Winter 2004
Issue 85

Publication Date: January 2, 2004
Posted: Friday, January 1, 2004

Featured in this issue are a conference for journalists on religious influences in domestic and foreign affairs; an excerpt from the third annual William E. Simon Lecture, given by George Weigel; a seminar on a Zogby survey of American Catholic opinion about the Church; and an Islamic Studies seminar on Muslim American politics.


In This Issue :

Religion’s Force at Home and Abroad
Both international and domestic politics are incomprehensible today unless religious factors are taken into account. As secular elites have become increasingly aware of this truth, they have simultaneously recognized the limits of their own knowledge about serious religious communities and traditions. To help remedy this situation, the Center invited prominent members of the media to its conference "Toward an Understanding of Religion and American Public Life," held at the Pier House Resort in Key West, Florida, December 7–9. [More]

Catholic Opinion
In the wake of the sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church, the polling company Zogby International conducted interviews with one hundred Catholic leaders, as well as a survey of one thousand randomly chosen lay Catholics, to determine how Catholics themselves assess the Church’s current problems and prospects. John Zogby, director of the study entitled "The Views of American Catholics and Opinion Leaders on Issues Regarding the Catholic Church," discussed its results in detail at a November 13 Center seminar jointly sponsored by the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life at Boston College.  [More]

Muslims in a New World
American Muslims should reject Islamic extremism, embrace their role in American society, and promote a democratic future throughout the Muslim world, argued Ahmed H. al-Rahim of the American Islamic Congress at the September 24 Center seminar "Muslim American Politics after September 11."  [More]

Europe and America
On November 20 senior fellow George Weigel delivered the Center’sthird annual William E. Simon Lecture, "Europe’s Problem—and Ours," at the Madison Hotel. An excerpt follows. [More]