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Becket Fund Misleads on Obama Defense of Contraception Lawsuit

By Sarah Posner

…ee hearing, and Jeanne Monahan of the Family Research Council, whose presence is apparently designed to show the Republicans aren’t anti-woman. “This administration’s act of discrimination against people of faith, and women of faith, must be stopped,” she said in her statement. The tenor of the Republicans’ statements and questioning is captured by Arizona’s Rep. Trent Franks, who called the HHS regulation “not only a slap in the face to millions…

‘Amazing Grace’ from Both Sides Now

By Peter Montgomery

…ews reports that at about the same time progressive clergy were talking to representatives’ staff about the shutdown’s impact on vulnerable people, House Republicans sang Amazing Grace at a meeting in which they decided to dig in their heels against any compromise that did not extract concessions on the Affordable Care Act. Rep. Darrel Issa said that the hymn singing was a sign of the caucus’s solidarity in standing up to what Rep. Tim Huelskamp d…

GOP Lawmaker Botches Bible to Punish Poor

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

Tennessee Republican Rep. Stephen Fincher provides an excellent case study on why context should never be disregarded when quoting from the Bible. In recent moves by Congress to slash $4.1 billion or more from food stamps (otherwise known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP) over the next 10 years, Fincher quoted from 2 Thessalonians 3:10: For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work s…

Marriage Equality Closer to Law in Illinois

By Peter Montgomery

…od’s definition of marriage. Kellie Fiedorek of the Alliance Defending Freedom (formerly the Alliance Defense Fund) reprised arguments she made at a recent Family Research Council event, characterizing the bill as an effort to expand “sexual liberty” at the expense of religious liberty. She said the bill’s lack of provisions to allow social service agencies, judges and clerks, and individual business owners to discriminate against gay couples was…

God Delivers GOP Senate Nomination to Todd Akin

By Peter Montgomery

Rep. Todd Akin defeated two challengers in the Missouri Republican primary for the chance to take on incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill in November. The race, already considered a tough fight for McCaskill, could be even more challenging if it turns out she is indeed running against not only Rep. Akin but the creator of the universe. Akin has previously said that “hatred for God” is at the heart of liberalism. Here is Akin’s victory statement, as di…

Why Don’t Republicans Want to Allow Pastors to Endorse from Pulpit?

By Daniel Silliman

…, and 2005. It never made it out of committee. This may be Jones’ fault. A Republican representing North Carolina’s 3rd district, Jones has a very conservative voting record but a contentious relationship with Republican Party leadership. Perhaps best known as the congressman who changed the name of french fries in the House cafeterias to “freedom fries” when the French failed to support the US invasion of Iraq, Jones later became a strong critic…

Paul Ryan: I Reject Ayn Rand, She’s an Atheist!

By Sarah Posner

Rep. Paul Ryan has decided that he doesn’t like Ayn Rand after all, because she’s an icky atheist. He told National Review’s Robert Costa, in advance of his speech today at Georgetown University: “I, like millions of young people in America, read Rand’s novels when I was young. I enjoyed them,” Ryan says. “They spurred an interest in economics, in the Chicago School and Milton Friedman,” a subject he eventually studied as an undergraduate at Miam…

The War Over Getting the Bishops’ Budget Approval

By Sarah Posner

…uro, who is Catholic and was among the Democratic women highly critical of Rep. Darrell Issa’s “religious freedom” show trial over the contraception coverage, sent her own letter to Dolan, on the heels of the Bishops’ call for the “fortnight of freedom” over the alleged infringements of religious liberty. According to the Catholic News Service: DeLauro told CNS the church’s moral standing in society would lend a strong voice as the country weighed…

Escorted Off House Floor for Reading Scripture in a Hoodie

By Sarah Posner

…sh added, swapping his spectacles for a pair of sunglasses. At this point, Rep. Gregg Harper, a Republican congressman from Mississippi who was serving as the presiding speaker of the chamber, called Rush out of order. Rush continued reading a passage from the Bible before being escorted out of the chamber. As the blog Sex Cash and Politics notes, “What makes this case of congressional antics so interesting is what Rush was saying — or, more appro…

In 2012 Bishops Join Fight to Repackage Discrimination as ‘Religious Freedom’

By Sarah Posner

…icing what we preach.” And that, apparently, includes not just opposition to abortion, but a conservative claim that “big government” infringes on religious liberty: “How can we train our college students to advocate for limited government and personal freedom—especially religious freedom—if we don’t fight this unparalleled attack on those very principles?” In short, don’t be surprised if the “religious freedom” argument finds its way into conserv…