Opinion
Life Begins
By Mark Silk — September 10, 2008
In comments on my Bishops v. Biden post below, Thomas Peters of the Americanpapist blog and others take me to task for failing to understand that the bishops are simply acknowledging what today’s embryology textbooks teach; namely, that human life begins at conception. And since we all (should) believe that human life ought not be […]
Obama’s white evangelicals
By Mark Silk — September 10, 2008
Today’s Fox poll has McCain leading Obama among white evangelicals by 61 percent to 25 percent. Bush beat Kerry among white evangelicals by 77 percent to 23 percent. So in spite of Sarah Palin’s selection, Obama remains ahead of Kerry’s pace in this demographic. Should he win his share of the undecideds, he’d reach 29 […]
Palin, the Alaska Context
By Mark Silk — September 10, 2008
As the scrutiny of Palin’s religious views begins in earnest–here’s CNN’s take on Anderson Cooper last night–it’s important to understand the Alaska context in which evangelicals like her operate. Alaskans may seem like rednecks in mukluks, but religiously they are a much better fit with the rest of the Pacific Northwest than with the redneck […]
COMMENTARY: Forgiving without forgetting
By Tom Ehrich — September 10, 2008
(UNDATED) As we stood on the roof of his new six-story apartment building in Greenwich Village, my oldest son pointed south and asked, “Could we have seen the World Trade Center from here?” “Yes,” I replied. At 110 stories, the twin towers were visible from much of New York City, a symbol of the city’s […]
COMMENTARY: Forgiving without forgetting
By Tom Ehrich — September 10, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service NEW YORK _ As we stood on the roof of his new six-story apartment building in Greenwich Village, my oldest son pointed south and asked, “Could we have seen the World Trade Center from here?” “Yes,” I replied. At 110 stories, the twin towers were visible from much of New […]
Nobody Cares?
By Mark Silk — September 9, 2008
Fan that I am, methinks pastordan doth protest too much my suggestion that Obama might do well to, well, wrap himself in the UCC’s position on abortion. For starters, it seems unnecessarily legalistic to deny that Obama is a member of the United Church of Christ because he recently, under pressure one might say, resigned […]
Bishops v. Biden
By Mark Silk — September 9, 2008
The Catholic Bishops are cheesed with Joe Biden for, as they see it, claiming that abortion is just a “personal and private issue.” Here’s the relevant quote, from Biden’s response on Meet the Press last Sunday: I’d say, “Look, I know when it begins for me.” It’s a personal and private issue. For me, as […]
Condobama
By Mark Silk — September 9, 2008
After trailing McCain in Florida for the last two months, Obama may be pulling into the lead. On the heels of yesterday’s Fox poll showing the race in the Sunshine State knotted at 48 percent, a USA Today poll released today shows Obama out in front 46-44 (within the margin of error). Does this reflect […]
Up for Grabs
By Mark Silk — September 9, 2008
A little evidence that the God Gap has increased since Sarah Palin’s nomination comes from the latest SUSA poll of Washington State. Compared to SUSA’s last Washington State poll of a month ago, the gap among regular attenders has increased by three points, from 59-36 for McCain to 61-35. Among those who almost never attend, […]
COMMENTARY: Declaring independence during Ramadan
By Tracy Gordon — September 9, 2008
Last week marked the beginning of Ramadan, the holy month when Muslims the world over abstain from food, drink, and other sensual pleasures from dawn until dusk. On the surface, forgoing food and drink is an exercise in restraint. Yet, on the contrary, the fast of Ramadan is all about human freedom. It is a […]
Me, My Church, and I
By Mark Silk — September 8, 2008
Referring to Barack Obama’s “above my pay grade” response to Rick Warren at the Saddleback forum last month, Tom Brokaw asked Joe Biden on Meet the Press yesterday how he would instruct his ticketmate on the question of when life begins. “I’d say,” Biden said: “Look, I know when it begins for me.” It’s a […]
Endorse
By Mark Silk — September 8, 2008
As you may recall, the conservative Alliance Defense Fund is holding a “Pulpit Initiative” on Sunday, September 28, during which some number of chergy will endorse, oppose, or otherwise engage in partisan political activity from their pulpits in order to challenge the federal law forbidding non-profits from engaging in such activity on pain of losing […]
Just Asking
By Mark Silk — September 7, 2008
If Sarah Palin left the church where she was baptized when she ran for statewide office lest people think her a Holy Roller while Barack Obama stayed at the church where he was baptized despite the risk of being considered a black liberationist until his presidential campaign was almost overwhelmed by it, then: 1) Who […]
Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda
By Mark Silk — September 7, 2008
Obama admits to Stephanapoulos that his “above my pay grade” response to Rick Warren’s abortion question was “too flip”: “What I intended to say is that, as a Christian, I have a lot of humility about understanding when does the soul enter into … It’s a pretty tough question. And so, all I meant to […]
Premil Sarah?
By Mark Silk — September 7, 2008
Nothing about the religious right has troubled its opponents over the years more than premillennial dispensationalism (or, if you prefer, dispensational premillennialism). The widespread belief among conservative evangelicals in a more or less imminent End Times comprising a Rapture of the Saints, the Antichrist, seven years of Tribulation, the return of Christ for a 1,000-year […]
