Recent Respect Commentaries

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Whose Religious Freedom is Threatened?
Ever since the Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage last June, several states have proposed legislation that would “protect” religious freedom. Legislators claim that opponents of same-sex marriage who own a business need a law that protects their right – based on their religious beliefs – to refuse service to gay couples. On Wednesday, the Missouri State Senate...
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March 11, 2016
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Trump Supporters to Electorate: DROP DEAD!
Just when you thought the Republican race for the presidential nomination could not possibly get embarrassingly worse, it does. Last night, billionaire huckster Donald Trump had already won 7 of 12 state primaries and looked to increase his lead before the night was over. Forty-eight hours earlier he was interviewed on CNN’s State of the Union (Feb. 28), by Jake...
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March 2, 2016
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Privacy v. Security: The Debate
Late Friday, CNN Tech reported (Feb. 19) that The House Energy and Commerce Committee has invited Apple CEO Tim Cook and F.B.I. Director James Comey “to explain to Congress and the American people the issues at play and how they plan to move forward.” This came about after Apple refused the F.B.I.’s request to create a program to unlock a...
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February 22, 2016
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Privacy v. Security
When terrorists Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik were killed by police after they attacked and killed 14 co-workers in San Bernardino, California, the FBI immediately began examining their cell phones to determine if the husband and wife had any connections to ISIS or other terrorists. Certainly, not unreasonable. Authorities frequently search personal belongings – computers, laptops, phones, etc. – of...
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February 19, 2016
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A New Hope
Every year newspapers put forth editorials about expectations for the New Year. Looking back, 2015 has been perhaps, the most unsettling in the first decade of the new millennium. With the rise of the Islamic State, we have seen a global war by a group of extremists who justify killing non-believers in the name of their religion. Factually speaking, the...
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January 4, 2016
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Notables and Quotables of 2015
If a year can be summarized with one word it might be entitlement: entitled to ignore the facts; entitled to change the law in order to suit your own religious beliefs; entitled to own assault weapon(s) and high-capacity magazines; entitled to ban all individuals of a particular religion from entry into the U.S. Let’s dispense with the easy ones first....
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December 28, 2015
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Don’t Mess with Mama
The streets of Milwaukee can be tough. Fortunately, Mama’s on patrol. Martha Freeman is a 77-year old retired corrections officer who, by day tends to household chores like passing out donated bread to those in need. By night, however, she cruises her neighborhood looking for kids who might be getting into trouble. And she’s packin’… wisdom and kindness. In a...
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December 21, 2015
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What Makes a Hero?
“A hero has two basic qualities: a selfless devotion to what’s right, whether that’s his duty or not, and the courage of his convictions.”  – Dale Dye, Marine Captain (Ret.) In 2012, while fighting in Afghanistan, Army Captain Florent Groberg demonstrated the kind of selfless devotion to duty Dye speaks of when he knowingly rushed a suicide bomber who was...
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November 16, 2015
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The Scorpion and the Frog – A Modern Fable
By now, presidential candidate Donald Trump’s principal success has been in branding his behavior as relentlessly rude, crude and uncurbed, believing he can bully and badger his way to the White House. And when it comes to the facts, he doesn’t just play fast and loose, he just plain ignores them. Trump likes to use the word “fabulous” in describing...
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October 1, 2015
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The Audacity of Humility
“It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.”  – St. Augustine Before his elevation to the head of the Catholic Church, Jorge Bergoglio began as a Jesuit priest from Argentina. Since his investiture as Pope in 2013, following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis — in honor of Francis of...
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September 25, 2015

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