Opinion
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 […]
Top Ten List
By rvineis — February 28, 2008
The Interfaith Alliance has come up with a Top Ten List of religious blunders from this season’s campaign. President of the Alliance, Rev. Dr. C Welton Gaddy, said “I have witnessed more abuses of religion in this primary season than in any election in recent memory.” Check out the video, here. It is an enjoyable […]
But is it good for Israel?
By Mark Silk — February 28, 2008
Hagee endorses McCain. Catholics for Huckabee happy.
Stop the presses
By Mark Silk — February 28, 2008
Brody flags a document from the Obama campaign’s religious outreach team highlighting their candidate’s success with religious voters–an array of data drawn from the exit polls. He concludes that Obama’s not conceding the Church vote to McCain.
Obama, the UCC, and the IRS
By Mark Silk — February 28, 2008
Today the Hartford Courant has bannered across its front page Elizabeth Hamilton’s story on an IRS investigation of the United Church of State (er. make that Christ) resulting from Barack Obama’s address to the annual convention of that denomination (which is his own) last summer. (You can check out the IRS’ February 20 letter here […]
Diplomat for Obama
By Mark Silk — February 28, 2008
Yesterday we had a visit at Trinity from Daniel Kurtzer, now of the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton, whose three-decade career in the State Department included three years as President Clinton’s ambassador to Egypt and four years as President Bush’s ambassador to Israel. (After leaving that job and the department in 2005, he spent a […]
COMMENTARY: The glass ceiling, political and otherwise
By Phyllis Zagano — February 28, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) In a way, you’d hope Hillary Clinton would win just so we could all just grow up about women in leadership. For all the words that are pushed around about the equality and dignity of women, we are still a long way from forgetting about gender when we look […]
Catholic Sound and Furor
By richardwood — February 28, 2008
An important exchange about Catholic engagement in public life occurred this week in the pages of the Washington Post. On Sunday, Joe Feuerherd reacted to the U.S. Catholic bishops’ recent statement on citizen’s civic responsibility, a related webpage, and recent statements by some individual bishops. He suggested that the thrust of those statements meant that […]
Feds Investigate Obama’s Church
By rvineis — February 27, 2008
The IRS is investigating whether or not a speech Senator Obama gave at the Trinity United Church of Christ violated the church’s non-profit status. The UCC denies any wrongdoing claiming that they consulted their lawyers to ensure they followed the law. Yet, in a letter to the church ,the IRS expressed concern over articles on […]
Down Ticket in Indy
By Mark Silk — February 27, 2008
The 2008 election campaign, as we understand it, involves more than just the presidential race, and we hope to keep track of religious dimensions of other races, as these pop into view. First up (for us, at least) is the March 11 special election in Indiana’s seventh congressional district. It features Democrat Andre Carson running […]
From the belly of the vast right wing conspiracy.
By Mark Silk — February 26, 2008
Watch Hillary Clinton talk about what her faith has done for her, in an interview with David Brody appearing on the 700 Club. Pat Robertson calls her a “brave lady.” I guess the 90s were a long time ago.
Go Figure
By Mark Silk — February 26, 2008
A week ago, SurveyUSA showed Clinton winning regular worship attenders in Texas and Obama winning those who attend little or not at all. Now the same pollster shows their positions reversed. In both cases by healthy margins. So the more Texans see of the two candidates, the more the pious like Barack and the more […]
