Biblical lessons say, 'Treat immigrants well'
The current incarnation of the Republican Party consists of two main groups: fiscal conservatives and religious conservatives. On the issue of immigration, fiscal conservatives have made it clear that they support a guest worker program so necessary labor flowing to the United States does not stop. Religious conservatives, on the other hand, have been at the forefront of the most strident anti-immigrant and xenophobic rhetoric since Japanese-Americans were interned at the outbreak of World War II. This is surprising, since Judeo-Christian teaching on this point is quite progressive, exuding a welcoming, though nuanced, attitude.

Primary, march help Latinos develop political maturity
April 15, 2006, will be remembered in the Latino community as the day when the entire spectrum of Latino interests was able to come together at the Council of Spanish-Speaking Organizations in Bethlehem and receive, as a group, Pennsylvania's governor.

Divine mission shouldn't dictate diplomacy with Iran
The march toward a military confrontation with Iran is eerily reminiscent of what happened with Iraq. One key difference, however, is that the leaders of both countries are religious fundamentalists with a messianic view of history. President Bush believes in the Second Coming of Jesus, while Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, believes in the Second Coming of the Twelfth Imam, also known as the Mahdi or ''rightly guided one.''

Rock concert helps rediscover hope in politics
''On the Schukyll Expressway we became embroiled in a wide-ranging conversation that started with a review of the show.''

Language links Sephardic Jews and Latinos
''Living in Spain caused Jews to come into daily contact with

First female rabbi set example for all children to follow
This year, Rabbi Sally J. Priesand will retire as the spiritual leader of Monmouth Reform Temple in Tinton Falls, N.J. She is the first ordained female rabbi in the world, having obtained smicha, the right to be considered a religious leader of her people, in June 1972. This honor was bestowed upon her by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Hamas victory challenges idea democracy fosters peace
It isn't very often that a single election can refute a political theory. But that is exactly what happened with the Hamas victory.

Latinos need to organize to fight new McCarthyism
My good friend Teresa Donate is again in the news. Who, you ask? Maria Teresa Donate was born in Puerto Rico and is an associate professor at Northampton Community College, where she has served with honor and distinction for more than 12 years. She has dedicated her life to better the community by focusing on education. She is president of the Latino Leadership Alliance of the Lehigh Valley and was an integral part of the Pennsylvania Statewide Latino Coalition (PSLC). She also is co-chair of the task force created by the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. to flesh out its recently completed study of Latinos in the Lehigh Valley. She is universally admired as an intelligent and decent person. In short, she's a role model of selfless giving.

Verdict is in: Bush lied about reasons to go to war
In a sign of desperation, President Bush picked this year's Veterans Day to argue that those who voted to authorize the war in Iraq but now question his veracity are guilty of comforting the enemy. While Mr. Bush may want to label as ''enemy combatant'' anyone who disagrees with him, two-thirds of the American people cannot be sent to Guantanamo Bay. He is now stuck with the realization that after nearly three years of exaggerations, distortions and prevarications, the judgment is in: Mr. Bush, you're a liar.

How nostalgia can foster passion and citizenship
Nostalgia is my least favorite emotion. I think it's because I have absorbed the American idea of always looking forward. As a child, my father told me that the good old days are right now, so I grew up in a household where the past barely existed. George Santayana's dictum that ''those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it'' was an irrelevant saying by a vaguely known philosopher.