice that rise beyond "efficiency" measured by markets and the "balancing" of preferences. Just Law and Religion rejects the cynic's reduction of law and politics to an amoral arena of clashing interests. It recognizes the crucial role of law and policy in achieving social stability, but focuses on how fundamental rights and moral values both shape and are shaped by contemporary legal and political institutions. Just Law and Religion will take the "moral temperature" of current events and issues across a vast array of political institutions, law, and culture in order to comprehend the ethical stakes, and the promise and perils, of our common life. Just Law and Religion asserts that law and politics can only be âjustâ when they concede there is more to human value and meaning than legal and political institutions can achieve.
September 11, 2010
So Terry Jones won't "today, not ever" burn a Quran. I guess the media can now move on to sensationalizing some other previous unknown willing to say ludicrous things and get us all talking about it for a week.
July 28, 2010
With all the loud clamoring about the proposed Islamic Center to be built near Ground Zero, reasonable voices are hard to discern. One thing is clear: this is not a debate about religious freedom. A mosque by peaceful Muslims of good will, unrelated to perpetrating the 9/11 attacks has every right to exist anywhere on these shores. It is the worst form of religious intolerance--and very un-American--to think that one form of religion has limits on where and when it may be practiced.
June 28, 2010
The Supreme Court handed down its long-awaited opinion in Christian Legal Society Chapter of the University of California, Hastings College of Law v. Martinez (CLS). The decision may go largely unnoticed since it arrived on the first day of future Justice Kagan's confirmation hearings and, McDonald v. Chicago, another decision released the same day, is gaining much more attention after it extended the Second Amendment to limit state gun control laws. Yet the CLS decision hits all the fault lines of the clash between non-discrimination requirements and claims about religious freedom. Welcome to the future of the so-called "culture wars."
June 11, 2010
Law is supposed to protect the life, liberty, and property of citizens. That's part of its moral purpose--regulating conduct so that the dignity of citizens is not assaulted and harmed by others' inattention, wrecklessness, or aggression. Yet at a concrete and local level, we can see how the laws designed to protect pedestrians are terribly broken and point to the failure of the government to achieve a basic, moral goal of its existence.
May 28, 2010
Memorial Day 2010 will go down in history as all about oil. As the economic near-collapse of the past two years appears, finally, to be subsiding, we are measuring recovery in terms of the increased number of travelers this Memorial Day Holiday. At the same time, we sit by our live visuals of the 5,000 foot deep underwater top kill experiment to see if BP can stop the gush of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. It is worth taking a moment to memorialize just who is responsible for all of this mess.
April 28, 2010
The cross in the desert can stay.
Or, more precisely, the federal government can go ahead with a land transfer with a VFW chapter to allow the cross to stay on formerly federal land in the Mojave National Preserve. In a narrow--and technical--decision, the Court decided 5-4 that the land transfer Congress mandated was permissible and the injunction that the lower court had issued was improperly decided. Does it tell us anything about the establishment clause? Not much.
Or, more precisely, the federal government can go ahead with a land transfer with a VFW chapter to allow the cross to stay on formerly federal land in the Mojave National Preserve. In a narrow--and technical--decision, the Court decided 5-4 that the land transfer Congress mandated was permissible and the injunction that the lower court had issued was improperly decided. Does it tell us anything about the establishment clause? Not much.
April 24, 2010
Advocates of religious freedom should be skeptical of Judge Crabb's ruling that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional. If you are rightfully concerned about preventing "establishments of religion," attacking this particular statute was not, in my estimation, the one to worry about. That said, if you're religious and want prayer recognized nationally, having the government do it is a really bad idea.
April 16, 2010
The 59th National Day of Prayer is scheduled for May 6. It is supposed to be a day of unity for citizens to come together in reflection. Instead, our deep-seated confusions about the proper boundaries between religious practice and governmental power have turned the official recognition into a huge wedge issue. Good intentions on every side have led to corrupted outcomes. And now a federal judge says it is unconstitutional.
April 9, 2010
Justice John Paul Stevens has announced his intention to retire this summer, ending the teasing speculation of the past few weeks. Lapsed-Republican traitor to some (he was appointed by President Ford in 1975) and unflappable liberal lion to others, the jurisprudence of Justice Stevens has always been hard to predict or categorize. More consistent is his record on religious freedom issues, characterized by a deep concern for government neutrality so that the religious lives of citizens can flourish without governmental intrusion.
April 2, 2010
With the economic downturn and massive job losses, it seems many Americans have no sympathy for employees requesting religious accommodations for Sabbath observance. Comments on a recent news story about an EEOC lawsuit against Lowe's for failing to allow a Baptist to not work on Sundays almost all tilt toward hostility to the man's religious beliefs. Hard times seem to make for hardened hearts.
March 20, 2010
Imagine you are 18 years old and worked hard to be the best student in your class. You are the valedictorian and are invited to give a brief speech at graduation. You want to thank those important to your successful journey, including mentioning the importance of your religious belief to your academic success. And the principal tells you that you are not permitted to do so.
February 26, 2010
Does the Establishment Clause prevent the President from using or aiding religion as part of foreign policy? Absolutely not, so long as it is not action upon U.S. citizens.
February 10, 2010
The Washington D.C.-area "Snowmaggeddon" of 2010--unplowed streets and undelivered goods--has probably revealed to many just how reliant the professional classes are on all the people who work hard to keep the region's streets maintained, stores stocked, and the other necessities of life humming along. Hopefully the dignity of labor won't be forgotten when the snow melts and life returns to normal.
January 20, 2010
As ABC News first reported, Trijicon, a Michigan company, has been supplying rifle scopes to the U.S. military with serial numbers containing scriptural citations. (Thursday, the company decided to stop doing that and to help erase the existing cites.) Was it a stupid practice? Probably. Unconstitutional? Not likely. More interesting to me is how responses to story reflect some fundamental divides among Christians about how they reconcile their religious convictions with military action.
December 17, 2009
Chuck Norris thinks Obamacare could morph into first-century "Herodcare." Norris thinks a democratic Congress seems hell-bent on slipping in funding to kill all the unborn to save money for health reform. He asks of Jesus' mother Mary: "what if that young, poor and uninsured teenage woman had been provided the federal funds (via Obamacare) and facilities (via Planned Parenthood, etc.) to avoid the ridicule, ostracizing, persecution and possible stoning because of her out-of-wedlock pregnancy?" What if, indeed?
December 8, 2009
By now everyone knows the pathetic story of Tareq and Michaele Salahi's successful crash of last week's White House state dinner. Trying to land a spot on Bravo network's upcoming Real Housewives of DC, they apparently believed attendance at this diplomatic affair would ensure the world knew they were major players in the DC scene. Instead, most everyone thinks they're a joke. But don't blame Bravo. They are merely documenting the best--and worst--of human achievement.
November 25, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving. Simple words that conjure images of national traditions like pumpkin pie and roasted turkey, and family and friends gathered in holiday cheer. Central to that tradition is the presidential proclamation for a National Day of Thanksgiving.
November 20, 2009
A friend's Facebook link took me to a CNN article that I thought would infuriate me. The headline was "McDonnell won't disavow Robertson's Islam remarks." What CNN failed to articulate was, to my surprise, that Virginia Governor-elect McDonnell sounded more Madisonian than Robertsonian.
November 6, 2009
This week, Keith Bardwell quit his post as Justice of the Peace for the Eighth Ward of Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana. This would hardly be noteworthy except that Bardwell refused to marry couples from different races. Outrageous. But did Maine just sanction discrimination of a different sort?
October 30, 2009
150 years ago--in October 1859--John Brown led a raid on a U.S. armory in Harper's Ferry, Virginia. He hoped to gather arms and lead an army to fight slaveholders. Instead, he was quickly stopped and hanged for his lawless actions. Is he a hero, a martyr, or a criminal?
October 23, 2009
Columnists and bloggers toil to put words and thoughts in good order. We deliver our pieces (often late!) to anxious editors with our name and reputation on the line. And then we watch helplessly while anonymous commenters hijack threads and launch screed upon hateful screed in every direction.
October 9, 2009
I wish this year's Nobel Peace Prize had gone to the people of Iran who vigorously protested an oppressive regime. Instead, President Obama got it for noble aspirations and well-directed first steps. I wish he had declined the prize, but what should he do now?
October 1, 2009
U2's 360 tour came to the DC region Tuesday--complete with a 164-foot tall spaceship stage and glitzy light show. The tunes were smooth and sexy; the stage was spectacular--even carnivalesque. But what stole the show was Bono's prophetic message about human dignity and rights.
September 24, 2009
"9/11 changed everything." It's a common trope, but it is not clear that our personal and social lives were significantly transformed by September 11.
This may be a sign, among other things, of human stubbornness, or indifference, or perhaps our ability to recover.
This may be a sign, among other things, of human stubbornness, or indifference, or perhaps our ability to recover.
September 10, 2009
Critics of a New Jersey mosque's plans to hold a prayer event on the National Mall are wrong in their views of religious liberty.
The Star-Ledger reported last week that a mosque in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Dar-ul-Islam, will spearhead a national prayer gathering for September 25 in Washington, D.C., "that organizers are billing as the first event of its kind--organized prayer for tens of thousands of Muslims outside the U.S. Capitol building."
The Star-Ledger reported last week that a mosque in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Dar-ul-Islam, will spearhead a national prayer gathering for September 25 in Washington, D.C., "that organizers are billing as the first event of its kind--organized prayer for tens of thousands of Muslims outside the U.S. Capitol building."
August 28, 2009
My friends back home in Indiana often ask how I can stand living in the big, anonymous city, where no one pays attention to others or helps anyone else. They couldn't be more wrong about the city. When bad things happen, the neighbors in my community show the basic instinct towards compassion and protecting the dignity of others that I saw in my small town neighbors.
August 13, 2009
The devil may be the father of lies, but the "death panel" deception has Sarah Palin for a nursemaid.
Instead of engaging in honest and rigorous debate about the thicket of economic and policy issues related to health-care reform, the conversation has been stuck on so-called death panels and the fear of government bureaucrats saving money by letting grandma die. There are too many legitimate concerns about reform proposals floating around to let Palin's blatant falsehoods mire down the conversation. They should be condemned universally.
Instead of engaging in honest and rigorous debate about the thicket of economic and policy issues related to health-care reform, the conversation has been stuck on so-called death panels and the fear of government bureaucrats saving money by letting grandma die. There are too many legitimate concerns about reform proposals floating around to let Palin's blatant falsehoods mire down the conversation. They should be condemned universally.
July 23, 2009
Last Friday, Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) revealed his strategy to obstruct health care reform, saying "if we're able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him."
For shame. The nation doesn't need a Waterloo defeat. DeMint would better serve Americans if instead he worked with Obama in a modern-day, health care reform version of the Council of Nicaea.
For shame. The nation doesn't need a Waterloo defeat. DeMint would better serve Americans if instead he worked with Obama in a modern-day, health care reform version of the Council of Nicaea.
July 16, 2009
The confirmation hearings of Judge Sonia Sotomayor have so far reminded me of God's admonition in I Samuel that no one can see into the heart of humans but God.
The story goes that God sent Samuel to Bethlehem to look among the sons of Jesse for the newly-anointed King of Israel and Samuel understandably looked for the son who appeared most strong and formidable. When it is revealed that the youngest (and "ruddy") David is the chosen one, God tells Samuel: "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart."
The story goes that God sent Samuel to Bethlehem to look among the sons of Jesse for the newly-anointed King of Israel and Samuel understandably looked for the son who appeared most strong and formidable. When it is revealed that the youngest (and "ruddy") David is the chosen one, God tells Samuel: "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart."
July 10, 2009
Only U.S. Rep. Steve King of Iowa saw the problem with a plaque honoring the slaves who helped build the U.S. Capitol.
King, a Republican, was the only House member to vote against House Resolution 135, "directing the Architect of the Capitol to place a marker in Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center which acknowledges the role that slave labor played in the construction of the United States Capitol." He said he was standing firm on his principles to preserve the "Judeo-Christian" heritage from being "held hostage" by the liberals running the newly-opened Capitol Visitors Center.
King, a Republican, was the only House member to vote against House Resolution 135, "directing the Architect of the Capitol to place a marker in Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center which acknowledges the role that slave labor played in the construction of the United States Capitol." He said he was standing firm on his principles to preserve the "Judeo-Christian" heritage from being "held hostage" by the liberals running the newly-opened Capitol Visitors Center.
July 1, 2009
Independence Day is a good opportunity to take a moment to ponder how some of our forebears envisioned religious freedom--one of our most fundamental liberties.
There are many well-known examples of the Founders urging toleration about religious diversity. They argued for government restraint so that religion may thrive, particularly James Madison's Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments and Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia and letter to the Danbury Baptist Association. These are worthy essays which we should contemplate and debate. Besides these luminaries, there are many other important voices in the chorus of early Americans calling for religious freedom.
There are many well-known examples of the Founders urging toleration about religious diversity. They argued for government restraint so that religion may thrive, particularly James Madison's Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments and Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia and letter to the Danbury Baptist Association. These are worthy essays which we should contemplate and debate. Besides these luminaries, there are many other important voices in the chorus of early Americans calling for religious freedom.
June 24, 2009
"I've let down a lot of people, that's the bottom line," declared South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford on Wednesday. Thus ended the fun media game, "Where in the World is Mark Sanford?" He was in Argentina, with his lover, over Father's Day, without having any contact with his wife and four children.
There was a time--the Clinton years--when such an admission would incite a political witchhunt. Indeed, then-Congressman Sanford called vocally for Clinton to step down, "The issue of [Clinton] lying is probably the biggest harm, if you will, to the system of democratic government, representative government, because it undermines trust. And if you undermine trust in our system, you undermine everything." As for Clinton, Sanford thought "it would be much better for the country and for him personally" to resign.
There was a time--the Clinton years--when such an admission would incite a political witchhunt. Indeed, then-Congressman Sanford called vocally for Clinton to step down, "The issue of [Clinton] lying is probably the biggest harm, if you will, to the system of democratic government, representative government, because it undermines trust. And if you undermine trust in our system, you undermine everything." As for Clinton, Sanford thought "it would be much better for the country and for him personally" to resign.
June 18, 2009
I grew up watching PBS--especially the Victory Garden, This Old House, Julia Child, and the many ethnographic, travel, and nature programs. The antenna on my parent's house, set in the middle of Indiana's farm fields, picked up Chicago's WTTW. It was my Window to the World which offered me a view of life far beyond the short 70 miles I had ever ventured from my house.
June 12, 2009
It was refreshing to hear Joshua DuBois repeat the words "responsible partnerships" in describing President Obama's vision for the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
June 4, 2009
Who is responsible for the crash of Air France Flight 447 on Sunday?
Now with confirmation that the Brazilian military has found the wreckage field, the sad recovery efforts will begin to determine a physical cause. The search will focus on the flight data and cockpit voice recorders which will help piece together why this reliably safe aircraft vanished into the water. Remote-controlled submersibles will descend into thousands of feet of water but questions will remain for months or years.
Now with confirmation that the Brazilian military has found the wreckage field, the sad recovery efforts will begin to determine a physical cause. The search will focus on the flight data and cockpit voice recorders which will help piece together why this reliably safe aircraft vanished into the water. Remote-controlled submersibles will descend into thousands of feet of water but questions will remain for months or years.
May 27, 2009
And so the circus begins.
Sonia Sotomayor was nominated by President Obama to fill the vacancy created by Justice David Souter's impending retirement. She would become the sixth Catholic on the Court. What does her nomination mean for religious freedom?
Even before the nomination, attack ads were ready to roll, with charges that she was a "liberal judicial activist of the first order who thinks her own personal political agenda is more important than the law as written." Others contend that her record "raises serious questions about the issue of legislating from the bench." The Republican National Committee accidentally unveiled their rather muted talking points, stating generically that they "do not view this nomination without concern," and then reciting a standard litany of terrible things a liberal appointment "could" bring about.
Sonia Sotomayor was nominated by President Obama to fill the vacancy created by Justice David Souter's impending retirement. She would become the sixth Catholic on the Court. What does her nomination mean for religious freedom?
Even before the nomination, attack ads were ready to roll, with charges that she was a "liberal judicial activist of the first order who thinks her own personal political agenda is more important than the law as written." Others contend that her record "raises serious questions about the issue of legislating from the bench." The Republican National Committee accidentally unveiled their rather muted talking points, stating generically that they "do not view this nomination without concern," and then reciting a standard litany of terrible things a liberal appointment "could" bring about.
May 20, 2009
Colleen Hauser's 13-year-old son Daniel drew a lucky card from the cancer deck. He was diagnosed with Stage II Hodgkin's lymphoma. Five-year survival rates are upwards of 95%. Treatment with basic chemotherapeutic regimens have made this disease highly treatable and survivable. While scary, his prognosis would be highly favorable if he received the standard treatments.
May 15, 2009
President Obama will soon announce his nominee for the next Supreme Court justice. We should pay close attention to how this new justice conceives of Constitutional protections for fundamental rights, especially religious liberty.
The President's criteria involve a refreshing mix of principled legal analysis and personal moral characteristics. In announcing Justice Souter's retirement, President Obama said: "I view that quality of empathy, of understanding and identifying with people's hopes and struggles, as an essential ingredient for arriving as [sic] just decisions and outcomes. I will seek somebody who is dedicated to the rule of law, who honors our constitutional traditions, who respects the integrity of the judicial process and the appropriate limits of the judicial role. I will seek somebody who shares my respect for constitutional values on which this nation was founded and who brings a thoughtful understanding of how to apply them in our time."
The President's criteria involve a refreshing mix of principled legal analysis and personal moral characteristics. In announcing Justice Souter's retirement, President Obama said: "I view that quality of empathy, of understanding and identifying with people's hopes and struggles, as an essential ingredient for arriving as [sic] just decisions and outcomes. I will seek somebody who is dedicated to the rule of law, who honors our constitutional traditions, who respects the integrity of the judicial process and the appropriate limits of the judicial role. I will seek somebody who shares my respect for constitutional values on which this nation was founded and who brings a thoughtful understanding of how to apply them in our time."
May 7, 2009
The Federal Judiciary is losing two big defenders of religious freedom.
Last week, Justice David Souter surprised few in announcing that he would prefer to not undergo another "intellectual lobotomy" and return next fall to the Supreme Court for another term, preferring instead to retire to his beloved New Hampshire.
Then on Tuesday, Judge Michael McConnell, a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals judge, announced he was stepping down after seven years to return to academic teaching and scholarship at Stanford.
In different ways, both judges left a profound mark on the nature of constitutional law about religious freedom and the intersection of religion and government.
Last week, Justice David Souter surprised few in announcing that he would prefer to not undergo another "intellectual lobotomy" and return next fall to the Supreme Court for another term, preferring instead to retire to his beloved New Hampshire.
Then on Tuesday, Judge Michael McConnell, a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals judge, announced he was stepping down after seven years to return to academic teaching and scholarship at Stanford.
In different ways, both judges left a profound mark on the nature of constitutional law about religious freedom and the intersection of religion and government.
May 1, 2009
Miss California heroically pushes back a cultural Armageddon.
I thought that would be the headline after the Miss USA pageant. In fact, the pageant was just one of several same-sex-related events this past month that must have made social conservatives think the apocalypse was hurtling towards them.
First, there was the Iowa Supreme court's landmark ruling on April 3, which held that the state's equal protection clause required the state to treat all citizens equally in applying for licenses to wed--both heterosexual and homosexual couples. The unanimous court said they were "firmly convinced that the exclusion of gay and lesbian people from the institution of civil marriage does not substantially further any important governmental objective."
I thought that would be the headline after the Miss USA pageant. In fact, the pageant was just one of several same-sex-related events this past month that must have made social conservatives think the apocalypse was hurtling towards them.
First, there was the Iowa Supreme court's landmark ruling on April 3, which held that the state's equal protection clause required the state to treat all citizens equally in applying for licenses to wed--both heterosexual and homosexual couples. The unanimous court said they were "firmly convinced that the exclusion of gay and lesbian people from the institution of civil marriage does not substantially further any important governmental objective."
April 23, 2009
Three more feet of blue curtain and no one would have noticed.
Last week, Georgetown offered the stage of Gaston Hall to President Obama. The University hosts visiting heads of state innumerable times throughout the year. Policymakers of many political stripes offer speeches across the spectrum of viewpoints. Their visits enrich the academic conversations on campus and spark many debates about policy and ideas for weeks afterwards. This contributes vitally to achieving the core of any academic institution's mission.
Last week, Georgetown offered the stage of Gaston Hall to President Obama. The University hosts visiting heads of state innumerable times throughout the year. Policymakers of many political stripes offer speeches across the spectrum of viewpoints. Their visits enrich the academic conversations on campus and spark many debates about policy and ideas for weeks afterwards. This contributes vitally to achieving the core of any academic institution's mission.
April 16, 2009
President Obama heralded an encouraging new tone when he told Turkey's Parliament on Monday that the United States "is not and will never be at war with Islam...America's relationship with the Muslim community, the Muslim world, cannot and will not just be based upon opposition to terrorism...We seek broader engagement based upon mutual interest and mutual respect."
April 2, 2009
Perhaps lost in the swirl of reporting about the financial meltdown, there has been little news about the newly-renamed Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Other than appointing the talented Joshua DuBois (Obama's campaign faith adviser) as the new director, whatever is happening has largely been out of the public eye. This is a significant mistake.
March 27, 2009
Amid the global financial meltdown, the old debate about how much governments should regulate markets is back in the news. Is greed good because it creates value through competition, or should governments regulate markets in order to curtail greedy tendencies?
On the one side are unyielding defenders of market mechanisms. In spite of the problems created by over-leveraged banks, risky mortgages, and dissolving, unregulated funds that have decimated retirement accounts, some financial gurus and economists tell us that re-regulating the markets will only worsen the long-term success of the financial sector. Markets work their magic when the government leaves them alone. As Michael Douglas' infamous speech in Wall Street described it, shareholders, motivated by the "greed" of desiring profits, will keep managers on track to create legitimate value, which can then trickle down to everyone.
On the one side are unyielding defenders of market mechanisms. In spite of the problems created by over-leveraged banks, risky mortgages, and dissolving, unregulated funds that have decimated retirement accounts, some financial gurus and economists tell us that re-regulating the markets will only worsen the long-term success of the financial sector. Markets work their magic when the government leaves them alone. As Michael Douglas' infamous speech in Wall Street described it, shareholders, motivated by the "greed" of desiring profits, will keep managers on track to create legitimate value, which can then trickle down to everyone.
March 17, 2009
In the recent Supreme Court ruling on Pleasant Grove City, Utah v. Summum, Justice Scalia concurred with words of reassurance: "The city can safely exhale. Its residents and visitors can now return to enjoying Pioneer Park's wishing well, its historic granary -- and, yes, even its Ten Commandments monument -- without fear that they are complicit in an establishment of religion."
Should we yet breathe easily?
Should we yet breathe easily?
September 8, 2008
Barack Obama's years of service as a community organizer were disparaged during last week's Republican National Convention. Of course, the job description for a community organizer might be unknown to many Americans. But it's surprising to hear Republicans--members of the party that espouses non-governmental solutions to social problems--ridiculing a man's privately funded community work. I thought that community work like Obama's was the GOP's solution to our social ills?