Opinion
Obama’s Creed
By Mark Silk — March 4, 2008
CNS has posted Barack Obama’s response to a question at a town hall meeting in Ohio regarding his evangelical support. Most attention has been given to Obama’s discussion of homosexuality, in which he bases his support for civil unions on the Sermon on the Mount rather than “an obscure passage in Romans.” (See here for […]
The Obama Charisma
By richardwood — March 4, 2008
Two new items give fascinating insight into the depth of support that Barack Obama inspires. Robert Bellah in Commonweal writes of the way Obama has reignited “the theological virtue of hope” in America’s possibilities. Frank Rich in the New York Times offers a more secular rendering of how Obama’s authentic patriotism drives his popularity. Far […]
I have great respect for that whore
By Mark Silk — March 4, 2008
John Hagee has sent the following statement to CBN’s David Brody denying that he’s anti-Catholic. I have always had great love for Catholic people and great respect for the Catholic Church. My wife comes from a Catholic family and millions of my viewers are Catholics. I am shocked and saddened to learn of the mischaracterization […]
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 […]
Hagee, McCain, and the Jews
By Mark Silk — March 3, 2008
Let us state at the outset that John Hagee’s anti-Catholicism goes well beyond the kind of odium theologicum that derives from tough but honest differences over the right path to salvation. So far as he is concerned, this “false religious system” is responsible for the Holocaust. Setting aside the glee of the liberal blogosphere, it’s […]
Obama’s Religion
By garydorrien — March 2, 2008
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UCC v. IRS
By Mark Silk — March 2, 2008
Today’s Hartford Courant features a commentary by the Rev. Davida Foy Crabtree, conference minister of the Connecticut Conference United Church of Christ, defending the UCC against the IRS investigation into whether the church violated rules against political engagement in the matter of Barack Obama’s address to its General Synod last June. Two days ago, the […]
Obama and the Jews
By Mark Silk — March 1, 2008
New York Times religion writer Neela Banerjee reports. Meanwhile, former ambassador Daniel Kurtzer is on the trail for Obama in Columbus Sunday.
Time Out for Some Demography
By Mark Silk — February 29, 2008
Last Monday, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released the first analytical hunk of what it is calling the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey (not to be confused with earlier Pew-sponsored “American Religious Landscape and Political Attitudes” surveys). Thanks to the Pew name, a fab marketing strategy, and a really cool website, it has […]
The Complainant
By Mark Silk — February 29, 2008
James Hutchins, the complainant in the IRS investigation of the United Church of Christ, has written in to suggest that I based my earlier remarks on the UCC press release, not the complaint itself. Actually, I based them on the Hartford Courant story and the IRS letter. I don’t think I’d say anything different based […]
Texohio poll
By Mark Silk — February 29, 2008
Today’s Houston Chronicle/Zogby poll of likely voters in the upcoming Democratic primaries in Texas and Ohio shows Clinton up strongly with Catholics, mostly white in Ohio and mostly Hispanic in Texas. Protestants split evenly between Clinton and Obama in Ohio, go strongly to Obama in Texas; others in both states are for Obama. The non-Catholic […]
COMMENTARY: The unsung heroes of Israeli independence
By James Rudin — February 29, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) On May 14, Israel will mark its 60th anniversary as an independent nation. President Bush and other world leaders plan to attend the festivities in Jerusalem later this spring. An important new book, “Israel at Sixty: An Oral History of a Nation Reborn” (Wiley) by Deborah Hart Strober and […]
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 […]
