rvineis
rvineis is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by rvineis
Carville: Richardson is Judas
By rvineis — March 22, 2008
The ragin’ cajun, James Carville, really got into the spirit of this Easter weekend when he likened Bill Richardson’s endorsement of Obama to a betrayal like Judas’. The Democratic strategist and HRC supporter said “Mr. Richardson’s endorsement came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver, so […]
Speech Reactions
By rvineis — March 19, 2008
Reactions to Obama’s speech yesterday fell into one of two camps. The first was that the Senator’s remarks were a frank audit of race relations in America today. These pundits felt that Obama not only addressed the serious issues that plague black and white society, but also showed presidential gravitas. This school of thought believes […]
Rumor Mill has Strong 2nd Quarter
By rvineis — March 13, 2008
Check out these numbers from the WSJ/NBC News poll out today. When responding to question 29, “What is Barack Obama’s religion?”, since December there was a 5% increase (8 to 13%) in respondents who think the Senator is Muslim. Obviously, this is not good news for Obama. It is especially bad because Rev. Wright is […]
Tony Perkins: McCain needs to Excite Us
By rvineis — March 13, 2008
Tony Perkins is echoing sentiments swirling among evangelicals about John McCain. Promoting his new book, Perkins said that McCain must actively reach out into the Christian community to heal wounds caused from incidents like the Gang of 14 and McCain’s refusal to back a ban on gay marriage.
Rev. Wright Footage
By rvineis — March 13, 2008
Check out Good Morning America’s piece on Rev. Jeremiah Wright called “Is Obama’s Pastor a Liability?” There is some great footage from the UCC. UPDATE: Here’s another clip via Fox News where Wright points out that HRC has never been called a n****r.
Move Over Keith Ellison
By rvineis — March 12, 2008
Turning away from the presidential race for a moment, there was a significant event in Indiana yesterday. The late Congresswoman Julian Carson’s grandson, Andre Carson, won a special election 54-43% to serve in Indiana’s 7th congressional district. What makes this story more interesting is that Carson will be the second Muslim elected to Congress. Joining […]
Rumbles from Rocky Top
By rvineis — March 11, 2008
This week the National Religious Broadcasters Convention takes center stage in Nashville, TN. President Bush and James Dobson will headline the event, but perhaps the person who will be talked about the most is John McCain. As Bob Smietana of the Tennessean points out, Dobson and many evangelicals have yet to embrace McCain since he […]
McCain to go to Israel
By rvineis — March 10, 2008
John McCain will travel to Israel next week in an effort to secure Jewish support in the U.S. and to show off his foreign policy credentials.
Nothing New
By rvineis — March 9, 2008
Nicholas Kristof has a worthwhile piece in today’s NYT about the bigotry surrounding Obama. Kristof puts these recent events into a historical context noting that racist smears seem to be one of America’s favorite pastimes. On race: There is a parallel with presidential campaigns in the 19th and early 20th centuries, when one of the […]
Tuesday Night Exits
By rvineis — March 4, 2008
Here are the exit polls from the Democratic races. More detailed analysis to come. Rhode Island– Hillary beat Obama with Catholics 60%-40%. Texas– Again Clinton won Catholics and Hispanics. Obama won Protestant weekly attendees. Vermont-Obama swept all categories. Ohio-Hillary won all Christians and levels of attendance.
Huckabee Bows Out
By rvineis — March 4, 2008
Right now, Mike Huckabee is dropping out of the race. Huckabee’s speech has been consistent with what made him so popular in the first place, his appeal to conservative Christians. Along with analogies to the battle of the Alamo, he peppered his announcement with quotations from the good book. Huckabee talked about his humble roots […]
Has the Smear Stuck?
By rvineis — March 4, 2008
60 Minutes has an interesting clip of an Obama supporter who is unsure about voting for the Senator due to the persistent rumors about his faith. The supporter from Chillicothe, Ohio heard that Obama doesn’t know the national anthem and was not sworn into the Senate using the Bible. And as the Columbus Dispatch points […]
Catholic Swing Vote
By rvineis — March 3, 2008
Tim Rutten wrote in this weekend’s LA Times on the nature of Catholic voters. Rutten describes how Catholics are a swing demographic who unlike blacks or evangelicals aren’t firmly rooted to one political party. This erratic nature combined with the large number of Catholics in the U.S.( 1 in 4) makes them a targeted voting […]
Parsley on the IRS
By rvineis — February 28, 2008
Mega-church leader and televangelist Rod Parsley recently gave his insight into the appropriate role churches should play in our political process. Like Obama’s congregation, Parsley has been accused of violating IRS guidelines (in 2006) about campaigning from the pulpit. Parsley was recently interviewed by PBS’s Religion and Ethics program about the situation. The pastor defended […]
If I can do it, Obama can too
By rvineis — February 28, 2008
Keith Ellison, the first and only Muslim member of Congress, weighed in on the recent attacks on Barack Obama’s name and faith. Ellison doubts that Americans wouldn’t elect a Muslim president based on his or her faith. In an interview with AP’s Frederic Frommer, the Congressman tried to portray America overall as having an unbigoted […]
