SSRC Workshop at Berkley Center on Kenya and Cambodia

In November, 2009, peace-loving Switzerland shocked itself and the world when over 57 percent of its voters supported a referendum to ban construction of new minarets. The government had opposed the proposition on the grounds that it was unconstitutional, contravening Switzerland's commitment to religious freedom.

The 2012 Republican Presidential race for conservative Christian hearts and minds and votes got off to an unbelievable start yesterday--really, I mean, beyond anything I could have ever dreamed of--when the ultra-Conservative, Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition hosted its 11th Annual Spring Kick off.

In the wake of the tragic shooting in Tucson, Arizona, a chorus of voices - mainly, if not exclusively on the political Left - arose in denunciation of the decline of "civility" in contemporary political life. Somewhat incredibly, some of the more prominent voices on the political Right - such as Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin - denounced these calls for civility.

With the world's attention currently fixed on the upheaval in the Middle East, it is easy to forget that only last summer, the most significant debate over Islamic politics and practice was in fact raging within the United States. In question was the fate of a vacant building in Lower Manhattan. Only several blocks away from the former World Trade Center, this building was the proposed site of Park51, a Muslim community center.

The irony is familiar but still troubling: America, a nation proudly built by and for immigrants, today has a badly broken immigration system. But the debate about how to fix it has been fractious and unproductive. We seem to be stalled.