Religion Dispatches
…bout either candidate, they came through in a big way for the McCain/Palin ticket. Barna points out that “unlike other polls, [it] classif[ies] a person as an evangelical based upon their answers to nine questions about their theological beliefs. [While] [m]ost national surveys simply ask people if they consider themselves to be evangelical, born-again or a committed conservative Christian.” However, The Barna survey also examined the voting behav…
Read More…of protest is to wear the niqab and nothing else. Then, the women will get tickets, not for being nude, but for being clothed. In my opinion, that would show the absolute absurdity of the state trying to control women’s dress. I have written elsewhere that this sort of action, of controlling a woman’s body, is simply male penis worship run amok. These ladies, who call themselves Niqabitches, have done a great service in showing the inherent contra…
Read More…Letter to Hollywood” from “Faith-Driven Consumer,” warning that 46 million ticket-buyers could be dissuaded from seeing the film, and pressure from the National Religious Broadcasters group. Then came the $26.5 million opening weekend of the Jesus movie Son of God, an adaptation of the History Channel series that the “Open Letter” praises. Now, Paramount seems ready to try again. Grace Hill Media is back on the case, releasing a series of behind-t…
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…Participants returned to a local park to listen to Conference on their cellphones—the first time in history that Church officials permitted broad media access to the event, a move some have characterized as a concession to ticket requests from Ordain Women leaders. Inside the Tabernacle and the nearby Conference Center, rows of seats went unfilled. Saturday’s Ordain Women action has initiated an unprecedented conversation about power, leadership,…
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…oil fields of Texas, but as a patriotic graduate I joined the military, my ticket out of Louisiana and an opportunity to explore the world. In my fourth year, having become a naval officer, I volunteered for shore duty in Vietnam which would become a turning point in my life. Never had I experienced such violence, suffering, and fear. In the madness of war, my faith became more important and I felt God was calling me to be a priest. I talked to a…
Read More…aithful to encourage them to “vote Catholic”—i.e. vote for the Romney/Ryan ticket. Leading the charge is Bishop Daniel Jenky, of Peoria, Illinois, who is calling for all priests “by virtue of their vow of obedience to me as your Bishop” to read his letter on the election at each mass they celebrate this weekend. The letter, addressed to Catholic believers, is an appeal to the “threat to religious liberty” because of the HHS mandate. Since Bishop J…
Read More…inding members that gaining entrance to heaven isn’t like buying a lottery ticket. There is no magic to it, no speaking in tongues, no handling snakes, no eternal security. You work hard here on Earth, quietly, diligently, to retire in eternity. Your works are an outward manifestation of your faith, and your faith is what saves you. A young woman wedged in behind an organ calls out, “Somebody pick a hymn,” and somebody else calls back, “How about…
Read More…ce in “judicial tyranny.” Now, they’ve set their sights on the Romney-Ryan ticket, which released the statement that “a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape.” “Personhood USA does not endorse political candidates, but we had hoped that Congressman Ryan would be a good influence on Governor Romney, considering Romney’s liberal abortion record,” Jennifer Mason, the group’s communication director, said in a statem…
Read More…party types who will now turn out enthusiastically. It adds pizzazz to the ticket. An ideological firebrand is the one thing Romney has never been accused of being, and now he can borrow that heat. I believe that Romney or the people close to him pushed Romney for some of these reasons—including getting past the Mormon moment and the focus on Romney’s character. The persistent question about Romney has been: who is this man? What made him who he i…
Read More…passed the “Ryan Budget” I’m thrilled, personally, that it’s Ryan. The GOP ticket is now led by two unbelievably privileged and self-important white guys (are Billionaires for Bush still around to gin up Rapacious for Romney material?), but it’s even better than that. The Ryan Budget is such a gift to the Democrats that one might think the Angel of Moroni had dropped into their laps. Unlike Romney, Ryan is anything but a cipher in respect to concr…
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