Today on Kresta - January 19, 2010

Talking about the "things that matter most" on Jan. 19

4:00 – Kresta Comments

4:20 – The Real Gitmo: What I saw at America’s best detention facility
Shortly after 5 A.M., a detainee with an uneven voice sings the call to prayer. After a few bars, a second detainee joins in by sounding out another hymn. "That's unusual," a tower guard who looks bored after a few months on the job remarks. "Usually, just one of them does it." Detainees assemble in a corner of the camp and begin praying. Others pace back and forth in front of their cells with prayer beads in hand. For several minutes all is quiet--eerily so. Some of the world's most dangerous terrorists lurk just a short distance from our perch atop a guard tower, but you would never know it. Welcome to Camp 4 at the Guantánamo Bay detention facility in Cuba. Thomas Joscelyn recently toured Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and is here to report on what he saw.

4:40 – After the Baby Boomers: How Twenty- and Thirty-Somethings Are Shaping the Future of American Religion
In a volume sure to change how pundits and clergy think about religion in the contemporary U.S., prolific Princeton sociologist Robert Wuthnow assembles and analyzes a vast amount of data about the religious lives of Americans aged 21 to 45. His interests include the extent to which younger adults participate in organized worship, as well as how they think about spirituality, the relationship between religion and politics, and theology. Wuthnow insists that in some ways, today’s younger adults are similar to their boomer parents—the vitality of small groups, for example, is nothing new. But there are key differences, chief among them the tendency of today’s younger adults to remain single longer than ever before. Married people are significantly more likely to participate in religious communities; at the same time, participation in at least some religious groups may make marriage more likely. Wuthnow argues that our society provides lots of structural support for children and teens, but leaves younger adults to fend for themselves during the decades when they’re making crucial decisions about family and work. He is our guest.

5:00 – Prop 8 on Trial…Again
A majority of voters stopped same-sex “marriage” in California simply by casting a ballot for Proposition 8. Today, the federal trial resumes in San Francisco with attorneys challenging Proposition 8 building a multi-layered argument that voters' action created an unconstitutional law based on prejudice and unfounded fear about homosexuality. During the historic trial that began last week in U.S. District Court, attorneys for gay couples tried through opening arguments and witness testimony to show that the government — or the voters — have no rational purpose for excluding gays from a “fundamental right” such as marriage. We get the latest from Bill May who has been on top of this since the beginning.

5:20 – Fort Hood report raises numerous questions about threats to the homeland On Friday, an independent Pentagon panel delivered its report on the Fort Hood shootings back in November. The report finds a breakdown that allowed a radicalized Muslim officer to progress through the ranks and put fellow service members in the line of fire. Top military leaders are promising America’s fighting men and women that they’ll be better protected from internal threats in the future. The report finds more than 50 areas of concern and the Pentagon says it’s already taking action. We discuss this report, which was largely buried due to the Haiti earthquake, with Robert Spencer.

5:30 – “Islamist Lawfare” Loses in TX
The Texas Supreme Court dealt another blow to Islamic organizations which use lawsuits as a form of “legal jihad” to silence public discussion of Islamic terrorist threats. On Friday, January 15, the Texas Supreme Court denied a petition for review of a Second District Court of Appeals opinion which dismissed the defamation lawsuit brought by seven Dallas-area Islamic organizations against internet journalist Joe Kaufman. What is “Islamist Lawfare” and what are the details of this particular case? We talk to Keith Corbett of the Thomas More Law Center.

5:40 – TBA