Thomas Jefferson

Did Jefferson have a child with one of his slaves?

(58% of the 2302.8006 class thought yes.)

Free Trade

Should the US adopt a free-trade agreement with Colombia?

(71% of the 2301.8009 class thought yes.)
(77% of the 2301.8012 class thought yes.)

Founders and Equality

Did the Founders of the US really believe that "all men are created equal"?

(55% of the 2302.8006 class thought no.)

Free Speech and Muslim Brotherhood

Should the members of the Muslim Brotherhood be allowed to persuade people to establish Sharia law in the United States?

(66% of the 2302.8006 class thought no.)

Freedom of the Press and XXX-Rated Movies

Should the people of Richardson be able to keep out Zone d'Erotica, if they want to?

(63% of the 2302.8006 class thought yes.)

Freedom of the Press and Revolution

Should the people of NY be allowed to make it a crime to persuade others through writing that it would be a good idea to violently overthrow the US government?

(70% of the 2302.8006 class thought yes.)

Establishment of Religion

Should the people of New York be able to require public students to pray at the beginning of the school day?

“Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country.” Prayer from NY schools declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1962 (in Engel v. Vitale).

(65% of the 2302.8006 class thought yes.)

US Agricultural Policy

Should the federal government encourage farmers to grown corn to be used as an additive to gasoline?

(68% of the GOVT 2301.8009 class thought no.)
(67% of the GOVT 2301.8012 class thought no.)

Theory of Evolution

Is there scientific evidence that apes and human beings share a common ancestor and that all living things evolved from a one-celled organism by means of random mutations and natural selection?

See here for the Inner Life of a Cell

Intelligent Design

Should the people of Dover, PA be able to teach the theory of intelligent design in public schools?

(67% of the 2302.8006 class thought yes.)
(52% of the 2301.8009 class thought yes.)
(79% of the 2301.8012 class thought yes.)

Karl Marx

Was a Karl Marx a good and idealistic man who should not be held responsible for the deaths of millions of people who died at the hands of people who called themselves Marxists?

Birth Control Pills

Should the people of Connecticut be able to make it illegal for women to use birth control pills, even if they are married?

(83% of the 2301.8012 class thought no.)

Foreign Aid for Population Control

Should the US increase foreign aid for the funding of family planning? (For a defintion of “Global Gag Rule” see here.)

(78% of the GOVT 2301.8009 class thought no.)

Religion in Texas Prison

Should the State of Texas be allowed to have a prison unit devoted to helping prisoners follow Jesus?

(86% of the 2302.8006 class thought yes.)

Religion

“The belief in a God All Powerful wise & good, is so essential to the moral order of the World & to the happiness of man, that arguments which enforce it cannot be drawn from too many sources...." (James Madison to Frederick Beasley, November 20, 1825)

Does a belief in this kind of a God cause people to be less willing to harm others, as Madison suggests? Does believing that there is no God (as in the case of Stalin and Mao) cause one to be more willing to harm others?

Abortion

Should we the people of Texas be able to make it illegal to get an abortion, if we want to?

(63% of the 2301.8009 class thought no.)
(52% of the 2301.8012 class thought no.)

Illegal Immigration

Should the US build a border fence?

Death Penalty

Should the people of Louisiana be able to execute convicted child rapists, if they want to?

(72% of the 2302.8006 class thought yes.)

Illegal Immigration

Should the US enforce its immigration laws?

Freedom and Polygamy

Should people be allowed to practice polygamy, even with 16-year old girls, if it is part of their religion?

(84% of the 2301.8009 class thought no.)
(88% of the 2301.8012 class thought no.)

Texas and Homosexuality

Should the State of Texas be able to make it a crime for people of the same gender to have sex?

(80% of the GOVT 2302.8006 class thought no.)

Equality and the Declaration

Did the Founders of the US really mean "all men"--that is, all human beings--when they said "all men are created equal"?

(54% of the 2301.8012 class thought yes.)

Affirmative Action

Should UT be able to show preference based on race?

(81% of the 2301.8009 class thought no.)

McCain and Abortion

Would it be right to elect a man for president who thinks that Roe v. Wade should be overturned?

(59% of the 2302.8006 class thought yes.)

Media and Recession

Has the negative way in which the media has covered the economy led the American people to think that we are in a recession?

(52% of the GOVT 2301.8009 class thought yes.)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,343671,00.html

Liberty and God

In a free society, is it important for people to believe in God?

(53% of the GOVT 2301.8009 class thought yes.)
(53% of the GOVT 2301.8012 class thought no.)

Al Qaeda on Trial

Should members of Al Qaeda be tried in civil courts?

Ghailani trial and more on Ghailani

(75% of the 2302.8006 class thought no)