Here are the biggest stories dealing with religion, politics, and ethics from 2004. The reasoning behind some choices will be obvious, but not always. In general, I chose not always those with the largest impact around the world, but often those which generated a great deal of attention and discussion both on this site and elsewhere. In many cases, the individual article is part of a long-running story or issue.
What did the Bush administration know about the use of torture and when did he know it? Mounting evidence indicates not only that the torture of Iraqi prisoners was authorized at levels far higher than so far admitted, but also that they are the culmination of a set of policies specifically designed thwart both American and international laws against the immoral and illegal abuse of prisoners.
Yasser Arafat was best known as the leader of teh PLO, but the Palestinian Liberation Organization was not founded by him. Instead, it was originally created by various Arab states in 1964 and Arafat managed to taken control in 1969 after those states were defeated by Israel in the Six Day War.
One of the problems with the various Defense of Marriage Acts is that, if taken seriously, they could seriously disrupt family law all across the United States. If a DOMA state refuses to recognize a gay marriage from another state, how will things like child custody or spousal support be handled? This is a very, very important case.
The controversial Dutch film about Muslims' abuse of women resulted in the murder filmmaker Theo van Gogh, grandson of the brother of famous painter Vincent Van Gogh.
One issue lurking in the gay marriage debate which rarely receives any attention is the situation for transsexuals: whom are they allowed to marry, members of the sex they were born as or members of the sex they change to? How that is answered reveals something about the way gender is defined and understood.
Many people see George W. Bush's religion as one of his most important and defining factors. He certainly doesn't do anything to disabuse people of this. He speaks often of the role of religion in his life, his desire to have religion play a greater role in American politics, and so forth. It's curious, then, that he doesn't attend any churches in Washington D.C.
In the debates over Mel Gibson's film The Passion, one thing that has always been insisted by his defenders is that Gibson is not antisemitic and not a Holocaust Denier, even though his father apparently is. But is that really true? He was given a chance to demonstrate that and.... well, the results weren't very encouraging.
Has it become a crime to protest the president and his administration? Has it become illegal to attend a speech by President Bush and express your disagreement with his policies? Apparently it has - at least, that’s what a couple in West Virginia experienced.
The Salvation Army bell ringers are a standard feature in front of many American stores during the holiday season, but not if you shop at Target. Rather than single out the Salvation Army for special treatment, they decided to enforce their "no solicitation" policy fairly and consistently.
The debate over whether it is appropriate for Catholic bishops to threaten withholding communion from pro-choice politicians and maybe even those who vote for them has tended to ignore whether there is even a good reason to do such a thing. Conservatives act like it’s obvious, but the Vatican disagrees.
