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| Home » Writings, Speeches, Broadcasts » Credo » 2005 |
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| Different Freedoms, or Why Religion and Politics Should Never Mix |
| 1/12/2005 |
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The election of David Cameron as leader of the Conservative Party has quickened the pulse of British politics, and though I believe profoundly that religion and politics should never mix, there are times when it is important to say something religious about the political process itself.
In 1996, when one party had been in power for almost a generation, I asked a civil servant in an unguarded moment which he thought more dangerous for a nation: the coming into office of a party most of ... |
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| We Are in Danger of Forgetting that Waiting Comes Before Wanting |
| 1/11/2005 |
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The scenes of France in flames have been disturbing — night after night of cars on fire, buildings ablaze, angry youth and embattled police.
This is not the first time we have seen how quickly societies can descend into chaos. It happened in the Netherlands after the murder of Theo van Gogh, in New Orleans after the hurricane and in the Lozells area of Birmingham during the recent riots. We are seeing the emergence of a new politics of anger.
The causes are simple: ethnic ghettos,... |
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| After Even the Worst Disasters, We Will Hear the Still Voice of Hope |
| 1/10/2005 |
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First there was the tsunami. Then Hurricane Katrina. Now the earthquake in Kashmir has claimed tens of thousands of lives. Our prayers go out to the affected and afflicted, the injured and bereaved, to all those whose world has been shaken and destroyed.
In each case the response has shown us the true face of human care. We have discovered that we are still moved by the sight of suffering, however far away. Funds, food, medical teams and shelters have been rushed to the scenes of catas... |
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| Tragedy Unites Us but Blame Divides, in the Aftermath of Disaster |
| 1/9/2005 |
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Hurricane Katrina began as a natural disaster but quickly became a human tragedy. Oddly, we find it easier to cope with the first than with the second.
Natural disaster — a tsunami, an earthquake, a whirlwind — unites us. It reminds us of our human vulnerability, our smallness in the face of vast forces that shape and sometimes shake our planet. Hurricane Katrina produced as much energy in a single hour as the total consumption of America in a year. At such times we know we are du... |
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