Religion Dispatches
…at church; ways to improve evangelical Christian voter participation; and promotions for revival rallies, registration events and distribution of voter guides listing candidate positions on abortion, prayer and gay marriage. Churches have been sponsoring some of those activities for years, but the St. Louis event, with so many clergy members participating in statewide training and political events, is unprecedented. Pastors cannot, incidentally,…
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…wspaper which encouraged Christian citizens to actively work to restore America to its historically Christian roots, “redeeming the time because the days are evil.” And my family attended a fundamentalist Quiverfull home church, having rejected all the local evangelical and even fundamentalist congregations as “too wishy-washy.” About five years ago, an email correspondence with my long-lost atheist uncle encouraged me to question my “biblical wor…
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…bishop in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the United Kingdom and South Africa has received the offer of a download. Each member of the Council of Cardinals, its secretary, and Pope Francis has received a copy, along with the original Italian-languages essays. If the hierarchy will consider what history really says, perhaps they will think about whether they need to restore the tradition of women as deacons in their own dioceses. Even so, I think…
Read More…and later Muslims. Just 12 days after The Response, Don Wildmon, whose American Family Association bankrolled the event, sent an email to registrants introducing the United in Purpose voter registration project Champion the Vote. Wildmon wrote, “research has shown that it takes only 5 million voters to influence the outcome of an election. This is a do-able goal, and Champion the Vote is seeking Champions – an army of volunteers — to help with th…
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…an in-laws gave her a car, which had to be cleared at customs before local registration. Then we went to the farmers’ market, the flea markets, and the swap meet. She insists on using a baby carrier instead of a stroller. So I held her six-month-old while she pillaged through a sea of clothing. That’s a lot of holding, trust me. When we finally returned to her place, I was hungry, but I just could not take another moment of being so family-oriente…
Read More…vilating their government awarded 501 c3 status. They will even have voter registration booths in their church lobbies which will be open after a rather pointed sermon, “I don’t want to influence how you vote but . . . .” Let’s not forget how a mere four years ago Mike Huckabee (himself an SBC pastor considered a moderate by some in his denomination!) gave a Christmas sermon at John Hagee’s church, said that the Constitution should be amended to c…
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…can Catholics whose stated intent was “equipping Catholics in the ‘Next America.’” Registration alone was $1,500, not including the cost of food and lodging in Napa Valley. This offers a pretty clear indicator of precisely which Catholics were being equipped at this event. Archbishop Gomez also serves as chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration. As chair of that committee, he consistently articulates the five-f…
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…’ and sisters’ keepers, wherever they may be. Loving our neighbor requires promoting peace and justice in a world marred by genocidal violence.” …and the Evangelicals Brad Phillips, who heads the Virginia-based Persecution Project, now lives in Kenya, and simultaneously serves as the Sudan country director for Voice of the Martyrs, an evangelical agency that since 1967 has focused on helping Christians in restricted countries, emphasizing communis…
Read More…in the tornado. The Department of Homeland Security has ended a post-9/11 registration program that required Arab and Muslim men to register with the government, but not before tangling many Muslim immigrants up in legal proceedings. The Muslim Brotherhood says they do not want to enforce Islamic law in Egypt. What do Kentucky and the Netherlands have in common? An Ark problem. Holy shirking brains, Batman! A new study links religious experiences…
Read More…tuary of God.” The church gave shelter to thousands fleeing the Central American death squads. In 1986, Fife was one of eight activists convicted on alien-smuggling charges and served five years’ probation. His fellow defendant, Sister Darlene Nicgorski, argued for her First Amendment right to practice her religion, saying, “If I am guilty of anything, I am guilty of the gospel.” Still, some politicians don’t think SB 1070, which is under injuncti…
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