Keith Beardsley, 08.23.2011
Partner, True North Public Affairs (Ottawa)
I am enjoying all the debate that Harper's addition of the word "Royal" to our navy and air force has created. Some suggest that Harper is trying to recast our history so that it is seen from a conservative slant. Others wonder if we are behaving like colonials. Still others see these moves as part of a larger attempt to play down key Liberal initiatives like the Charter, peacekeeping and multiculturalism. There is nothing wrong with knowing and understanding our history and that includes our symbols and traditions. But if we are going to promote our history, let's look at it openly, warts and all. Only then will we get a true sense of where we come from and who we are.
Dr. Jeffrey H. Toney, 08.22.2011
Acting Vice President of Academic Affairs at Kean University
I conducted an interview with Syrian activist Alexander Page (a pseudonym used for protection) on July 31, via email. In this brief discussion, I learned quite a bit about his motivation for continuing protests against his government.
Jonathan Merritt and Tim Willard, 08.22.2011
Faith and Culture Writer
We live in a world that glorifies tolerance. So it's ironic that those who often champion tolerance are quick to abandon it when they encounter people who disagree with their perspectives.
Peter Jan Honigsberg, 08.19.2011
Professor of Law, University of San Francisco
Can a person held in a prison cell among neighbors who do not speak his language be as lonely as someone who is held incommunicado in an isolation cell?
Davinder Kumar, 08.18.2011
Development journalist and Press Officer, Plan International
They are out there, always, often the first people to reach. You have seen them feed malnourished children and starving people in the Horn of Africa.
Lisa Sharon Harper, 08.16.2011
Sojourners Director of Mobilizing
We are a nation woven together by eclectic threads of common faith in the truth that all people are created equal. Again and again, our darkest hours have come when elements within our own national body have tested this faith.
Cynthia Kounaris, 08.16.2011
Executive Director, Women Ecommerce Execs
What was inconceivable to our grandparents is taken for granted by us. Maybe what we're struggling for today will be yesterday's news for our grandchildren.
Ian Thompson, 08.15.2011
Representative in the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office
At a time when LGBT people are achieving important progress at the national, state and local level, this pledge is a throwback to an intolerant, discriminatory past wholly out of step with the majority of the American people.
Michelle Chen, 08.15.2011
Colorlines and In These Times
The retail giant Target is under fire from all sides, for union-busting at home and labor violations overseas. The reports that have come out in the past several weeks highlight a continuum of cruelty in the global supply chain.
Rhoda P. Curtis, 08.15.2011
Author, "Rhoda: Her First Ninety Years," "After Ninety: What"
I am questioning the idea of equality when it applies to equality of opportunity for women, and to the idea of equality in human relationships in general.
Wallace Best, Ph.D., 08.15.2011
Professor of Religion, Princeton University
The discourse of "sin" has no place in the political culture of a liberal democracy. Such discourse lends support to the historical fiction of America as a "Christian nation," and limits morality as the special province of the religious.
Clarence B. Jones, 08.15.2011
Scholar in Residence, Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University
We, or the White House, may not like the tone, content, or the intensity of his "singing," but Dr. Cornel West is an invaluable "canary." His warning advice and comments should not be ignored.
Adnan Al-Daini, 08.15.2011
Retired University lecturer
The universality of human rights, respect for the rule of law, and avoiding double standards in dealing with nations and individuals should become the guiding principles of America and Britain.
Alan W. Silberberg, 08.14.2011
CEO, Silberberg Innovations, Founder Gov 2.0 L.A., Partner Constellation Research Group
The recent riots in London brought the question up again of is social media the cause or simply a tool that helps facilitate something that would already be going on?
Ben Arnon, 08.12.2011
Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world will journey to the nation's capital to bear witness to the dedication of this new, national memorial.
Keith Rushing, 08.12.2011
Communications Manager, Rights Working Group
President Obama, what happened to the other Obama you used to talk about? Civil rights, civil liberties and immigrant rights groups want to know.
Daphne Eviatar, 08.11.2011
Senior Associate, Human Rights First’s Law and Security Program
If you think Congress' handling of the debt ceiling crisis was a catastrophe, take a closer look at how lawmakers are responding to the terrorism threat.
Robin Koerner, 08.11.2011
Publisher, WatchingAmerica.com
Austrians prefer limited government -- limited to enforcing contracts made voluntarily between free individuals. They don't want government to print and inflate money as that allows them covertly to reduce private wealth, transferring it to themselves.
Laura Swisher, 08.10.2011
Stand-up comic and writer
Maybe it's time to speak to conservatives in a language they understand: free marketism. To that end, I recently had my womb incorporated, which means it shouldn't be subject to any tedious governmental regulations.
Dr Kishan Manocha, 08.10.2011
Director of the Office of Public Affairs of the Bahá’à Community of the United Kingdom
Eleven Bahá'Ãs in Iran are the latest victims of the Islamic Republic's relentless campaign to persecute the Bahá'à community - the country's largest non-Muslim religious minority.
Lianne Marie Binks, 08.10.2011
Marketing communications executive for QA Ltd
We're selfish, independent, hooked on instant-gratification, either completely overwhelmed with choices or backed into a corner with nowhere to turn and on top of that we're ruining the planet, grotesquely unhealthy and surrounded by people who think The X-Factor is quality entertainment. It's a sorry state of affairs people, but what's the answer?