Foreign Policy

Republicans Divided Over Support for Torture

[11.15.2011]

On Saturday night, Republican presidential candidates Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman found themselves in an unlikely alliance on an important foreign policy issue: torture. Responding to Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann, both of whom expressed their support for waterboarding (which was banned by the Obama administration in 2009), both candidates emphatically declared that the practice was torture, not an “enhanced interrogation” technique. Paul decried waterboarding as “immoral” and “illegal under… more

Is it Wrong to Celebrate Moammar Gaddafi’s Death?

[10.20.2011]

After a morning of uncertain and contradictory news, Libyan former dictator Moammar Gaddafi was confirmed dead.  According to Abdulrahman Busin, the military liaison to Libya’s transitional government, Gaddafi was injured and captured by revolutionaries as he attempted to escape an attack on Sirte, his home town. Spontaneous celebrations erupted in Sirte and other parts of Libya as the news of Gaddafi’s death spread.  The dictator ruled the country for 42… more

Ten Years After 9/11, Americans Divided on Approaches to Terrorism

[09.01.2011]

Where were you during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001?  According to a new survey from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, even if you were only eight years old when the attacks occurred, chances are you still remember where you were or what you were doing.  The report, “Ten Years after 9/11: United in Remember, Divided over Policies,” reveals an America that was profoundly… more

American Muslims Are Happy Despite Media Bias

[09.01.2011]

In the wake of a new survey on Muslim-Americans from the Pew Research Center, Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), the congressman behind last spring’s series of hearings on the alleged radicalization of American Muslims, castigated the American Muslim community for failing to do enough to support his investigations. “I don’t know what world they’re living in,” said King, of the 41% of Muslim-Americans who questioned the “sincerity” of the U.S. effort… more

New Poll Show Faith, Golden Rule Influence White Evangelical Views on Torture

[09.11.2008]

I had the privilege of presenting the findings of a poll conducted by our firm, Public Religion Research, at A National Summit on Torture: Religious Faith, Torture, and our National Soul. The poll was commissioned by Faith in Public Life and Mercer University and demonstrates the conflicted attitudes on torture among white evangelical Christians in the South. The press conference included remarks by Katie Barge of Faith in Public Life,… more