Spiritual Politics
The Speech
By Mark Silk — March 18, 2008
He had me at “two hundred and twenty one years ago.” OK, maybe he did and maybe he didn’t. I’ll spare you the dithyrambs. To my eyes and ears, the core of the speech was this: But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren’t simply controversial. They weren’t simply a religious leader’s effort […]
Letter from Israel
By Mark Silk — March 18, 2008
From his sabbatical in Tel Aviv, my colleague Ron Kiener has sent this account of the Israeli view of the presidential election: Israelis are slowly coming to terms with the fact that their favorite living American political figure, former President Bill Clinton, will not be returning to the White House anytime soon. One cannot underestimate […]
Wright et al.
By Mark Silk — March 18, 2008
The Washington Post‘s Eli Saslow provides a good sketch of Jeremiah Wright’s church. A different kind of contextualization can be found in a lengthy comment by “vega” posted in response to this analysis piece on Politico by John F. Harris and Jim Vandehei (response number 2). Vega is evidently Frank Schaeffer, the movie director and […]
Going on Offense. Spreading the Defense.
By Mark Silk — March 17, 2008
This could be a defining moment, and not just in the campaign. Fasten your seat belts.
Textual Analysis
By Mark Silk — March 17, 2008
Mollie, in line with GetReligion’s gimlet-eyed determination to ferret out evidence of liberal tilt in the MSM, argues that Jeremiah Wright is getting softer treatment for his “God damn America” pronouncement than Jerry Falwell did for his post-9/11 remarks. At the risk of consigning myself into the netherworld of liberal apologetics, let’s just take a […]
On Guilt by Association
By Mark Silk — March 16, 2008
Guilt by association is an integral part of presidential campaigns. Candidates hire staff and hunt for supporters far and wide. They seek to bask in whatever glow those associated with their candidacies can shed. And when a supporter casts a negative light–as will inevitably happen–they can’t pretend it’s irrelevant to the enterprise. The only question […]
Obama Denounces
By Mark Silk — March 15, 2008
Writing on Huffington Post, Barack Obama has denounced the widely viewed comments of his pastor in no uncertain terms. Impressively, he acknowledges the legitimacy of the questions raised by the comments about his relationship with Wright: Because these particular statements by Rev. Wright are so contrary to my own life and beliefs, a number of […]
Those Pesky Pastors
By Mark Silk — March 14, 2008
Ambinder has a sensible post on the issue of pastoral endorsements, to the effect that with bedfellows like Hagee and Parsley, John McCain has to be careful about going after Wright; or what’s sauce for Obama’s goose is sauce for McCain’s gander. Brody, meanwhile, quotes some anonymous “key Democratic strategist” (for any particular campaign?) suggesting […]
The IRS Investigates
By Mark Silk — March 14, 2008
Before us, now, is a series of possible violations of the law against partisan political activity by non-profit organizations–specifically by religious institutions allegedly supporting Barack Obama’s candidacy for president. Besides the official IRS inquiry into Obama’s appearance at the United Church of Christ convention last year, there are assertions that a pastor in Las Vegas […]
The Party that Prays Together
By Mark Silk — March 13, 2008
Democrats will do the faith thing in Denver.
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.
Bush, Man of God
By Mark Silk — March 13, 2008
Take a look at the excerpts from Jacob Weisberg’s new book on President Bush post in Slate today. Weisberg is not the first to get behind the Billy Graham walk-on-the-beach myth, but his version seems to be the best we have so far. Evangelist Arthur Blessit, not Graham, is the guy who made the difference. […]
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 […]
Mark Silk
Spiritual Politics
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
