EPPC - Joseph Loconte RSS Feed

The Case Against the United Nations

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST

Over two years ago, on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the United Nations, world leaders pledged to adopt a "radical" reform agenda at their General Assembly meeting in New York. Financial mismanagement, predatory peacekeepers, failure to stop human rights atrocities--hardly any important U.N. function escaped withering criticism.

Bush’s Leap of Faith

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST

Who, since 9/11, cannot see the connection between oppressive religious regimes, economic stagnation, and terrorism? If the rights of conscience are not protected by law, it's unlikely that other liberties -- political and economic -- will flourish.

Barack Obama Offers Hope but Does He Possess Wisdom?

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST

Keeping nuclear weapons out of the hands of genocidal jihadists, rebuilding the failed states of Afghanistan and Iraq, prodding democratic reform in the Arab world -- these are not causes to be undertaken by those armed only with hope.

The New Fundamentalists

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EST

An article of faith among many liberals is that religion and tolerance don't go well together. In a recent editorial, for example, the New York Times matter-of-factly derided conservative Christians as "the most religiously intolerant sector of American political life." That's quite a sector.

A Bad Day for Human Rights

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EST

Yesterday was International Human Rights Day, the date marking the adoption by the United Nations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Not even the most devoted U.N. apologists, however, could be in a festive mood. Even by their own Orwellian standards--in which the world's dictatorships sit in judgment of the world's democracies--it has not been a banner year for the cause of human rights.

Mitt Romney’s Step of Faith

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EST

Skeptics at home and abroad are carping about Mitt Romney's first major speech on religion. They should stop huffing and hyperventilating long enough to actually read it -- a text that ranks as the most sober, sane, and historically informed view of religion and American democracy delivered thus far in the presidential campaign.

Teddy Bear Totalitarianism

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EST

The arrest of a British school teacher in Sudan last week -- amid demands for her execution -- had all the earmarks of a Samuel Beckett play, a theatre of the absurd that is attracting sell-out crowds in many parts of the Islamic world. The latest source of Muslim rage: a teddy bear.

Thanksgiving in War Time

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EST

When America publicly gives thanks to the Almighty, it opens a window into the soul. In times of war we glimpse the torments and the hopes of a nation struggling to realize, or salvage, its founding ideals.`

People of the Book

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EST

Earlier this year the British Library hosted a lavish exhibition of the sacred texts of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It was an effort designed to ease simmering religious tensions in the United Kingdom. Despite these good intentions, the exhibition repeatedly managed to distort the history and beliefs of the three religions in ways that make interfaith dialogue not easier but more difficult.

Preachers and Presidential Politics

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EST

The endorsement by televangelist Pat Robertson of Rudy Giuliani as the Republican presidential candidate is being frantically scrutinized for its deeper cultural significance. The new conventional wisdom, advanced by outlets such as The New York Times, sees a fractured and confused conservative Christian vote.

On Waffles and Waffling in Iraq

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EST

Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced yesterday that he would remove half of the 5,000 British troops in Iraq by next spring. Given the uncertainty of conditions on the ground in Basra, where British forces have been based, it is no small matter. Yet, none of the major television networks offered live coverage of Mr. Brown’s appearance before the House of Commons.

N.T. Wright Gets It Wrong

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EST

In his first major address on terrorism, "Where is God in the War on Terror?" Anglican Bishop N.T. Wright never mentioned the activities and ambitions of Osama bin Laden and his terrorist allies. The bishop exudes moral outrage -- but not at the extremists. Wright reserves the weight of his scorn for the United States and Great Britain and their foreign policies since the attacks of 9/11.

Columbia University’s 14 Minutes of Fame

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EST

Here is the moral reasoning of Columbia University, a logic with more twists than a New York pretzel: The U.S. military, which defends America’s democratic freedoms, is banned from campus because it discriminates against gays. But the president of an extremist regime that makes homosexuality a capital crime, a regime which is killing American soldiers trying to defeat extremism, gets a red-carpet invitation.

Why They Hate Us

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EST

Last week we learned of another "massive" terrorist plot against American targets, this time thwarted by German authorities. Osama bin Laden has just released another cryptic video threat against the United States, and, six years since the events of 9/11, we still ask: why do they hate us?

Pakistan’s Unfulfilled Promise

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EST

Millions gathered last week to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Pakistan’s emergence as an independent state. It was difficult for many, however, to ignore the massive problems that afflict this Islamic republic -- from its string of military dictatorships to its rising levels of religious extremism.

Rudy’s Faith

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EST

What we desperately need is not a "sacred" public square, but a more civil public square: We need candidates who refuse to wear their religion on their sleeve -- but who honor the moral contribution of religious conviction in society.

Gathering Storm of Extremism

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EST

Since coming to power in 1999, Gen. Pervez Musharraf has adopted a policy of "enlightened moderation" to accommodate religious extremism in Pakistan while preventing the wholesale Islamization of his country. But last month's battle for the Red Mosque in Islamabad suggest that his strategy has failed.

A Partnership of Shared Purpose

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EST

In his first meeting with President Bush as Britain’s prime minister, Gordon Brown confounded many this week when he unambiguously affirmed "the historic partnership of shared purpose" between Great Britain and the United States. Indeed, when it comes to national security issues and the war on terror, Mr. Brown sounds as determined to prevail as his predecessor and more hawkish than any of the Democratic presidential hopefuls.

A Deliberate Failure of Imagination

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EST

There are many in America who steadfastly refuse to realize the existential threat of radical Islam. The real tragedy, though, is that some of them are running for president.

When Terrorism Hits Close to Home

Thu, 24 May 2007 00:00:00 EST

In what surely ranks as one of the most aggressive advocacy campaigns in its history, the BBC is pulling every diplomatic lever possible to secure the release of journalist Alan Johnston, kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza over 10 weeks ago. Yet it raises troubling questions about media coverage of terrorism and the culture of religious radicalism that sustains it.