Opinion
Dobson/Mohler v. Warren
By Mark Silk — July 21, 2008
James Dobson’s near endorsement is now up on the web, and if anyone’s surprised by it, I’ve got a temple in Jerusalem to sell them. The conversation in which it occurs, however, is worth listening to. Dobson’s interlocutor is Al Mohler, the president of Southern Seminary in Louisville and a Southern Baptist of many parts. […]
Pass the Smelling Salts
By Mark Silk — July 20, 2008
James Dobson tips the AP that, ah, well, after all, he just might could hold his nose and, all things considered, as it were: “While I am not endorsing Senator John McCain, the possibility is there that I might.”
Huck the Hack
By Mark Silk — July 19, 2008
Steve Waldman has a bit of a Valentine for Mike Huckabee and his veep prospects, wherein he writes: Huckabee is a transitional figure in the evangelical world, and possibly a transformational one. As a strong pro-life politician and former Baptist preacher, he is a familiar and not-loathed figure among the evangelical old guard. Beyond that, […]
No Fire in Iowa
By mcmorris — July 18, 2008
Thanks to Reid Vineis for taking a pause in his summer break for a link to this AP story on evangelical Republicans in Iowa who remain unsure about McCain’s faith cred. One of the people interviewed, Dordt College president and radio show host Carl Zlystra, explains that while Bush “was a man who loved the […]
Pewpoll
By Mark Silk — July 18, 2008
The news from the latest Pew poll on religious affiliation and presidential voting is that there’s not much news, beyond small shifts across the board from Bush-Kerry to McCain-Obama. Going back to Bush-Gore, what’s most striking is the degree to which the religiously unaffiliated have turned solidly Democratic. One finding that’s worth paying attention to […]
COMMENTARY: Brand identity (crisis)
By Tracy Gordon — July 18, 2008
At first blush, General Motors and the Jewish Theological Seminary, two icons of industry and religion, seem to have little in common. But today both “brands” are nonetheless suffering losses of sales (GM) and membership (JTS/Conservative Judaism). As a result, GM and JTS are experiencing severe financial turbulence that some observers believe may threaten their […]
COMMENTARY: Brand identity (crisis)
By James Rudin — July 18, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) At first blush, General Motors and the Jewish Theological Seminary _ two storied icons of industry and religion _ seem to have little in common. GM is the world’s largest auto manufacturer, and JTS is the central institution for Conservative Judaism. Since 1908, GM has produced millions of cars […]
Deal or No Deal
By mcmorris — July 17, 2008
While Mark gets a well-deserved break from the blogosphere, the familiar “with friends like these” beat goes on. Over in Alex Koppelman’s War Room at Salon there’s a report on a group called Catholics United who are demanding that Deal Hudson gets a pink slip from the Catholics for McCain National Steering Committee. It seems […]
Life on J Street
By Mark Silk — July 17, 2008
J Street, the new dovish Israel lobby, has a big new survey of Jewish voters. That’s the good news. The bad news is that, typical of surveys by ideologically driven organizations, far too many of the questions are posed in so ideologically skewed a way as to render many of the results if not worthless […]
CW on the Dems
By Mark Silk — July 17, 2008
Jane Lampman of the Christian Science Monitor had nice profile profile of Leah Daughtry, the Pentecostal pastor who is CEO of the Democratic National Convention, a few days ago. It does, however, trade heavily in what has now become narrative orthodoxy: that not until two years ago did the Democrats take faith-based campaigning seriously, and […]
COMMENTARY: Anti-Catholicism, coming to a campus near you
By Phyllis Zagano — July 17, 2008
Anti-Christian hate mongers would be boring if they weren’t so dangerous. Lately, University of Minnesota biology professor P.Z. Myers has been attacking Catholic belief and practice, his comments veiled by his tissue-thin notion of “free speech.” Myers regularly blogs against anything vaguely religious. He has a particular penchant for anti-Catholicism. So he was wild with […]
Away Message
By Mark Silk — July 16, 2008
I’ll be taking a few days off, and may or may not be off the grid. The Greenberg Center’s trusty administrator, Christine McMorris, may be finding some things to post; and I may find a way to squeeze something in as well. But if not, I’ll be back on Monday at the latest.
The Evangelical Bloc
By Mark Silk — July 16, 2008
Go here to pick up the thread of a discussion between GOM’s Dan Gilgoff and John Schmalzbauer in re: whether evangelical voters are a monolithic voting bloc. I’m with Dan on this one. The problem, simply, is that shorthand versions of white evangelical voting behavior sometimes suggest that every last white evangelical votes Republican, and […]
Whoa!
By Mark Silk — July 16, 2008
Here, courtesy of Brody, is Heidi Hess Saxton, the Founder of the adoption services group “Extraordinary Moms Network,” on The Great McCain Same-Sex Adoption Waffle: [S]aying a child is better off in a same-sex household than to continue waiting for placement in a traditional home is like saying an unborn child is better off if […]
Not that there’s anything wrong with that
By Mark Silk — July 16, 2008
In responding to the viral charges that he’s some kind of Muslim, Barack Obama has caught some flak for, in his insistence that he is not and never has been, seeming to acknowledge that there might be something wrong with that. On Larry King last night, he took the occasion of commenting on the notorious […]
