Overheard

President Obama

And I’ve said before that one of the great strengths of the United States is–although as I mentioned, we have a very large Christian population–we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values.

I think Turkey–modern Turkey–was founded on a similar set of principles. And, yet, what we’re seeing is, in both countries, is that promise of a secular country that is respectful of religious freedom, is respectful of rule of law, respectful of freedom, upholding these values and being willing to stand up for them on the international stage. If we are joined together in delivering that message–East and West–to the world, then I think that we can have an extraordinary impact.

President Barack Obama
Press Conference, Turkey
Televised April 6, 2009

Religion’s Harm to Women

• Ultra-Orthodox newspapers in Jerusalem digitally erased images of Israel’s new Cabinet pictured in April editions. Israel’s two women Cabinet members, Limor Livnat and Sofa Landver, were Photoshopped out of the photo in the daily, Yated Neeman. A weekly newspaper just blacked out the women.
• A video released in April documented Taliban militants flogging a 17-year-old woman in the Swat valley, Pakistan, in an incident apparently occurring in February. The screaming teenager was whipped 34 times by a bearded militant as other men held her down. Pakistan’s Supreme Court launched an investigation into the video, which was shot as the North-West Frontier government signed a controversial peace deal with the Taliban.
  
  A Taliban official reportedly told a newspaper the woman got off lightly, because if the Taliban truly were in charge “she would have been shot.”