http://www.alliancealert.org news from the frontlines of the culture war Thu, 24 May 2012 23:12:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 http://www.alliancealert.org/2011/01/19/james-poulos-tradition-in-the-age-of-equality/ http://www.alliancealert.org/2011/01/19/james-poulos-tradition-in-the-age-of-equality/#comments Wed, 19 Jan 2011 22:08:35 +0000 Admin http://www.alliancealert.org/?p=92328 writing at Cato Unbound: "To understand the fate and future of traditions, we need an alternative to the secularization thesis—and a different conceptual point of departure than 'modernity' . . . [Tocqueville and Nietzsche] recognized that, in a democratic age, Biblical morality would be opposed only insofar as it retained its noble aspect—its commanding system of yeses and nos that authoritatively establish a moral hierarchy. But both thinkers also knew that Biblical morality contained the most profoundly equalizing moral code that had ever been seen on earth—inspiration for a humanistic democratic ethic that sees all persons as equally unique, autonomous, and valuable . . . Traditions cannot be thought of except in relation to institutions. As far as our current struggle is concerned, what is true of marriage is true of any cultural institution that carries traditions that reach back behind the democratic age for at least some of their foundations. Unable to provide their own foundations, traditions in a democratic age are likely to fall back upon the authority of the state—the only institution that can officialize the openness of traditions to all." ]]> http://www.alliancealert.org/2011/01/19/james-poulos-tradition-in-the-age-of-equality/feed/ 0 http://www.alliancealert.org/2011/01/12/cato-institute-marriage-against-the-state-toward-a-new-view-of-civil-marriage/ http://www.alliancealert.org/2011/01/12/cato-institute-marriage-against-the-state-toward-a-new-view-of-civil-marriage/#comments Wed, 12 Jan 2011 22:29:34 +0000 Admin http://www.alliancealert.org/?p=91115 writing at the Cato Institute: "As U.S. courts have repeatedly declared, marriage is fundamentally a private, individual right. One implication of this view, clear but not always consistently applied, is that the federal role in marriage should be to get out of the way. When it cannot, it should behave in predictable, orderly, and low-cost ways so that individuals may conduct their family and private lives as they think best. When the federal government must act in this area, it should do so only with a view toward preserving individual rights. This paper considers federal marriage policy in a new light by suggesting that some, though far from all, of the federal provisions governing marriage may be understood as protections of this kind, or as guarantees of individual responsibility, as in the case of children. When marriage acts in such a way, it merits federal recognition, but not otherwise." ]]> http://www.alliancealert.org/2011/01/12/cato-institute-marriage-against-the-state-toward-a-new-view-of-civil-marriage/feed/ 0 http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/08/26/shattering-the-myth-of-a-left-libertarian-alliance/ http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/08/26/shattering-the-myth-of-a-left-libertarian-alliance/#comments Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:23:22 +0000 Admin http://www.alliancealert.org/?p=70379 writing at The Washington Examiner: "Brink Lindsey, a vice president at Cato and the evangelist of a libertarian-liberal coalition, was driven from the think tank, and he was followed out the door by his astute lieutenant, Will Wilkinson . . . Obama's unprecedented and breathtaking expansion of federal control over the economy, and his continuation of military interventionism and Dick Cheney-era detention and interrogation policies, has made it clear that this administration is openly hostile to the libertarian agenda. In brief: Lindsey's 'liberal-tarianism,' as he calls it, was buried by Obama . . . Obama's excesses are making free-marketeers more partisan." ]]> http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/08/26/shattering-the-myth-of-a-left-libertarian-alliance/feed/ 0 http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/08/06/david-boaz-reagan-appointed-judge-strikes-down-same-sex-marriage-ban/ http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/08/06/david-boaz-reagan-appointed-judge-strikes-down-same-sex-marriage-ban/#comments Fri, 06 Aug 2010 18:26:05 +0000 Admin http://www.alliancealert.org/?p=67814 Cato @ Liberty: "Judge Walker was first appointed to the federal bench by President Ronald Reagan in 1987, at the recommendation of Attorney General Edwin Meese III (now the Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow in Public Policy and Chairman of the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation) . . . this 'liberal San Francisco judge' was recommended by Ed Meese, appointed by Ronald Reagan, and opposed by Alan Cranston, Nancy Pelosi, Edward Kennedy, and the leading gay activist groups. It’s a good thing for advocates of marriage equality that those forces were only able to block Walker twice." ]]> http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/08/06/david-boaz-reagan-appointed-judge-strikes-down-same-sex-marriage-ban/feed/ 0 http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/07/02/federalist-society-is-the-electoral-college-obsolete/ http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/07/02/federalist-society-is-the-electoral-college-obsolete/#comments Fri, 02 Jul 2010 18:50:28 +0000 Admin http://www.alliancealert.org/?p=65028 FedSoc Blog: "At this critical moment in the progress of NPV's legislation, The Federalist Society's Federalism & Separation of Powers Practice Group and The Cato Institute's Center for Constitutional Studies will co-host a debate between Ms. Tara Ross, author of Enlightened Democracy: The Case for the Electoral College, and Hon. Jamin Raskin, Maryland State Senator and Professor of Constitutional Law at American University, Washington College of Law, over whether the Electoral College should be retained and whether the potential benefits of NPV's solution outweigh its possible detriments. Dr. Roger Pilon, Vice President for Legal Affairs of The Cato Institute, will moderate. The event will be held at 12:00 PM, Thursday, July 8, 2010, at The Cato Institute. Please click here for further details and registration information." ]]> http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/07/02/federalist-society-is-the-electoral-college-obsolete/feed/ 0 http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/06/28/court-case-seeking-protection-for-signers-of-pro-marriage-petition/ http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/06/28/court-case-seeking-protection-for-signers-of-pro-marriage-petition/#comments Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:46:54 +0000 Admin http://www.alliancealert.org/?p=64275 WorldNetDaily: "Arguing death threats have a significant 'chilling' effect on free speech, an attorney representing supporters of Washington state's traditional-marriage referendum says he's confident a lower court will decide to protect their names and addresses. ... The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week it would not issue a blanket ban on the release of signatures on petition documents. The high court, however, explained its decision did not prevent the Washington state petition signers from gaining an exemption from public disclosure at the lower court. ... [CWA] was one of many [organizations] that filed friend-of-the-court briefs in the Washington state case. Other groups included Liberty Counsel, Cato Institute, Institute for Justice, Alliance Defense Fund, American Center for Law and Justice and the Justice and Freedom Fund." ]]> http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/06/28/court-case-seeking-protection-for-signers-of-pro-marriage-petition/feed/ 0 http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/06/08/cato-institute-and-center-for-american-progress-marriage-equality-for-all-couples/ http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/06/08/cato-institute-and-center-for-american-progress-marriage-equality-for-all-couples/#comments Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:55:30 +0000 Admin http://www.alliancealert.org/?p=62502 Center for American Progress, and Robert A. Levy, chairman of the Cato Institute, writing in the Washington Post: "43 years after Loving, the courts are once again grappling with denial of equal marriage rights -- this time to gay couples. We believe that a society respectful of individual liberty must end this unequal treatment under the law. Toward that goal, we have agreed to co-chair the advisory board of the American Foundation for Equal Rights. The foundation helped launch the case of Perry v. Schwarzenegger, which is currently before a federal district court in California but is likely to be appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court." ]]> http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/06/08/cato-institute-and-center-for-american-progress-marriage-equality-for-all-couples/feed/ 0 http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/04/13/becket-fund-luke-goodrich-to-debate-merits-of-cls-v-martinez/ http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/04/13/becket-fund-luke-goodrich-to-debate-merits-of-cls-v-martinez/#comments Tue, 13 Apr 2010 14:57:43 +0000 ADF Alliance Alert http://www.alliancealert.org/wordpress/2010/04/13/becket-fund-luke-goodrich-to-debate-merits-of-cls-v-martinez/ Becket Fund: The Federalist Society's Religious Liberties Practice Group, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and The Cato Institute Present: Christian Legal Society v. Martinez on Wed. April 14, 2010, 12:00 noon - 2 pm. at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. ]]> http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/04/13/becket-fund-luke-goodrich-to-debate-merits-of-cls-v-martinez/feed/ 0