Mark Silk
Mark Silk is Professor of Religion in Public Life at Trinity College and director of the college's Leonard E. Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life. He is a Contributing Editor of the Religion News Service
All Stories by Mark Silk
Stop the presses!
By Mark Silk — June 22, 2008
This is a news story? McCain goes to his church? On Sunday?
The Dark Side
By Mark Silk — June 22, 2008
Eli Saslow’s WaPo piece on the bump Obama’s rise has given to white supremacist groups and websites is worth a read and a ponder. Naturally this is not anything for the non-white supremacists among us to feel happy about, but compared to underground anti-Catholicism in 1960 it doesn’t seem to amount to very much. Nowadays, […]
Hey, IRS!
By Mark Silk — June 21, 2008
Peter Steinfels pops the National Right to Life Committee for making Karl Rove the featured speaker at its annual convention July 4. The title of Rove’s remarks? “Renewing Life in America — An Old-Fashioned Political Rally.” Steinfels thinks this is too partisan by half for an organization that claims to be non-partisan–and, though he doesn’t […]
Dr. SUSA Abides
By Mark Silk — June 20, 2008
As the SurveyUSA state polls continue to roll in the pattern remains the same: The regular worship attenders break strongly for McCain, the occasionals and the almost nevers break strongly for Obama. Here’s California. At the margin–and, as the economists know, the margin is where it’s at–what Obama can do to attract more religious voters […]
Don’t Islamize Obama
By Mark Silk — June 20, 2008
Another GOP Mike stands up for the presumptive Democratic nominee, this time NY Mayor Bloomberg, and not in a brief aside either, in a speech to Jews in Palm Beach. If McCain won’t tap the Bloomster for veep, how about post-partisan Barack? Fugedaboudit.
To demonize or not to demonize
By Mark Silk — June 20, 2008
Not that Mke Huckabee’s gone all soft and squishy on the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate or anything. Evidently the Huck has caught some serious flak for his “don’t demonize Obama” exhortation.
Oyez, Oyez!
By Mark Silk — June 20, 2008
Americans United (AU), the intrepid watchdog of the Wall of Separation, has emailed a fund raising appeal to help it stop “the Religious Right” from “coercing religious leaders to break the law!” (Exclamation point not added) What’s up? Well, the conservative Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has designated September 28 as a day for pastors to […]
Evangelicals thrice removed
By Mark Silk — June 19, 2008
In laying out the GOP veepstakes appeal of Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty in his WaPo blog, Chris Cillizza relies on former Minn. GOP congressman Vin Weber for the view that Pawlenty’s wife Mary will get the evangelicals right with McCain. Mary Pawlenty, a judge, is apparently close to her pastor, Leith Anderson, the past and […]
Issues, Issues
By Mark Silk — June 19, 2008
Anyone interested in assessing the importance of religion in the campaign needs to keep in mind the country’s evolving issues agenda. Last election, you’ll recall, “Moral Values” topped the list in the exit polls, which set the stage for the current Democratic interest in pumping up religious outreach. To be sure, some journalistic snoots were […]
No apology necessary
By Mark Silk — June 18, 2008
r-PSen. Gordon Smith (R-Or.), no enemy of gay rights, has apologized for comparing same-sex marriage to the polygamy practiced by his Mormon forebears. Last week he walked into this minefield for reasons of the heart, not the head. The reaction from the GLBT community was not positive. As the Portland Oregonian reported: “Talking about polygamy […]
Head Scarf Ban
By Mark Silk — June 18, 2008
No, not in Turkey. But from the audience behind the podium at Obama’s speech in Detroit. I’m shocked, shocked.
White Catholics = Whites. White evangelicals = ?
By Mark Silk — June 18, 2008
O the wastage of ink and electrons over Barack Obama’s alleged Catholic problem! As usual for Democrats in general elections, it’s white evangelicals, not Catholics, that are the problem, but maybe this year not so much. The latest evidence? Quinnipiac polls showing Obama with modest leads in the swing states of Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. […]
As Reagan said…
By Mark Silk — June 18, 2008
In an interview with Brody, Barack Obama gives his version of the meeting he had with religious leaders in Chicago last week–who ran the gamut, he notes, from UCC president John H. Thomas to Franklin Graham. Obama says he began by quoting Ronald Reagan’s famous remark at the 1980 National Affairs Briefing in Dallas, to […]
Dr. SUSA
By Mark Silk — June 17, 2008
I’ve been looking at the presidential match-up in recent Survey USA state polls, which divide up respondents by worship attendance into “regularly,” “occasionally,” and “almost never.” In just about every case, John McCain wins the regularlies, while Obama wins the occasionalies and almost nevers. (Alabama, where all three categories go equally strongly for McCain., is […]
