All Corporations Go to Heaven

Click here for a copy of the article discussed below


This March 29^th article in The Economist discusses the limits of the religious liberty clause in the Constitution in relation to the Sebelius v Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v Sebelius cases currently before the Supreme Court. The case comes after the Christian owners of both companies debated publicly the section of the Affordable Care Act requiring all religiously-unaffiliated companies to provide free, federally-approved contraceptives to their employees. The lawyers representing these corporations cite the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) passed overwhelmingly in Congress, saying that a person should be exempt from a law if it significantly imposes on that person’s religious liberty. So far, the Supreme Court justices have remained divided across party lines, the conservative judges favoring the corporations and the liberal ones leaning toward the federal government.



http://atheistoasis.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/hobbylobby.jpg

There is one huge issue brought about by the ability for a corporation to declare itself of one specific religion, such as is the case with Hobby Lobby and Conestaga with Christianity. This problem goes back to the famous case involving Citizens United that gave free speech and therefore other First Amendment rights to corporations, legally making them people in the eyes of the Constitution. By defending their respective companies on the basis of religious liberty, the owners of Hobby Lobby and Conestaga essentially are saying that their corporations are Christian, or at least a representative of those religions that prohibit contraceptive use. This misrepresents the fact that both companies are diverse in the religious representation among their employees. This would deny many employees access to the contraceptive due to them under the Affordable Care Act, and if the Supreme Court were to do its duty, it should declare that a corporation has no right to declare an official religion if it has no federally-recognized religious status.

Putin's Power Push

http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/putin-timeline/


           
      This article, taken from CBCNews, describes the history of one of the most feared and unpredictable leaders of the world today, Vladimir Putin. Born to a humble family in 1952 in then-Leningrad, he soon made something of himself by earning a degree in both economics and international law at the Leningrad State University. After this scholarly success, he opted to join the KGB, the communist intelligence agency, and rose to the position of lieutenant-colonel, remaining as such until the fall of the Soviet Union. Having resigned from spy work in 1991, he decided that he should run for city council. During the next eight years, he would hold many governmental positions, including mayoral aide, the head of the federal security service, which was the reformed, post-communism form of the KGB, and ultimately the prime minister and chosen successor of Boris Yeltsin. When Yeltsin took a permanent leave from politics in 1999, Putin became president, and throughout his two terms (he was reelected in 2004) he was very popular, largely due to his strengthening of an economy still transitioning from communism to capitalism. Due to the two-term limit ensured by the constitution, Putin stepped down after the conclusion of his second term and was replaced by noted Putin fan Dmitry Medvedev. Medvedev soon made Putin his prime minister and gave the new prime minister more power so the power-share was more even between the two of them. After Medvedev’s first term ended in 2012, Putin stepped forward as president, sparking mass outcry due to claims of vote fraud at the general election. He made Medvedev the Russian prime minister. Putin’s most recent term has been fraught with outrage, especially concerning the anti-gay policies of Russia, its dealings with Syria, and its granting of asylum to Edward Snowden, a proclaimed enemy of the U.S.

This most recent act of unfairness in the election really does show what too much ambition can do to a person. Fraud at this massive of a scale should never happen under the title of a democracy. Compare this with the young Putin, and one finds two very different types of ambition. Because he wanted to make something of himself, he worked extremely hard and got his way through college, finishing with two degrees in some of the most complex subjects around. He did this for his own ends to fulfill his personal dreams, which most everyone can agree were healthy. He also helped out his lower-middle-class family by earning degrees in subjects that were likely to find him gainful employment and a source of steady income. This ambitious motivation soon became deluded by the KGB, the notorious state police that famously cracked down on detesters and naysayers. During his time there, Putin learned what corrupt power felt like and what it was to truly take away personal freedoms. This misplaced drive became overwhelmingly apparent during his illegal and corrupted third term election. There were reports of “ballot stuffing” left and right among the Russian people. As we have seen recently in the examples of Syria and Snowden, Putin does not care much, respectively, for the rights of humans nor for the generally-accepted rules of international politics, which seems ironic for an international law major. This is unacceptable and both Russians and the international community have the right to be angry at such a deluded and disillusioned dictator-of-sorts.

Hello, brother Blogsters, grandpa Googlers, and sister Social Media-ers. My name is Aaron Salzman. I am a sophomore in high school. And my story begins here. While Pitbull may be THE Mr. International, I have had my fair share of traveling. Beginning in the 2^nd semester of the 2^nd grade, I’ve traveled to Dungarven, Ireland, every other summer to see my friends that I have made during my times there. Given that my mom is a French teacher and once worked at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), my family has also traveled to France and many other European nations, including England, Belgium, and Italy. Speaking of my family, I have one 10-year-old sister, an identical twin, a mom, a dad, who is a theology teacher, 2 cats, and a brand new puppy. We’ve lived at our current house, in Omaha, since I was in Kindergarten. Our house is often filled with the sound of violin, my instrument of choice, or the vigorous practicing on Thursday nights as Ian and I prepare for the performance of our duo at the speech meet tomorrow. Ian and I have done speech since the sixth grade, and we have done duos every year since. National qualifiers are coming up, so hopefully that turns out well! Although I do play the violin, which has fallen out of style with the rising popularity of the idea that one only needs a blender noise to create music, I still love popular music, especially songs like Wop, any and every Of Monsters and Men song, and most of Kanye West’s and Eminem’s music, too. Though I do play violin, I don’t see it as a career option for me. I enjoy social work and politics and psychology, so there’s plenty of narrowing down left for me to do! And with that, to quote all of Justin Bieber’s fans following his eventual deportation, “See ya later. Much, much later…”