c. 2008 Religion News Service
Poll: Clinton leads Obama among most religious groups
WASHINGTON (RNS) Sen. Hillary Clinton is leading Sen. Barack Obama among most religious groups, with the exception of black Protestants and those practicing non-Christian religions or no religion, a new Gallup Poll says.
Clinton held a 56 percent to 37 percent lead among all Catholics and a 53 percent to 42 percent lead among non-white Catholics.
Among Democratic voters surveyed, Clinton leads by more than 20 points among white Protestants, but Obama maintains a solid 45-point lead over Clinton among non-white Protestants, 70 percent to 25 percent.
Overall, however, Protestant voters were almost equally divided between the two candidates, favoring Obama by only 3 percentage points.
Among Jewish Democrats, Clinton’s lead was 48 percent to 43 percent, within the margin of error (plus or minus 6 percentage points) for the survey of 348 Jews who were surveyed.
The poll was conducted amid reports on the controversial sermons of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s former Chicago pastor, whom critics accuse of being anti-Israel.
Rabbi Marc Schneier, president of the New York-based Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, said Wright’s comments are not enough to derail decades of black-Jewish alliances forged in the struggle for civil rights.
“One might assume that in light of recent difficulties that Obama has faced … that Jews would be drifting away from his support,” Schneier said. “But there is a great history among blacks and Jews in this country that I believe transcends any kind of controversy.”
The survey of 9,204 adults was conducted by telephone during March 1-22. The margin of error for the entire poll is plus or minus 2 percentage points.
_ Brittani Hamm
By 2020, more worshippers in U.K. mosques than Catholic churches
LONDON (RNS) New research indicates that within the next 12 years, the number of Muslims worshipping at mosques in Britain will outstrip that of Roman Catholics attending traditional church services.
According to a report by London’s Daily Telegraph newspaper on Monday (March 25), the study by Britain’s Christian Research organization estimates that, based on present trends, the number of Catholics attending Sunday Mass will have dropped to 679,000 by 2020.
At the same time, the report’s statisticians say, the number of Muslims in attendance at mosques will have climbed to 683,000.
The Telegraph says the Christian Research report, based on British government and academic information as well as the firm’s own Religious Trends study, comes “amid growing tensions over the place of Muslims in British society.”
Such tensions include claims by Christian clerics that “no-go” areas for non-Muslims are springing up in parts of the country.
The newspaper quoted Peter Brierley, a former British government statistician who edited the latest Religious Trends, predicting that the continuing growth of the nation’s Muslim population since the 2001 census would have “significant implications” for society.
The Telegraph said the projections show that if Catholic and Protestant churches “do not reverse their historical decline, there will be more active Muslims than Christians in Sunday services across Britain before the end of the middle of the (21st) century.”
_ Al Webb
Pa. pastor admits stealing church members’ identities
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (RNS) A Pennsylvania pastor has pleaded guilty to stealing church members’ identities to obtain credit cards and cash advances for personal purchases totaling nearly $30,000.
The Rev. Raymond Lee Clayton, 43, admitted he used Grace Fellowship Church members’ personal information to obtain credit cards during a six-month period that ended last April.
“I trusted him completely,” said Patricia Tomedi, 83, who was treasurer of the now defunct church.
Others in the small congregation just outside Mount Carmel became suspicious of Clayton, but “I thought it was his way of doing things,” she said.
She later learned her Social Security information was among the data Clayton used to obtain credit cards.
The Baptist minister, who is without a church, was indicted in October on charges of bank and wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
His attorney negotiated a plea agreement that requires full restitution and recommends a jail sentence of a year and a day. Clayton faces similar charges in county court, but the district attorney said they likely would be dropped.
Clayton did not dispute Assistant U.S. Attorney George J. Rocktashel’s statement that Clayton changed the church mailing address to a post office box to cover up his scheme.
The Mississippi native was pastor of the independent Grace Fellowship Church for about 18 months. The church was about 25 years old when it folded, Tomedi said.
It once had more than 75 members, but dropped to about 30 by the time Clayton arrived, and the church disbanded after he was charged, she said.
Judge James F. McClure Jr. let Clayton remain free on personal recognizance until sentencing in June.
_ John Beauge
Quote of the Day: Zhang Qingli
(RNS) “The Communist Party is like the parent to the Tibetan people, and it is always considerate about what the children need. The Central Party Committee is the real Buddha for Tibetans.”
_ Zhang Qingli, the China-appointed Communist Party chief in Tibet, where Chinese police have suppressed protests by Tibetan monks and lay people clamoring for autonomy. Zhang’s remarks, quoted by The Associated Press this month, were uttered last year.
KRE/RB END RNS
