Karen Sue Smith

It doesn rsquo t seem to matter how thoughtful well prepared or well-crafted a policy is Or whether mdash after bouts of arm-twisting waves of lobbying and compromises made and re-made in back rooms mdash it can finally be passed by elected democratic representatives and signed into law What mat

The dramatic rescue effort to save the lives of 33 miners in Chile has riveted the world rsquo s attention in recent weeks It shows respect for life mdash that each life matters But what would you think of one of the world rsquo s wealthiest societies that let not just 51 but 51 million of its pe

The results of the U S Religious Knowledge Survey just published by the PEW Forum on Religion and Public Life hold up a sorry mirror before the public With 32 basic questions in all mdash and no trick questions–the questions fell into several groups Christianity and the Bible world religions r

If you enjoy taking a quiz now and then and would like to see how you compare with other Americans on your knowledge of just six ldquo religion and American life rdquo questions take the self-test offered on the New York Time rsquo s Web site The test is an interactive feature that accompanies a

This is the second part of my comments on the NYT CBS poll Sept 10-14 2010 which gives an indication of what is actually on the mind of registered voters or was when this ldquo snapshot rdquo was made President Obama The president rsquo s approval rating at 45 has been quite stable all y

The NYT CBS poll Sept 10-14 2010 is just one random sample a national telephone poll conducted a few weeks before an important Congressional election Yet the information in it indicates what is actually on the mind of registered voters which is reason enough to pay close attention to what vot

Pope Sixtus V called it ldquo contrary to Christian charity rdquo The third Lateran Council proclaimed it ldquo a heresy rdquo worthy of excommunication Both Old and New Testaments denounced it as did Plato Aristotle Moses the Buddha and Muhammad The offensive practice Usury defined a

One of the hardest lessons of the Great Recession has been accepting the fact that one need not have done anything imprudent excessive or unlawful to find oneself a victim of it anyway If you did not let your credit card debt mount precariously or take out a mortgage beyond your means or connive

Recently a very short interview in the New York Times caught my attention The person being interviewed was a small businessman named Bob Moore the founder of Bob rsquo s Red Mill Natural Foods Now Bob rsquo s Red Mill makes a product I buy regularly For at least a year now in an effort to impr