{"title":"Robert Edward Sterken","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"bill-ratliff-book-robert-edward-sterken-jr-9781498546959","title":"Bill Ratliff","description":"Lt. Governor Bill Ratliff is an engineer, a widely respected senator, and according to Caroline Kennedy he is an inspiration to all who serve in government, and to all Americans. Senator Ratliff, nicknamed Obi Wan Kenobi by his colleagues, was a revered and much loved leader in Texas for more than a decade. He singularly wrote the Texas Robin-Hood school finance law, a major Ethics reform law, a Texas tort reform law, and held a great disdain for narrow partisanship and politics. This is the inspirational story of a great man doing good work in a time when many are cynical about political leadership and government. His courageous stand on principle brought him to a showdown with powerful forces in the Bush White House and earned him the public vitriol of right-wing billionaires.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50170737590545,"sku":"CIN1498546951G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52148376928529,"sku":"NLS9781498546959","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1498546951.jpg?v=1759400943"},{"product_id":"kings-of-buddhism-book-robert-edward-sterken-jr-9781538177945","title":"The Kings of Buddhism","description":"The Kings of Buddhism explores the consequences of state regulation and protection of a country's majority religion. Sterken argues that religious liberty or the lack thereof results from rational interest-based calculations of both religious and state actors. Using insights dating back to Adam Smith, John Locke, and Thomas Jefferson, Sterken argues that centuries of state support for Theravada Buddhism has corrupted the Myanmar religious marketplace. At the expense of religions and the society, Myanmar's kings and military rulers have protected and regulated religion to enhance their own political survival. The consequences of state and religion entanglement include 1) a state supported religious monopoly, 2) corruption, regulation, and repression of Theravada Buddhists, 3) repression and violence against religious minorities, 4) perpetual conflict and violence, 5) a corrupt religious economy, and 6) a corruption of truth. The consequences of state control are stark and should serve as a warning to all who would seek to entangle religion and the state.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51553761493265,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51553763426577,"sku":"NIN9781538177945","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52686933000465,"sku":"NLS9781538177945","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1538177943.jpg?v=1759400515"},{"product_id":"bill-ratliff-book-robert-edward-sterken-jr-9781498546935","title":"Bill Ratliff","description":"Lt. Governor Bill Ratliff is an engineer, a widely respected senator, and according to Caroline Kennedy he is an inspiration to all who serve in government, and to all Americans. Senator Ratliff, nicknamed Obi Wan Kenobi by his colleagues, was a revered and much loved leader in Texas for more than a decade. He singularly wrote the Texas Robin-Hood school finance law, a major Ethics reform law, a Texas tort reform law, and held a great disdain for narrow partisanship and politics. This is the inspirational story of a great man doing good work in a time when many are cynical about political leadership and government. His courageous stand on principle brought him to a showdown with powerful forces in the Bush White House and earned him the public vitriol of right-wing billionaires.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52129247232273,"sku":"NLS9781498546935","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781498546935.jpg?v=1757495703"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-robert-edward-sterken.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}