Religious freedom for the Taliban--in prison?

US Courts generally hold that the 1st Amendment right to free exercise of religion trumps most laws.  Here's a hard case--does the right to religious freedom give convicted Taliban supporters the right to assemble in prison for pro-jihadi sermons.  In Arabic, no less, so the guards can't understand?

Article from USA Today

Paul Ryan and the "Social Gospel"

Here is something for those of you attending Catholic (St. Liz), Anglican (Christ the King), or Episcopal (St. Luke's and Holy Cross).  The Archbishop of Canterbury is nominally the supreme leader of the Anglican & Episcopal churches, and what he says is a weathervane for what those churches' leaders are thinking.   Here he implicitly weighs in on Paul Ryan's proposed budget plan and how it relates to church ideas.

Psalm 122 is, you could say, the theme song of this vision, and it is a vision that prompts Robinson to a ferocious critique of the abstractions of ideology – including “austerity” as an imperative to save the world for capitalism.

The Liberalism of Archbishop Rowan Williams

Welcome to Politics and Religion

Welcome to PS 3001 Writing about Politics and Relgion.  This blog will host online readings to supplement our regular readings on ASUlearn.   Most posts will have a short commentary about how the reading links to our class topic, then a link to the article for you to read.

I encourage, but not require, discussion in the comments section.

Banning Circumcision in Germany

Our first post comes from outside the USA, from Germany, where the Times of Israel reports that

...criminal charges have been filed against a rabbi in Northern Bavaria for performing circumcisions. According to the Juedische Allgemeine, a Jewish weekly, the state prosecutor of Hof confirmed that charges had been filed against Rabbi David Goldberg, who serves the community of Upper Franconia for “harming” infants by performing the rite of brit milah, the covenantal ritual at the heart of Judaism.

The full story is here.   Last year, the City of San Fransisco put a similar ban on circumsision on a public ballot, before a judge removed it, saying that regulating medical procedures is a matter for state law, not city law.

This raises some issues we'll talk about later, like the question of how the parents' freedom of religion relates to their children's' rights, or distinguishing between freedom of religious belief and freedom of religious practice.

Your thoughts are invited.