Free Republic

Street prayer is no longer the image of quiet devotion. From Toronto to Times Square, it is political theater, often conducted en masse, blocking roads, obstructing entrances and projecting intimidation into the heart of civic life. Predictably, civil liberties organizations and establishment Muslim leaders have raised alarms. The rhetoric is heavy, but it misses the core issue: Public prayer in this context is not an act of private conscience. It is a performance of power in shared civic space. Prayer must not endanger others or disrupt public order. Even Islamic law recognizes the folly of obstructing communal life with ritual...

"Following Hillary Clinton's surprise loss to Donald Trump, most voters think it's time for her to quit the public arena," notes a new Rasmussen Reports survey, which finds that 55 percent of all likely voters agree that Mrs. Clinton should perhaps find something else to do. The inevitable partisan divide: 82 percent of Republicans, 54 percent of independents and 31 percent of Democrats agree with the idea, while 57 percent of the loyal Democrats say Mrs. Clinton should stay in the public life. But the dynamics appear to have changed. "Democratic voters now believe their party should go more in...

BENEDICT XVI ON RELIGION AND PUBLIC LIFE ROME, SEPT. 18, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Social and public life needs a religious element, insisted Benedict XVI during his weekly audience this Wednesday. "At the very center of social life there must be, therefore, a presence that evokes the mystery of the transcendent God," he said. "God and man walk together in history." On numerous occasions Benedict XVI has spoken about the valuable contribution Christianity and religious believers can make to today's society. During one of his early major addresses, on May 12 to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, the Pope...