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The Communitarian Update
Number 48
September 24, 2002
Should we have a national ID card?
Some argue that we need it to identify terrorists and other criminals; that
driver's licenses amount to a de facto ID card, that all we need to do
is make them tamper-proof; and that other democracies have such IDs.
Critics compare them to Soviet domestic passports; argue that they further
curtail our basic rights to privacy and anonymity; and say that they will
provide ready-made data banks for any future Joe McCarthy or totalitarian government.
Please respond briefly and tell us how to identify you. We do not run anonymous
responses because we hold that true identities make for better dialogues.
Please also provide some details, if not your affiliation, at least your
town and nation, to help us understand your perspective. (For further
discussion of this issue, see transcripts of a recent House of Representatives
hearing on Driver's License Security Issues, available at
www.house.gov/transportation/highway/09-05-02/09-05-02memo.html )
Not To Be Missed!
In the next issue of The Responsive Community, American intellectuals face
off over the question of whether the war on terrorism is just. Recently, a
large group of scholars in the United States issued a response to the Letter
from America, in which sixty American intellectuals (including Francis Fukuyama,
Samuel Huntington, and Amitai Etzioni) declared the war against terrorism just.
These letters seem highly suited for teaching and for use in further discussion
of the justness of war. Subscribe to The Responsive Community now by visiting:
http://www.gwu.edu/~ccps/rcq or call us at (800) 245-7460.
Call For Paper
The Ways We Celebrate: Holidays and Rituals as Sources and Indicators of Social Values
George Washington Univ., April 11-12, 2003
The Communitarian Network invites you to participate in a conference that aims to
highlight the importance of holidays and rituals within society and as a fertile
field for academic study. Paper proposals on a wide range of topics are welcomed,
as long as they relate to the conference theme: "Holidays and rituals as sources
and indicators of social values." If you wish to present a paper, or serve as a
chair or organizer of a session, or for additional information, please contact
Elizabeth Tulis at The Communitarian Network, 2130 H Street, N.W., Suite 703,
Washington, D.C. 20052; 202.994.8167; etulis@gwu.edu. For information about the
developing program, visit our website at www.gwu/edu/~ccps/wwc.html.
September of Service
This month President Bush called on American students to take part in a "September
of Service" by starting a new service activity or increasing participation in a
current project. In addition, copies of a "Students in Service to America" guidebook
were distributed to 130,000 elementary and secondary schools across the nation. This
guidebook is available on the internet at www.studentsinservicetoamerica.org A transcript
of President Bush's radio address about the initiative is available
at www.usafreedomcorps.gov/about_usafc/whats_new/announcements/20020831-1.asp.
Business School Ethics
Harvard Business School will be making an addition to its application form in the wake
of recent corporate scandals: candidates will now have to submit a statement in which
they discuss an ethical dilemma they have faced. In addition, those writing recommendation
letters will be asked to rate the candidate's integrity on a scale of one to five. Brit J.
Dewey, managing director of admissions and financial aid, said that recent scandals highlight
the importance of making an effort to "understand a candidate's values and ethics." (New York Times, 9/8/02).
Doing one's civic duty - or at least part of it
Communitarians always like to hear that people are being good citizens by reporting to
jury duty - but doing so doesn't excuse murder. In May, Henry Box of Miami reported dutifully
to the courthouse to discharge his obligation as a citizen - despite the fact that he had
shot a man several days before. Police were able to apprehend him right in the courthouse
while he waited with the other potential jurors. (AP, 5/30/02)
New Service Grants for Homeland Protection
In July the White House and the Corporation for National and Community Service announced
new federal grants to support the involvement of 37,000 AmeriCorps and Senior Corps volunteers
in homeland security efforts. Further information available
at www.nationalservice.org/news/pr/071802.html.
Conference: Pluralism, Religion & Public Policy
McGill University in Montreal, Oct. 9-11, 2002.
An international conference designed to bring together people from academia, law,
medicine, politics and religious institutions to debate some of the fundamental
questions of our time. Papers by Jean Bethke Elshtain, H. Tristram Engelhardt Jr.,
William Galston, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, Rabbi
David Novak, and Charles Taylor will be accompanied by symposia in law, politics
and bioethics, each with distinguished panelists, including HRH Prince Hassan bin
Talal of Jordan. Registration is filling up fast. For more information
visit http://www.mcgill.ca/prpp.
New Publications:
"Children, Youth, and Gun Violence," a new report published as part of the David and
Lucille Pachard Foundation's The Future of Children series, takes a look at the
problem of gun violence and crime among children and explores policy alternatives
for addressing it. Available
at http://www.futureofchildren.org/homepage2824/index.htm.
Articles of Interest:
"What Next for the Marriage Movement?" in the Summer 2002 issue of the American
Experiment Quarterly. Norval Glenn, Isabel Sawhill, Wade Horn, Sharon Weston Broome,
W. Bradford Wilcox and Maggie Gallagher discuss a range of issues related to the
future of marriage in America. Available online
at http://www.amexp.org/aeqpdf/AEQv5Index.htm#Summer2002.
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