COVER: "The Decline and Fall of Christian America" (p. 34). Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham explores the fact that two thirds of the public now say religion is "losing influence" in American society, and the proportion of Americans who think religion "can answer all or most of today's problems" is now at a historic low of 48 percent. Meacham writes that these figures show that America has not only become less Christian, but moved into a "post-Christian" phase. "This is not to say that the Christian God is dead," he writes. "But that he is less of a force in American politics and culture than at any other time in recent memory." Not only has the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation nearly doubled since 1990, the Northeast, formerly the "home base" of American religion, has emerged in 2008 as the new stronghold of the religiously unidentified.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/192583
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090405/95484 )
"Suddenly Seeking Specter" (p. 26). Political Correspondent Katie Connolly and Reporter Daniel Stone profile Senator Arlen Specter, who in his 28 years in the Senate, has been accused of many things. Some of his Republican colleagues grouse in private that he is sanctimonious and unreliable, while Democrats complain he's a fair-weather friend who makes speeches about breaking with his party--but then abandons them when it comes time to vote. But at this point in his career--he is 79 and has survived bouts with cancer--Specter doesn't seem to give a damn what anyone says about him. His colleagues may wince, but for reasons of math Specter now finds himself the most sought-after, and sucked-up-to, member of the Senate. He could wind up casting the deciding vote on major issues, including health-care and energy reform.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/192464
LIVING POLITICS: "What Was That About?" (p. 27). Senior Washington Correspondent Howard Fineman examines Sen. Judd Gregg, who only two months ago embodied a new spirit of bipartisanship in Washington. To the surprise of everyone, he cut a deal to join Obama's cabinet. Attacked from left and right, burdened by his own second thoughts, Gregg withdrew. The president and his Democratic allies, Gregg says, wrote a hyperpartisan budget that could bankrupt the nation, weaken the dollar and (thanks to certain parliamentary tactics being employed) undermine the deliberative role of the Senate. Gregg insists there was no one revelation that made him reverse course. Conservatives attacked him as a turncoat; liberals and minority groups attacked his traditionalist view on how to conduct the census (a process run by the department he would have headed) and The White House didn't exactly seem to have his back.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/192466
INTERNATIONAL: "A Message of Hope From a Pile of Bones" (p. 28). Contributing Editor Ellis Cose writes about the genocide in Rwanda that erupted after the 1994 murder of Rwanda's president, Juvenal Habyarimana. Now, optimism is surprisingly easy to find in Rwanda as many people are intent on rebuilding a nation out of the ashes. It's not clear how transferable Rwanda's experience will prove to be. Rwanda is a tiny place. Victims knew their attackers, and attackers knew their victims. The country is like one huge extended family. That's what made the violence particularly unfathomable. But it's also what gives people confidence that their efforts, no matter how small, can make a difference.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/192462
INTERNATIONAL: "There Will Be Bankruptcies" (p. 32). Correspondent Owen Matthews and Anna Nemtsova profile Oleg Deripaska, who a year ago was Russia's richest oligarch with a $44 billion global empire and 290,000 employees. A few weeks ago Deripaska was facing the loss of his empire unless the Russian president got its creditors to hold off foreclosing $7.4 billion in urgent overdue loans--less than half of his total indebtedness. The story of Deripaska's rise and fall is a window on money and power in post-Soviet Russia, showing the flaws that hid behind the nation's economic revival under Putin--and the dilemma the country now faces in the aftermath of the crash.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/192461
ECONOMY: "What Else Are We Wrong About?" (p. 39). Jacob Weisberg, editor in chief of the Slate Group, writes that before 2008, few economists doubted the fundamental soundness of the U.S. financial system, which brings up the question: what other big stuff could we be wrong about? Weisberg tackles such topics as: nuclear proliferation; climate change; the stability of China and more.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/192465
SOCIETY: "Free At Last" (p. 40). Newsweek INTERNATIONAL Editor Fareed Zakaria writes that in order to achieve energy independence, the United States should first wean itself off oil in order to diminish its crucial importance in the world of energy. That would make states like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia and Venezuela less powerful--and less able to fund militias and terrorist groups. However, given the demands for energy over the next few decades, oil is going to be a key part of the mix, which means that these countries will have plenty of cash and we will probably have to struggle against these forces for a long time. There is no quick energy fix. The real sense in which we should strive for energy independence is somewhat different--and far more ambitious. We need an energy policy that understands that the world is going to require much more energy in the future.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/192479
SOCIETY: "A (Designer) Dog's Life" (p. 52). National Correspondent Suzanne Smalley writes that if the Obamas choose a hybrid dog, unethical breeders will try to cash in. Many of trendy "designer dogs" like puggles, Maltepoos, and Chipins are products of puppy mills, where they can sell a "designer dog" for more than $1,000 apiece. No matter which breed the Obamas choose, animal-welfare advocates expect to see a "101 Dalmatians" effect: a sudden burst in popularity that results when a movie or a celebrity puts a spotlight on a particular dog, a phenomenon breeders try to capitalize on by mass-producing similar dogs.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/192478
ESSAY: "Judy, Barbra, Liza--And Little Edie" (p. 58). Actor Alan Cumming observes how the women from the documentary "Grey Gardens" became gay icons. "It's actually pretty simple: gay men of a certain age have an affinity to people who, like them, have faced adversity, and who, like them, have had to fight to become the person they want to be."
http://www.newsweek.com/id/192486
