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,…
Read More
…ion of church and state. Officially, the IRS prohibits “voter education or registration activities with evidence of bias that (a) would favor one candidate over another; (b) oppose a candidate in some manner; or (c) have the effect of favoring a candidate or group of candidates.” Unofficially, however, enforcement of this policy is so toothless that only one church has ever lost its tax-exempt status, and pulpit politicking is the norm across the…
Read More…e hotel. (AAI’s event, in contrast, was open to the public and required no registration or fee.) The whole video is worth watching to understand the paranoid lengths Geller’s staff engages in to avoid having actual Muslims attend her conference. And what kind of person does attend the conference? The AAI staffers interviewed one attendee who who declared that Muslims who want to put “America under the yoke of Islam” are “enemies of America.” (He g…
Read More…eir legislators, if not more so. A webpage published by Singapore’s Health Promotion Board addressing questions on homosexuality and bisexuality ignited a firestorm of debate after conservative Christians both in and out of Parliament raised objections. They had taken exception to the webpage stating that homosexual relationships were “not that different” from heterosexual ones, saying that it was a signal to young Singaporeans that there was noth…
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…
Read More
…il fraud. As the activities of ACORN have demonstrated, organizations that promote voter fraud have burrowed into every corner of our country. In Kansas, the illegal registration of alien voters has become pervasive.” I love the phrase, “burrowed into every corner of our country”—like it’s an alien invasion of bedbugs. But rather than address a real problem, Kobach is just using the issue to continue banging away at the demonization of those who d…
Read More
…’ 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…nsidering bail for any undocumented immigrant who is charged with any felony offense; Establishes mandatory 6-month jail term for anyone convicted of using another person’s identity to obtain employment; and Prohibits individuals from obtaining a vehicle title and registration, fingerprint clearance card or license of any kind until they are able to demonstrate satisfactory immigration status. In addition, the Appropriations Committee has also p…
Read More…od. Foolishly, I did not take his national identification card and his car registration — I just asked him to open the trunk of his car. He opened it with pleasure, and was about to drive off, when Muhammad, one of my neighbors, recognized him. “Oh, hello. Wait a minute — aren’t you the police officer we saw here yesterday?” Bashfully, he replied, “Um, yes.” Muhammad responded, with all the righteousness evident in his voice, “So, no work for you…
Read More