Look who's meeting with the White House

Last night Rachel Maddow weighed in with bemusement and a bit of dismay that White House faith-based office staff are meeting with reps of FRC, Concerned Women for America, and others.

Rachel's skepticism is understandable (those groups have some pretty extreme views and have been openly hostile toward the administration), but having White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Director Joshua Dubois meet with them is consistent with Obama's record and rhetoric as a candidate and as president. In early primary debates he said he'd be willing to meet with leaders of hostile governments, including Iran; as president-elect he expressed his desire to be president of all Americans, not just those who voted for him; and as president he quickly met with a group of conservative columnists who don't always engage him in good faith. Obama made clear that this would be his approach in his victory speech:

There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree.

Steve Benen, who Rachel quoted on-air, adds:

To put this in perspective, imagine George W. Bush aides agreeing to meet with representatives of the ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and People for the American Way, to discuss culture war issues. If that sounds like a ridiculous scenario, then you can appreciate why this meeting between Obama's faith-based guy and leading activists from the religious right is unusual.

I'm not necessarily troubled by their chat, anymore than I was concerned about the president stopping by George Will's house for a dinner with Krauthammer, Brooks, Kudlow, Barone, and Kristol. If Obama and his administration are interested in honest discussions with conservatives, and they want to engage detractors in a good-faith dialog, fine. I'm skeptical it will amount to much, but I certainly respect the administration's mature approach to spirited discourse.

We concur. Meeting with political adversaries doesn't require compromising principles, and argument hones ideas. Part of being big is dealing with people who are small.

Top Christian Leaders Welcome Sebelius

Top Christian leaders dedicated to common ground solutions to reduce the number of abortions in America today welcomed President Obama's nomination of Governor Kathleen Sebelius as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Pointing to her record of reducing abortions in Kansas and commitment working with both parties to get results, they issued the following statement:

As Christians dedicated to finding common ground solutions to reduce the number of abortions in America, we welcome President Obama's nomination of Governor Kathleen Sebelius as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Under Governor Sebelius' leadership, abortions have decreased in Kansas by 10 percent, adoption funding and incentives have increased, healthcare access for women and families has expanded, prenatal care has become more widely available, and legislation protecting the unborn from crime has become law. Such a record demonstrates a commitment to results rather than rhetoric on life issues.

She is a Democratic Governor who has been elected by wide margins in a state where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats two to one. Her nomination has already won not only the support of Democrats, but also praise from Republican pro-life Senators such as Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts and Governors such as Sonny Perdue of Georgia. Her record and her relationships with leaders in both parties are proof that pro-choice and pro-life leaders can work together to advance a pro-family agenda.

The governor, who is by all accounts a person of deep faith, deserves a fair hearing in Congress and in the public square. Efforts to discredit her will no doubt arise, but we hope that such tactics will not succeed in taking focus off of her record of reducing abortions and supporting women and families in Kansas - and the task that lies ahead of us all: working together to improve health care and reduce the number of abortions in America.

Signatories below the fold:

The ever-replenishing supply of censorship scare tactics

The Senate has voted to ban the Fairness Doctrine. The Fairness Doctrine was already comfortable at home in the dustbin of history, but of course that didn't stop the right from trotting it out this year as another (bogus) example of liberals' efforts to oppress conservative Christians. Given the vote count of 87-11 in favor of the ban, along with Obama's statements that he had no interest in reviving the Fairness Doctrine, it's tough to make the case that the entire episode was anything other than a scare tactic.

In its report on the ban's passage, though, the Christian Broadcasting Network raises another specter of Democratic censorship:

But there is also pending legislation backed by Democrat Dick Durbin that encourages diversity in media ownership.

Some conservatives fear that could be a back door to enforce the Fairness Doctrine.

Regulations to ensure diversity of media ownership -- which the Bush-era FCC systematically weakened under the leadership of Michael Powell -- are long-standing policies meant to prevent individual entities from controlling information in entire media markets. The basic idea is that the state has a compelling interest in preventing one person or company from owning a city's major newspaper, its cable company, three of its tv network affiliates, and eight of its radio stations. It has nothing to do with mandating viewpoint balance or otherwise regulating content, but rather serves goals similar to those of anti-trust policy. Ownership diversity regulation in no way censors Pat Robertson or forces him to air liberal content -- it just ensures that he, or anyone else, can't control an entire media market.

Randall Balmer talks God, White House on The Daily Show

Last night's episode of The Daily Show featured an interesting discussion between host Jon Stewart and noted scholar/author Randall Balmer centering around Balmer's book God in the White House.

Among other things, Balmer and Stewart discussed the difference between Obama/McCain when it came to faith in the 2008 campaign, when America might have its first atheist President and what it would have been like to ask George W. Bush a follow-up question when he famously stated that Jesus was his favorite philosopher.

Check out the video:

Faith groups on the frontlines for healthcare

In the midst of our economic crisis, grassroots faith groups are on the frontlines -- assisting families struggling to meet their everyday needs, including health care for themselves and their children. Just before President Obama signs legislation expanding SCHIP to insure 4 million additional children, clergy and families who are directly affected joined a press conference call to discuss the legislation's significance and necessary next steps to ensure its impact and to insure all children. Full list of participants is here.

Listen to what these families and clergy said on this morning's press conference call.

Throughout the SCHIP debate, faith-based community organizing groups worked tirelessy to help pass the legislation. PICO National Network, a faith-based community organizing coalition FPL is partnering with, coordinates 1,000 congregations and brought together people of faith from denominations spanning the political spectrum to press for health care coverage for the nation’s 9 million uninsured children. Clergy and families from PICO and many other faith-based groups are now preparing to press states to use new resources and tools to reach uninsured children and promote bipartisan comprehensive health reform in 2009. They deserve support and praise.

A year-and-a-half ago, a group of religious leaders held a press conference to condemn President Bush's veto of SCHIP expansion. What an infinitely better day today!

SCHIP passes Senate

Last night the Senate voted to renew and expand SCHIP, including a provision that would remove a five year eligibility waiting period for the children of legal immigrants. From the get-go, that part seemed like a forgone conclusion in the House and an uphill climb in the Senate, so its passage in the latter is a great relief. The program will now cover an additional 4 million children, including 400,000-600,000 legal immigrants. Barring unforeseen drama, the president will likely get the chance to sign the bill next week. Numerous religious advocacy groups have been working on this for several years now; it's great to finally taste success! There's plenty of work left to do on the greater campaign for universal care, but SCHIP expansion is an accomplishment worthy of commendation.

A young evangelical's plea to the NAE

To the National Assocation of Evangelicals:

RE: Finding a Replacement for Rich Cizik

In today's news, I read that you are now openly seeking someone to replace Rich Cizik as your director of government affairs. Personally, I was disappointed to see Cizik go. To this 20-something evangelical, Rich remains an inspiration.

He represented the idea that evangelicals of a certain generation were getting it: we coiuld stay grounded in our theological convictions while broadening our minds and agendas, applying our faith to a variety of causes and concerns. Rich was a rare figure, able to encourage the activist spirit possessed by young evangelicals like me while tempering it with wisdom gained from years slogging through the culture wars.

As you seek to replace him, I ask just two things of you. First, find someone willing to advance the progress Rich has already made on issues like creation care. It is crucial that we don't lose ground on this subject.

Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, take the pulse of an up-and-coming generation of evangelicals. Don't rely solely on a body of candidates found pleasing by the same figureheads who have been in power for years. Young evangelicals are reshaping the social face of our movement; we are gaining positions of power and we are making progress. Hire someone who will listen to our cries for the future and our critiques of the past. Find someone who also represents our concerns and will work with us to find fresh means of faithful expression.

Blessings in the search,

a young evangelical

2009 -- Year of the reframe?

Over the coming days and weeks it'll be interesting to see legislators, faith leaders, and the administration roll out their bids for The First Order of Business for the executive branch and Congress. Thus far, fair pay, SCHIP expansion/reauthorization and human rights executive orders appear to be jockeying for the title. All are, of course, commendable initiatives, and all look like they'll meet minimal opposition.

Looking into the not-so-distant future, though, controversy looms over not only behemoth policies like economic recovery and health care reform, but also lightning rods like gay rights and abortion. And that's to be expected -- we're a republic, and contentious debate is going to happen. But conflict isn't an end in itself, and we shouldn't be reflexively distrustful of common ground. Just a thought. More later.

Doesn't get it

Here's a laugh-cry test for you -- in his parting press conference today, President Bush says he sees nothing wrong with America's moral standing in the world.

I usually decline to blog about the president's judgment because a) I don't find it that productive, b) others do it better than me, and c) it's a dead horse. But just this once I'll indulge. The notion that there's nothing wrong with America's moral standing in the world reflects either the arrogant indifference or the ignorance for which the president has long been criticized -- either he doesn't know the world disapproves of our actions, or he doesn't care.

To name a few blows to our moral credibility over the last eight years, all of which Bush dismissed in the press conference, America has invaded and occupied a country that wasn't a threat, in defiance of world opinion; we have created a torture regime that flouts international law and has become a symbol of cruelty around the world; and we have obstructed action on climate change while producing an inordinate share of the world's carbon dioxide emissions. For these and other reasons, we are viewed unfavorably by most of the world. In the most recent Pew Global Attitudes Project Survey, America's favorability rating has improved since 2002 in only 4 of 23 countries surveyed: Tanzania, South Korea, Lebanon and Pakistan (where we register a still-abysmal 19 percent).

Our "moral standing" might be a nebulous concept, but the president addressed the question in terms of global opinion about America, and by that measure we are in need of renewal.

Congratulations, Congressman Perriello

Faithful America and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good co-founder Tom Perriello is taking his oath as a member of Congress today. Tom, er, Congressman Perriello will represent the 5th District of Virginia. His faith has led him not only to found nonprofits, but to work for justice and human rights on the ground in conflict zones such as Darfur, Afghanistan and Liberia. If Tom brings the same vigor, courage and faithful vision to Capitol Hill, the House will be a better body for it. I have every confidence he'll do so.

About the RIC...

So FPL and the "Religious Industrial Complex" got a lot of virtual ink while we were on our annual staff retreat. The discussion seems to have run its course, but I'd like to add a general reflection.

Our movement, like any, depends on people with diverse skills, constituencies, voices and approaches to advancing our cause. Some speak prophetically about what we should fight for and inspire the faithful, some work to organize the community into coalitions, some strive to bring unlikely allies together, some magnify the voices of others, some develop the next generation of leaders, and so on and so forth. In my short time here at FPL, we've tried to help in many of these respects, and we're continually assessing how to best contribute to advancing a common good agenda. We hope our "RIC" status doesn't stop the critics in our community from wanting to work together in 2009 -- there's no shortage of things to be done.

And on a more personal note, thanks all for the kind words amid the criticism.

Community organizers and the incoming administration

From 3 pm until 6 pm (Eastern) today, elected officials, Obama transition team members Melody Barnes and Valerie Jarrett, and faith-based community organizing leaders will hold a live webcast panel discussion called Realizing The Promise: A Forum on Community, Faith and Democracy. It's co-sponsored by the Center for Community Change and the Gamaliel Foundation and will provide one of the faith community's earliest exchanges with the incoming administration. From the forum's web site:

The forum will bring more than 2,000 community leaders, faith leaders and community organizers together in Washington, DC for an open dialogue with members of Congress and members of the incoming president's administration about why Community Values, faith and democracy matter, and how these values and beliefs are going to change the tenor and climate of American politics.

The forum features three moderated roundtable discussions, designed to provide a setting for real dialogue with real people from across the country about the real issues our communities face, and the real values that are essential to putting our country back on the right track.

Click here to watch the webcast.

New Poll: Religion in the 2008 Election

This election cycle, religion was once again a hot topic on the campaign trail. Faith in Public Life, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and Sojourners commissioned this survey from Public Religion Research to get an in-depth look at the shift in priorities and moral agenda for Catholics, evangelicals, and religious voters overall in the 2008 election.

Click here for complete analysis and results

Some highlights:

Obama significantly improves upon perceptions of Democratic Party’s “friendliness” to religion. Fifty-four percent of voters see Obama as friendly to religion, and a similar percentage see McCain as “friendly” to religion (58%). While McCain’s numbers are similar to those Pew found in August 2008 for Republican Party “friendliness” to religion (52%), Obama’s numbers represent a 16-point improvement over his party’s numbers (38%) and a 5-point increase from Faith in Public Life’s pre-election findings among the general public (49%).

Palin nomination resulted in net loss for GOP ticket. Palin’s nomination increased support among fewer than one-third of white evangelicals (30%), and decreased support among every other religious group and political independents. Among white evangelicals, a majority (54%) say her selection didn't affect their support for McCain, and an additional 14% say her selection made them less likely to support McCain.

While 1-in-5 evangelicals and 1-in-8 Catholics say an agenda focused primarily on abortion and same-sex marriage best reflects their values, majorities of evangelical and Catholic voters want a broad agenda. While 1in-8 Catholics (13%) say an agenda primarily focused on abortion and same-sex marriage best reflects their values, 1-in-3 (32%) say an agenda primarily focused on issues like fighting poverty, protecting the environment, and ending the war in Iraq best reflects their values. Fifty-one percent say an agenda focused on all of these issues best reflects their values. Among white evangelicals, roughly the same number say an agenda that primarily focuses on abortion and same-sex marriage on the one hand (21%) and poverty, the environment, and the war in Iraq on the other (18%) best reflects their values. Fifty-five percent say an agenda that focuses on all of these issues best reflects their values.

More key findings after the jump!

Setting the Agenda

A week after Barack Obama coasted to victory, but two months before he takes office, religious groups and leaders are speaking out to keep their issues on the president's agenda. A quick, not-at-all-comprehensive rundown:

Social justice:

the Reform Jewish Movement is deeply committed to advancing our country and our communities through tikkun olam, the repair of our world. As we commend you on your electoral victory, we eagerly anticipate working closely with you and your administration to better the United States economically, heal its divisions, enrich it morally, strengthen it internationally and focus on critical issues such as health care, immigration, poverty, foreign relations and civil rights.

Compassion and the common good:

Centrist and progressive Christian leaders believe we have been called to advocate for peace and justice and to protect the vulnerable—from the unborn to senior citizens, from the poor in American cities to the desperately poor in African villages. Even during this financial downturn we are calling our constituencies to give generously of their money and their time. We ask and pray that you will similarly call your constituency—the American people—to wholehearted and personal sacrifice for the good of this country and the world.

Torture:

An extensive network of religious leaders [NRCAT] will begin a lobbying campaign to get President-elect Barack Obama to issue an executive order banning torture as one of his first acts Wednesday.

Abortion reduction:

I hope that an Obama administration is going to prove to religious Americans that supported him that he's going to provide common ground on the abortion issue. He spoke directly about wanting to reduce the number of abortions and it's one of the first things people are looking for: How is he going to legislate and lead on that issue?

Down the ballot

Some races from last week's election have taken longer than others to settle, and among the slower was the Congressional race in Virginia's 5th District, which stretches from Charlottesville to the North Carolina border. The faith factor in this race was two-fold: incumbent Virgil Goode gained infamy by making rather virulent anti-Muslim remarks following Keith Ellison's election to Congress in 2006, and challenger Tom Perriello is a progressive Catholic who co-founded Faithful America and Catholics In Alliance for the Common Good and speaks openly about how his faith informs his political principles.

After a thorough down-to-the-last-ballot counting, it looks like Tom will represent the 5th District in the 111th Congress. For a great full rundown of the particulars of the race, check out Dahlia Lithwick's writeup at Slate. Here's the nugget, though:

His work as a security analyst has taken him to Afghanistan and Darfur. Perriello has also been a part of a groundswell of young progressives whose religious faith motivates them to seek social change through public service. One of the most startling aspects of his 2008 campaign was his pledge to tithe 10 percent of his campaign volunteers' time to local charities. Time they could have spent stuffing mailers and phone-banking went to building houses for the poor.

Perhaps Tom's the vanguard of a common-good political movement in Congress. Speaking for myself, I sure hope so.

The $64,000 question...

Michael Lindsay asks: "In the wake of the presidential election, who now speaks for American evangelicals?"

Lindsay's understanding of evangelicals and presidential politics is extremely relevant here. As far as the Obama administration is concerned, Lindsay points to past presidents' leaning on faith leaders they personally know and trust. He throws out names like Jim Wallis, Burns Strider, Joel Hunter and Kirbyjon Caldwell as possible Obama confidantes.

As a young evangelical, let me say I would be thrilled to see any or all of these men became the new public face that evangelicals have desperately needed. What a vast improvement over the Dobsons, Robertsons and Perkins of the world!

Lindsay is quick to point out that Obama's election is not a backbreaker for the Religious Right; instead the President-elect enables the RR to galvanize around a "common enemy." Despite some late-election cycle CW, Lindsay sees figures like Huckabee and Bobby Jindal, not Sarah Palin, as possible upstart leaders. (Note: there is widespread disagreement on this, so time will tell.)

In this case, no matter what happens, a changing of the guard is in order. Old-school leaders used desperate tactics to try and influence this election, and their ways were soundly rejected. A new style of evangelical deserves a new style of leader. These are exciting times.

As Predicted, Young Evangelicals Broke Toward Obama

Last month the Faith and American Politics Survey, sponsored by FPL and conducted by Public Religion Research, showed that 29 percent of white evangelicals ages 18-34 supported now President-elect Barack Obama over John McCain. An exit poll analysis by Laurie Goodstein in today's New York Times confirms this finding and offers additional evidence that young evangelicals are less beholden to the Republican party than their peers.

Laurie's cross-tabs of the exits show that 32 percent of white evangelicals ages 18-29 voted for Barack Obama -- fully double John Kerry's 16 percent share in 2004. By way of comparison, Obama improved upon Kerry's performance among 18-29's as a whole by 12 points. Similarly, Obama gained 11 percentage points over Kerry among white evangelicals ages 30-44 (from 12 percent to 23) and just 6 points among 30-44's as a whole.

This is consistent with the Faith In American Politics Survey findings that young evangelicals are more pluralistic, less conservative and more supportive of an active government at home and abroad than their elders. Together, these findings signal a potential long-term shift among a new generation of evangelical voters.

So, to recap: Following a targeted effort to win over young white evangelicals by appealing to their values and their issues, Obama doubled his share of the two youngest cohorts of them, well-outpacing his gains among those age groups as a whole.

I'm not saying that young evangelicals are becoming a core consituency of the Democratic party -- two thirds did vote for McCain, after all -- but no one was expecting a wholesale reversal. What many of us were predicting about young evangelicals, though -- that their broadening agenda would erode their conservative partisanship and lead significant numbers away from the GOP -- came true.

The "evangelical Vatican"?

Numbers tell great stories, and my favorite tale from FPL and PRR's exit poll analysis yesterday is set in a state called Colorado, where the snow piles high and the religious right has its "Vatican."

In my daily scans of the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News, I couldn't help noticing that Sarah Palin spent a great deal of time in the Rockies during October, in addition to sitting for a lengthy interview with endorser James Dobson as part of a last-ditch effort to whip up the conservative religious base and win the state.

It didn't work. White evangelicals made up a smaller percentage of Colorado voters than in 2004 (26% then, 24% this year), and they shifted more sharply toward the Democrats here than in any other state, with Obama improving on Kerry's 2004 percentage by ten points (23% to 13%). So, to recap, Sarah Palin didn't bring the conservatives out of the woodwork, evangelicals left the Republican party in significant numbers, and James Dobson couldn't deliver his own constituency in his own back yard.

Exit Poll Analysis Shows "Religious Rebalancing"

An analysis of the national exit polls, conducted by Public Religion Research and FPL, shows Obama making inroads among religious voters::

(PDF of these findings available here.)

Religious attendance and the so-called “God Gap”:

-- Obama increased his share among all church attendance groups, but he made his greatest gains among voters who attend church more than once per week, narrowing a 29-point GOP advantage (64% - 35%) to a 12-point GOP advantage (55% - 43%). This represents an 8-point increase among a strongly Republican group.

-- Obama won monthly attenders 53% - 46%, while Kerry lost them 49% - 51%, a 4-point pickup.

Roman Catholics:

-- Obama beat McCain soundly among Catholics (55% - 44%), performing better than Kerry in 2004 and Gore in 2000.

-- Among white Catholics, Obama narrowed the Republican advantage from Bush’s 13-point advantage (56% - 43%), with McCain holding only a 5-points advantage (52% - 47%).

-- In FL, Catholics swung from the Republican party to the Democratic party. Obama improved upon Kerry's Catholic performance by 16 percentage points, from trailing by 15 points in 2004 (57% - 42%) to leading by 1 point (50% - 49%) in 2008.

-- In IN, a 13-point GOP advantage in 2004 (56%-43%) disappeared, with Catholics split evenly between the candidates (50%-50%).

-- However, in PA, McCain won Catholics 54%-46%, increasing GOP advantage from Bush’s margin of 52%-48%.

White Evangelicals:

-- White evangelicals turned out solidly (23% of the vote) and strongly supported McCain (75% to 24%), but evangelical support for McCain was 5 points lower than support for Bush (79%) in 2004.

-- In a number of states (including OH, MO, MI, IN, and NC) white evangelical turnout increased over 2004, but this increase did not favor McCain. For example:

-- In NC, white evangelical turnout was up 6 points from 36% to 42%, but McCain’s support (75% to 24%) was down 9 points from the strong advantage Bush held over Kerry (84% to 16%).

-- In OH, white evangelical turnout increased by 5 points (from 25% of the electorate in 2004 to 30% in 2008) and McCain’s support (70% to 28%) was down 6 points from Bush’s 76%-24% lead in 2004.

-- In CO, GOP advantage narrowed by 15 points among white evangelicals, from 86%-14% in 2004 to 71%-27% in 2008.

My pre-crunch gripe

Thankfully the exit polls didn't repeat their 2004 folly of cordoning off "moral values" as a separate category from other issues in the determining-your-vote question. But this step forward was matched by a step back. The "God Gap" stat -- votes crossed-tabbed by worship-service attendance -- are only available at the national level, so we can't see how it played out regionally. Oh well, we can still make state-to-state comparisons among religious demographics like white evangelicals and Catholics. More on that later.

What to watch for tonight

Religion has been one of the dominant news themes in the 2008 election, not least because large blocs of religious voters are in play. Based on multiple polls from FPL and other sources, here are a few to watch for as results pour in and exit polls get crunched:

• White evangelicals: Based on the final pre-election polling, Obama looks to improve upon Kerry’s performance by as much as 20 points in key Midwestern states such and Indiana and Ohio. However, white evangelicals in the South seem poised to give McCain the same overwhelming support they gave Bush in 2004.

• Catholics: Hispanic and young Catholics support Obama by large margins. White Catholics are still a wild card. A majority may support McCain, but Obama appears likely to gain more votes from them than did Kerry or Gore.

• Mainline Protestants: After favoring Bush by 10 points over both Gore and Kerry, recent polls show that their preference for Republicans is cooling and they are nearly a 50-50 bloc.

• Hispanic Protestants, who are largely evangelical, appear likely to swing back toward Obama this year after backing Bush in 2004.

Godless in North Carolina? Not so much.

Have you heard about Senator Elizabeth Dole’s latest attack on her Democratic opponent, Kay Hagan?

Ok, so obviously the attacks have something to do with this:

Senator Dole is down in the polls and it seems she might be grasping at straws. To me, there are a few takeways:

Election protection in Ohio

Earlier this week We Believe Ohio, a diverse interfaith coalition of clergy from across the state, gathered to recap their Political Sleaze-Free Zone efforts throughout the year-long campaign season and call for civility and security on Election Day. More than a dozen candidates for federal, state and county office -- including Democrats, Republicans and independents -- endorsed the campaign and adhered to its principles of honesty, positivity and a focus on common good issues.

As we inch toward November 4, it's more important than ever to emphasize these goals. Ohio was hemorrhaging jobs even before the economic collapse, and foreclosures and layoffs are accelerating. Insecurity and poverty increase anxiety and tension. An overwhelming turnout is expected on Tuesday in this charged atmosphere. Inadequate staffing, overcrowding and suppression efforts will likely result in hours-long lines, just as in '04, in highly competitive and vote-rich Ohio.

Talking to We Believe leaders this week, I got the sense that tension is rising and clergy, especially those whose houses of worship serve as polling places, are praying for a peaceful day. I've heard reports that state election officials have received death threats, and I've listened to threatening voicemails at ACORN offices that are so vile I won't link to them. Prayers for a peaceful day are warranted.

Our sanitized popular history largely downplays the fact that elections haven't been the most civil or honest affairs. Given the power and resources at stake, our fallen nature, and a political and social culture that prizes stability while excusing extremism, we have every reason to not take civility and security for granted. That's why I'm grateful for faith leaders such as my friends in We Believe Ohio, and why I'm praying for the election.

Electoral Integrity

I'll have more to say about the faith community's effort to infuse integrity into the 2008 campaigns on Monday, when We Believe Ohio calls attention to the success of their Political Sleaze-Free Zone effort, but I need to visit another point right now. Earlier this week the Family Research Council accused Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner of being derelict in enforcing election laws, omitting the detail that the Supreme Court had already ruled against her accuser.

In a later email alert FRC, noting that the Supreme Court ruled only the government could file suit on the matter, all but accused Attorney General Michael Mukasey of "dereliction of duty" for not opening litigation against Brunner. Now we know why Mukasey has been so derelict -- because his own Justice Department thinks she's doing a good job.

Twice this week FRC has attacked Ohio voter registration, and twice the facts have gotten in the way of their case. Questioning the legitimacy of the ballot in a close race less than two weeks before an election can cast doubt on the outcome's validity, so it should be done with great caution, not presumption of wrongdoing or indifference to facts. If you're trying to bring a faithful witness to politics, it's best to start with an informed one.

Are We Seeing a Major Shift?

H/T to Mark Silk for bringing the lowdown on the latest Pew poll. Silk shows how as Obama has gained steam in the national polls, that trend has been reproduced among people of faith.

Since September, as Obama has gained steam in the national polls, large religious demographics are trending in the same direction:

---He's opened up leads among mainline Protestants (from down 10 points to up 5) and Catholics (going from up one point to up 16).

---He's narrowed the grap among weekly worship attenders. In September, he was trailing by 18 points, and that margin is now just 7.

No matter what the results are in two weeks, it will be fascinating to see how the history of this election will be written and what long-term impact it will have on the greater faith-and-politics landscape. Naysayers would call a closing of the God gap an economy-driven fluke, but would conventional wisdom follow?

It's O-hi-o, Not O-lie-o

Once again, the Family Research Council bears false witness, this time about voter "fraud" in Ohio. In today's FRC Action email, we're alerted to an urgent development:

As ACORN pounds the pavement for new voters, the allegations of fraud are boiling. More than 200,000 (over a third) of Ohio's 660,000 new registrations have been flagged as mismatches. While Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner (D) says she is committed to making Ohio's election an honest one, she has yet to comply with federal law. It demands that she safeguard the democratic process by verifying the thousands of registrations in question. Last week, she refused. Sensing that the election could be compromised-and seeing no attempt by the government to correct it-the Ohio Republican Party sued Brunner for compliance with the law. Democrats called it a partisan attack.

Perkins & Co. are omitting a rather important detail of the case. From the AP (four days ago):

The Supreme Court is siding with Ohio's top elections official in a dispute with the state Republican Party over voter registrations.

The justices on Friday overruled a federal appeals court that had ordered Ohio's top elections official to do more to help counties verify voter eligibility.

Accusing someone of refusing to obey the law, and failing to mention that the United States Supreme Court has already ruled in favor of the target of your attack. As sins of omission go, that there is a pretty deadly one.

Channeling "Patio Man"

David Brooks, the New York Times' resident armchair anthropologist, today revisited his American caricature, er, archetype, Patio Man:

For all the talk of plumbers and investment bankers, populists and elitists, Patio Man is still at the epicenter of national politics. He is the quintessential suburban American, the service economy worker, the guy who wears khakis to work each day, with the security badge on the belt clip around his waist.

He lives in northern Virginia, along the I-4 corridor near Orlando, Fla., in or near Columbus, Ohio, along the Front Range of Colorado, in the converging megalopolis between Albuquerque and Santa Fe and in many other places...

If you wanted to pick words to capture Patio Man’s political ideals, they would be responsibility, respectability and order. Patio Man moved to his home because he wanted an orderly place where he could raise his kids. His ideal neighborhood is Mayberry with BlackBerries.

David doesn't give data, so I assume Patio Man is a composite of impressions gathered from extensive personal contacts in a broad range of places. Since I visit my native Northern Virginia often and have spent the year traveling to suburban areas of Ohio, Colorado, Missouri and Pennsylvania, I'll grant myself the same license.

(Note: David doesn't go into detail about Patio Woman, so I will leave her alone for now.)

Patio Land is megachurch country. Some of the nation's highest-profile congregations and church networks are in Patio Man's exurban habitat, where The Purpose Driven Life sells like hotcakes. Patio Man may or may not go to a large, contemporary "seeker-friendly" church, but some of his co-workers and neighbors do -- and they probably invite him. In Patio Man's world of new neighbors, new-ish subdivisions, and long commutes, megachurches are one of the few anchors of community. I can't say Patio Man is an evangelical, but evangelicals are influential in his world. They're in his neighborhood, his county government and school board, and all over his radio dial.

More below the fold...

The photo Powell described

Originally published in the New Yorker.

Colin Powell stands up for Muslims

Within his eloquent remarks on Meet the Press yesterday, Colin Powell made one of the most pointed defenses of Muslim Americans I've heard this year:

And it is permitted to be said such things as, “Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.” Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no, that’s not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, “He’s a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists.” This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery, and she had her head on the headstone of her son’s grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards–Purple Heart, Bronze Star–showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death. He was 20 years old. And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn’t have a Christian cross, it didn’t have the Star of David, it had crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life. Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourself in this way. And John McCain is as nondiscriminatory as anyone I know. But I’m troubled about the fact that, within the party, we have these kinds of expressions.

It's particularly important for a conservative of military background to say this. Not all or even most conservatives consider Muslim and terrorist synonymous, and religious prejudice is not unknown in moderate or even progressive circles, but it's simply a fact that the most open and virulent bigotry against Muslims is on the Right. On the extreme wing, Powell is already an apostate, but by publicly defending Muslims in moral language and military terms, I think he can reach a lot of people who are unconsciously or passively prejudiced.

The Faith Life of the Party: Part 2, The Right

Pt. 2 of Krista Tippett's radio series "The Faith Life of the Party" features the thoughts of conservative columnist Rod Dreher (Beliefnet/Dallas Morning News).

Responding to Amy Sullivan's claims that Democrats face a double standard when proving their faith, Dreher discussed the "culture war" going on inside churches. A former Catholic, Dreher (now Eastern Orthodox) said some conservative Catholics treat progressive Catholics as if they're "really faking" their faith. Those types of divisions within churches gets projected onto those in the public square, he said.

While I didn't personally agree with most of Rod's viewpoints, I was encouraged by his bold stance he expressed on torture. His words give hope that both conservatives and progressives can work together to redress this horrible national sin:

The silence of conservative Christians on the torture issue has been a true scandal…that will be remembered in history, I believe, as a real stain on our conscience and I wish that conservative Christians would be more open about it because it is absolutely indefensible.

Fits in with Krista's description of the conversation as an exploration of "the little-known story of religiously influenced impulses within the conservative movement that diverge from the Religious Right." Full recording here.

Bearing False Witness is not a Catholic Value

A conservative anti-abortion group is distributing voter guides, designed to look like official Catholic church materials, that include the false claim that "endorsing, support, or voting for Obama in the 2008 Presidential election flagrantly violates Catholic teaching."

According to the National Catholic Reporter, the brochure's creator meant the resemblance to the Bishops' document to be "comic relief." Well, this Catholic isn't laughing.

I have no problem with those who might disagree with me politically arguing their case. I do, however, have a problem with them distorting the teachings of my church for partisan purposes.

The Faith Life of the Party: Part 1, The Left

For my money, some of the strongest journalism on faith and spirituality comes from Krista Tippett's radio show, Speaking of Faith. Recently, Tippett has explored the political party-faith relationship in a two-part series called "The Faith Life of the Party." Pt. 1 is a conversation with Time Magazine's Amy Sullivan.,

Despite CW that the Obama/McCain race has signaled a shift in which party is most comfortable talking about faith, Among other things, Amy says Sarah Palin highlights a religious double-standard in politics, and Democrats still face a "very high bar" to prove they are "authentic people of faith."

For example, see the questions that still surround Obama's faith despite the comfort he's shown in speaking at Call to Renewal in 2006, the Compassion Forum during the primaries, and the Saddleback Forum in August. Meanwhile, within hours of being selected, Gov. Palin was accepted as a member of the Religious Right without ever calling herself an evangelical or referring to her faith on the campaign trail.

Amy attributes the double standard to three culprits: the Religious Right, religious Democrats who "drew back into the shadows," and journalists who embraced the stereotypes. I think that pretty well covers it.

All (Faith and) Politics is Local

All politics is local: one of the great truisms in American public life. In the new issue of Religion in the News, Mark Silk shows that when it comes to faith and presidential campaigns, it's all regional.

Since 2001, Mark's been part of a project examining the role of faith in eight separate regions of the U.S. The series has displayed ways in which regional attitudes toward faith affect presidential races. This time around, he concludes that "every regional religious culture with the exception of New England has helped shape the outlooks of the four politicians running for national office."

Mark classifies McCain's interaction with faith as typical of the "the competing impulses that beset" the Southwest (unfocused when it comes to faith: loyal when it comes to his church yet unable to embrace the "moral values agenda). Obama, he labels a "hybrid character," whose faith story reflects his diverse upbringing and ultimately a Midwestern sense of community and pluralism.

Mark also identifies the VP candidates as products of their regions. Joe Biden comes from the mid-Atlantic, "a place where individuals understand themselves as belonging to one or another swatch of an ethno-religious tapestry made more worthwhile by the presence of others" while Sarah Palin's "public career reflects the kind of tension" that comes from practicing Southern-fried evangelicalism in a largely unchurched, frontier state.

The big question, as Mark sees it, is

How the presidential race turns out will, as in the past, open the door to regional religious influences. Will it be a libertarian/evangelical ethos out of the West, or a species of Midwestern communitarianism? And how, after eight years of George Bush’s Southern Crossroads, will the country react?

Having lived in all of these areas, I'm especially curious.

Dishing Evangelicals

Commenting on Nate Silver's new electoral modeling which singles out Southern Baptists as responding distinctively to the economic crisis, Andrew Sullivan speculates that it doesn't matter to them:

...The reason the economy is playing differently among Southern Baptists may surely be that many are voting primarily on religious, cultural and theological grounds.

The economy is irrelevant compared with religious identity. What this campaign may be doing is stripping most secular Republicans and independents from the GOP coalition...

I don't think so. According to The Young and the Faithful, which we released yesterday, white evangelicals rated the economy and energy as more important issues than abortion and same-sex marriage, and only 35 percent said they would not vote for a candidate who disagreed with them on abortion.. On the other hand, a strong majority of white evangelicals favored a smaller government providing fewer services to a larger government providing more services [despite a 20-point generation gap between younger evangelicals (18-35) and their elders].

It's fair to wonder what degree of overlap there is between Nate's Southern Baptists and our white evangelicals, but considering that Southern Baptists are by far the largest evangelical protestant denomination, and that no research suggests they are politically distinct minority subculture within white evangelicalism, we're probably dealing with similar bodies here.

I'm not saying that "religious identity" has nothing to do with Southern Baptists' distinct response to the economy, but another important factor to consider is economic assumptions among evangelicals 35 and over. At the 2007 Values Voters' Summit, Richard Land extolled the benefits of tax cuts for the rich and equated progressive taxation with socialism, and the mostly middle-aged crowd around me responded as though it was gospel truth. You'll often hear this echoed on conservative Christian radio too. To say that economics is irrelevant misses the fact that many conservative evangelicals just believe "limited government" and supply-side economics work.

it's encouraging that this belief has less sway among the young.

New FPL Poll: The Young and the Faithful

We just released the results of a new poll providing a groundbreaking look at the faith and political views of young people in the 2008 election cycle. Sponsored by Faith in Public Life and conducted by Public Religion Research, the The Faith and American Politics Survey is a large national survey with an unprecedented over sample of Americans ages 18-34.

The results of the survey are based on telephone interviews with a representative sample of 2,000 American adults and a large over sample of younger adults (18-34). The young adult sample size was 1,250 and included both land line and cell phone interviews. The survey was conducted under the supervision of Opinion Access Corp August 28 - September 19, 2008.

The poll’s results are analyzed in a new report, The Young and the Faithful which finds that:

Debate thoughts

Agenda-setting theory, in a nutshell, is this -- the media can't control what you say, but it can control what you talk about. Debates are agenda-setting writ large. For 90 minutes, a very few people decide what topics the candidates will talk about in front of millions of viewers. There is great power in that. So, given the electorate's justifiable concern with economic issues and the media's understandable if not laudable preoccupation with the race's day-to-day blow-by-blow, I find it heartening that two consecutive debates have had questions about genocide in Darfur. Framing the discussion around US military intervention surely gives short shrift to the nuanced approach Darfur demands, but forcing the candidates to talk about this issue that isn't at the top of The National Agenda seems to me like a self-evident good. If nothing else, it builds a bridge from the activist community to the public at large and helps us keep Darfur from slipping off of the national radar.

"It's a moral meltdown, too"

The Center For American Progress did a roundup of faith leaders' statements, blog posts and actions in response to the economic crisis:

The meltdown of global financial markets is more than an economic crisis. It is also a moral crisis that exposes the fatal flaws of unfettered capitalism and rebukes the worship of free-market forces whose excesses are having brutal consequences for everyday Americans.

As politicians and economists offer proposals for what should be done, religious leaders and communities are speaking out as well. They are criticizing the immoral culture of greed and lack of regulation that led to this crisis. They are providing assistance for those in need. And they are offering a prophetic voice for economic justice and the common good, as evidenced by the sampling of responses that follow.

Recommended.

Wish list for tonight's debate

Tonight's "town hall" presidential debate comes at a moment of high acrimony in the campaign. Speaking for myself, a few weeks ago I thought surely, surely, we'd seen the worst, but it was just a foretaste of the feast to come.

So it's a particular relief that tonight's questions will come mostly from audience members who do something other than gossip about the presidential campaign for a living. Since the pre-primary debates, time and again we've seen better questions from audiences than moderators or pundits. (With obvious exceptions, of course.)

Granted, the network gets to choose who asks the questions, and followups aren't allowed, but it's still likely to be a different universe of questions than we'd get from a pundit-only panel. I doubt any faith leaders will get airtime, but a person can hope. I'm picturing clergy in garb stepping up with a call for repentance for false witness. Won't happen, but it's fun to indulge the fantasy for a minute.

I can't promise a full-fledged liveblog, but I'll at least have some post-debate comment.

Prosperity theology and the subprime mess

From the department of provocative headlines: "Maybe We Should Blame God for the Subprime Mess."

And from the department of serious questions, the article -- by Time's David van Biema -- asks what role prosperity theology has in the mortgage crisis.

Prosperity theology's tenet that "God will 'make a way' for poor people to enjoy the better things in life," and its emphasis on upbeat faith as a key to material bounty seem conducive to a less-than-cautious approach to borrowing, and David quotes prosperity theology expert Professor Jonathan Walton saying “prosperity theology ha[s] developed an additional, dangerous expression during the subprime-lending boom."

Namely, belief that divine intervention rather than bad banking policy was delivering home loans to borrowers with bad credit scores.

However Walton also thinks the theology can be "empowering to those who've seen themselves as financially or even culturally useless," and that, "in some cases the philosophy has matured with its practitioners, encouraging good financial habits and entrepreneurship.”

Seems like the system and the culture as a whole, not just the Prosperity Gospel, need to mature.

A Hearing for Compassion Issues in the VP Debate

Kudos to Gwen Ifill for asking questions about Darfur and climate change at last night's debate. Darfur in particular was a pleasant surprise. It's very easy to let the genocide fade from the campaign as it falls out of the news and economic anxiety mounts, so putting it on the agenda for a nationally televised debate was an important and deliberate decision. Notice the streaming line graph at the bottom of the screen gauging approval ratings among undecided voters -- they respond overwhelmingly to the call for action to stop the slaughter.

Next week, let's have some questions about climate change as a moral issue. The policy questions are most important, but these debates are also a teachable moment for the American public about climate change's catastrophic, disproportionate impact on the world's most vulnerable people.

Supporting parishioners in the midst of economic turmoil

Dan and I were just sitting in the office, talking about how the financial mess is affecting churches and religious organizations. With that in mind, I started poking around religion blogs and news sources, expecting to find stories about diminishing funds in church coffers stymieing congregations’ abilities to help those in need, how pledges and stewardship campaigns are shifting as a results, what cuts are being made in religious organizations’ budgets, and the like.

When I found “Wall Street’s Woes come to Church", I thought my expectations were confirmed.

But the subtitle, “Episcopalians consider new economic landscape, extend help to others," told a different story.

Mary Frances Schjonberg writes about new and evolving ministries that cater to the needs of those affected by the Wall Street crisis; churches like Trinity Church, (located at the corner of Wall Street and Broadway in lower Manhattan), which is now offering sessions on "Coping with Stress” and "Navigating Career Transitions.” Others offer job-seeking classes; all offered a pastoral support and care for parishioners suffering from doubt and anxiety.

It’ll be interesting to see how else houses of worship respond. What’s yours done so far?

(Thanks to Jeff Weiss over at the Dallas Morning News religion blog for posting this article!)

New poll reveals shifts in young evangelicals' attitudes

On the heels of the recent University of Akron national survey of religion and politics poll that found that "evangelical protestants supported Republican John McCain at levels approaching their support for George W. Bush in the comparable stage of the 2004 election," this week's Religion and Ethics Newsweekly poll shows young evangelicals peeling away from their elders and from the Republican party:

---White evangelicals are supporting McCain by a marging of 71-23, but those #'s change to 62-30 among WE's under 30.

---Young white evangelicals also have less favorable views of McCain, Palin and Pres. Bush than evangelicals overall.

---A majority of young evangelicals are ok with some sort of civil union/legal recognition of same-sex couples, but are just as pro-life as their elders.

These findings aren't enough to reshape the face of evangelicalism and may/may not make a big difference on the '08 race. They do, however, raise an interesting question. As under-30 evangelicals increasingly move into positions of leadership, how will the movement change?

More data to come between now and the election, I'm sure.

A God-less debate?

Over at his Boston Globe blog, Articles of Faith, Michael Paulson notes that Friday night's presidential debate at Ole Miss, which centered on the economy and foreign policy, "was completely free of talk about religion -- a marked shift in language choice from the words used by both candidates during their acceptance speeches at their party political conventions," despite the fact that issues with strong religious underpinnings such as Iran, Israel and terrorism.

Paulson's observations come at a time when people of faith are increasingly expressing that the economy and the way our country handles its business overseas fall under the category of moral or "values" issues.

While the candidates certainly don't have to invoke the name or language of any faith to recognize an issue's gravity, it will be interesting to see how these topics are framed going forward. Will they dialogue with voters (and each other) about the inherent moral and spiritual ramifications of our nation's actions, or will rhetoric be devoid of these dimensions?

To vote or not to vote? Article highlights young evangelicals' struggle

With less than two months till the election, no segment of religious voters is completely sewn up, and a lot of the public dialogue is about culture war vs broadening agenda.chatter. However, we'd also do well to consider some gut-level feelings faithful voters have about the political process.

The current issue of Relevant Magazine devotes its cover to the political ponderings of young evangelicals. Not wanting to repeat the mistakes of their (metaphorical and literal) fathers, they're trying to engage politics in a way that transcends the narrow partisanship of the Religious Right era. For many, their efforts are leading to a crisis of faith and civics that offers many questions and few models for success.

Writer Adam Smith acknowledges the problem's deep roots:

"It’s not just the candidates that can give Christians pause. Indeed, the entire political process has become so polarized and vitriolic that some have begun to question its very foundation."

(This disillusionment is certainly not unique to evangelicals.)

In interviews with leading evangelicals, Adam explores different options: engaging politics in an unconventional way that makes room for activism but may or may not lead to voting (Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw); or being a multi-issue voter, refusing to be completely defined by one party or the other (Tony Campolo), who told Adam

“My contention is that if anybody asks if you’re a Democrat or a Republican, the answer should be, ‘Please name the issue,’” he says. “On certain issues, I’m going to come across as someone who likes what the Republicans say, and on other issues I will come across as saying what the Democrats say.”

Ultimately, Adam suggests that young evangelicals are looking to take a principled approach to politics that eschews partisan lever-pulling. One that requires candidates to speak truthfully, thoughtfully and offer conviction rather than character asassination. Given the recent tone of the campaign, turnout will be something to watch closely.

Progressive & Religious Book Salon

All year I've been meaning to crank up a faith-and-politics book salon over here, but I've just never been able to carve out the time. Luckily, the good folks at Firedoglake are hosting one for my new neighbor Robby Jones, author of the recently released Progressive & Religious, which draws on almost 100 interviews with Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Buddhist leaders working to transform public life. I've worked with Robby on several projects and found his insight and expertise remarkable.

It'll be moderated by Sarah Posner, author of God's Profits and journalist who churns out The American Prospect's weekly must-read Fundamentalist column. I met Sarah at last year's Values Voter Summit and have spoken with her regularly ever since. If our conversations are any indication, expect a great discussion of Robby's book.

Saturday, Firedoglake.com, 5-7 pm. I will be there, and I hope you join us.

Public perception vs self perception of evangelicals

Delving into the latest Barna poll, Christian Post's Jennifer Riley found some fascinating data.

Sixty percent of the American people perceive evangelicals will significantly influence the election, and 59% think they "spend too much time complaining and not enough time solving problems." What's more, 50% of evangelicals share this perception. Hmm, I wonder where people would get that idea.

On other matters, public images and self-perceptions of evangelicals diverge, revealing a remarkable deficit of understanding:

Also, only 48 percent of evangelicals believe it is accurate that their voting peers will focus primarily on abortion and homosexuality despite the wide attention such moral issues have received. In contrast, 85 percent of all American adults agreed with this description about evangelical voters.

David Kinnaman, who directed the Barna study, pointed out that a 2007 study by Barna showed that 9 out of 10 evangelicals believe abortion is a major problem. Similarly, nearly 8 out of 10 evangelicals say homosexuality is a major challenge facing the nation.

...Meanwhile, 47 percent of all adults said evangelical voters will minimize social justice issues, like poverty and immigration. Only 28 percent of evangelicals agreed with that statement.

However, Barna evangelicals don't see this translating into Obama votes -- 74% said they expected evangelicals to vote overwhelmingly Republican.

Barna defines evangelicals by theological criteria, not self-identification, resulting in a much smaller (and more conservative) group falling into the category, so we're planting an appleseed in an orange grove if we place this poll into the overall picture without qualifiers, but I still think these findings are noteworthy and confounding.

A Teachable Moment for Organizers

Reading the numerous and powerful responses from community organizers to political insults of their work, it occurs to me that such words slight Faith In Public Life's work organizing diverse religious leaders across the country. We can deal with the derision -- it won't stand in the way of our work for the common good. But the ignorance on display presents a teachable moment.

We promote a vision of faith in the public square that rises above the sniping of the culture wars and claims space in the values debate for justice and the common good, and faith-based community organizing is where this rubber meets the road. Groups resourced by Faith In Public Life, such as We Believe Ohio and We Believe Colorado, are composed of faith leaders from a variety of traditions who take action at the state and local level on causes such as raising the minimum wage and fighting payday lending, preventing racial profiling and improving education. Rather than embroiling themselves in polarization for political gain, they work to actually promote justice and improve their communities.

Faith-based community organizing does not pit Republicans against Democrats. What it does is put social progress above political showmanship. Our faiths call us to walk humbly and work for justice, and organizers at the grassroots level do just that. It is worthy of praise, not punchlines. We are proud of our work in faith-based community organizing, and we believe that politicians of all stripes will be as well if they take the time to learn what it's all about.

Faith at the Conventions

As the Democratic National Convention kicks off next week, religious leaders and faith-and-politics experts will put on educational event and panels on the role of religious voters in the election. FPL Director of Organizing Strategy Ron Stief (accompanied by yours truly) will be on hand to contribute to the dialogue. RNC events aren't publicized yet, but we're on the lookout and will share word on them as soon as it's available.

On Monday the 25th at 9 am MST (11 eastern), Faith In Public Life, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and Beliefnet are cosponsoring "The Shifting Faith Vote: What It Means for this Election," a panel discussion at The Big Tent assessing how the changing values debate among religious voters will impact the general electorate, the campaigns and the media, and explore how those who support this expanded debate are getting the message out broadly between now and the election. Amy Sullivan will moderate, and Ron, Alexia Kelley, Zack Exley, Paul Raushenbush and Michael Beckwith will share their experience and expertise on the topic.

Check back here Monday for liveblogging and youtube clips of the panel. And please comment on the proceedings!

More to come about another faith-and-politics discussion later in the week.

My (Un)Common(ly) Good Summer

It's been a privilege and a blessing to spend the summer as an intern with Faith in Public Life. Before I head back to the best little college town in the Midwest, indulge me a moment of reflection.

I'm a product of conservative evangelical circles who has only recently seen the beauty of the Beatitudes and the richness of the Biblical mandate to serve the poor with an unobscured view.

Being at FPL, then, was a chance to progress on a journey that will hopefully last a lifetime, a chance to see for myself that people of all theological and spiritual backgrounds can come together to seek the common good.

In vivid, unforgettable ways, I saw it with my own eyes:

---In the remarkable dispatches of local leaders changing their communities for the better through compassion and courage.

---As I was provoked to ponder my role by brilliant thinkers asking substantive questions about religion in the public square and rebels challenging the very way people of faith interact with the state.

---In the empowerment I felt as the faith community stood up for itself, putting the media on notice that divisive figures like James Dobson don't speak for their values.

Latino Evangelicals: a broadening reach and a broader agenda

Dubbing them "an interesting group to watch over the next three months," Reuters' Ed Stoddard examines why Latino evangelicals may be swing voters on two fronts this election year.

With their votes more up-for-grabs than in previous years and their concentration in swing states, Latino evangelicals "could be a key vote in both battleground states and battleground faiths," Stoddard reports. His analysis comes as Latino Christian leaders are meeting in California to discuss how they can best exercise their growing political capital in 2008.

Latino evangelicals' importance as a voting bloc, however, isn't as much about geography as their commitment to a broad values agenda.

Over at The Immanent Frame, Calvin College's Joel Carpenter astutely examines the way immigration is diversifying Christianity. Carpenter argues that as "Christianity is increasingly made up of people and movements from every part of the world, some things may change in evangelical Christians’ outlook." He sees this playing out with concerns on poverty, human rights and immigration growing while more traditional evangelical views on family are reinforced. Carpenter writes:

Among Latinos, the one politically important group today with a large immigrant population, these trends are already clear. Latino evangelicals support government programs to help the poor and vulnerable, but also strong “pro-life” and “traditional marriage” social views.

And, as far as party ID is concerned, he says "neither party at the moment lines up as a perfect match for the group’s concerns." To that end, Stoddard identifies "windows of opportunity" for each candidate:

"The One" -- good clean fun?

Most commentators have treated the McCain campaign's "The One" rather lightly, calling it"a little bit of humor," "juvenile," a much-needed parody.

Yet, beneath all this light fun some have found symbolism that would give it a different meaning among many evangelicals and fundamentalists. Specifically, several observers have noted that it contains imagery and language resembling that of the Left Behind series -- Revelation-inspired end-times literature that has sold over 70 million copies.

A couple of examples:

---the conspicuous and remarkable resemblance between images in the ad and apocalyptic pictures used in cover art for the Left Behind books. Specifically, the orange cloud depicted several times in the ad unmistakably evokes the cover of Kingdom Come, the final book in the Left Behind series.

---The title of "The One," and the attribution of the title to Obama, is analogous to "The One World Religion" set up by the anti-Christ, Nicolae Carpathia, a junior Senator who rises to power with the aid of Satan and a message of unity and hope in the book series.

Given the incongruity between eschatology and our soundbyte-driven political culture, it's easy to either dismiss this ad or evaluate it as entertainment, but there might be more to the "The One" than meets the eye. What some might see as parody could also be seen as a coded message meant to portray Obama as an anti-Christ. What do you think?

Spiritual Ends and Political Means

The news is that that Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama will "make their first joint 2008 campaign appearance to an audience of Christian activists at a Southern Baptist church. "

Here's Joel Hunter, "senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed, in Longwood, Florida, and author of A NEW KIND OF CONSERVATIVE, talks to PBS' Religion & Ethics program about religion's role in the 2008 presidential election and the political and religious interests of a new generation of young evangelicals."

According to the Associated Baptist Press,

The presidential candidates have agreed to participate in a "compassion forum" at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif. on August 16. Saddleback Pastor Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life, extended the invitation. Warren will moderate the forum, which will focus on moral-values issues -- such as poverty, the environment and global AIDS relief -- in which many centrist and younger evangelicals have taken an increasing interest.

Catholic Voters: this isn't 2004 anymore

We've come a long way in just four years.

For me, the 2004 election cycle was a painful experience. As a Catholic, I was deeply frustrated by the way partisan political operatives reduced my church's rich and diverse social tradition to a small set of so-called "non-negotiable" issues.

This year feels much different thanks in large part to events like this weekend's Convention for the Common Good in Philadelphia.

I was blessed to have been part of this gathering of over 800 Catholic activists committed to reclaiming their role as faithful citizens.

I could go on and on about my experience at the Convention--which was led by NETWORK (disclosure: I sit on the board of the NETWORK Education Program) and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good--but what struck me most was the spirit of hope and empowerment that permeated the entire weekend.

As we affirmed the Platform for the Common Good (itself the product of months of preparation and community engagement) I lost any last doubts I still might have had that this year would be different, better. Being with that community this weekend and participating in the rituals of faith-filled democracy had an almost sacramental quality. I know that this year, Catholic voters will find the grace to stand up for the fullness of our faith tradition against those who would confine it to a simple partisan agenda.

Of course, being Catholic, we know that it takes more than a great document to make real change. It also takes works, er, work.

With this in mind, the Convention for the Common Good birthed votethecommongood.com, an online hub for organizing around the platform complete with a form to endorse it and many other ways to take action.

Who's declaring "American Values"?

At last week's Denver huddle where "about 100 conservative Christian leaders from around the country agreed to unite behind the candidacy of John McCain, a politician they have long distrusted," a document boldly titled "Declaration of American Values" was also birthed. Its thesis:

It is imperative that people of strong Biblical faith stand in unity to affirm the core consensus values that do serve as the basis of America's greatness.

With that in mind, the drafters affirmed 10 values ranging from the sanctity of human life and traditional marriage to gun rights and the perils of progressive taxation.

But, in reading through the accounts, I've been hard-pressed to find names of more than about 20 individuals involved. Though you can see the document on various websites, there appears to be no public list of its signatories.

Is this grand declaration a portrait of any new Evangelical leaders' worldview, or is it just a repackaging of ideas from the old guard? Right now, it's impossible to tell. Until more information is released, the meeting and its product resembles one of the smoke-filled rooms where political bosses used to make their decisions (though, in this case, I'm sure the room was smoke-free).

Compare this with two other recent declarations: An Evangelical Manifesto and An Evangelical Declaration Against Torture, both of which allow the curious to read their full lists of John and Jane Hancocks.

The new statement ends with the phrase: “We hereby pledge our names, our lives, and our sacred honor to this Declaration of American Values.” Shouldn't they make those names public?

Character, Not Culture War

A new survey of evangelical leaders suggests that choosing a candidate for this group is not about party, not about any single issue -- but foremost, about character and conviction.

While many respondents specifically mentioned judicial appointments; compassion for the poor, and opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage as issues important to their vote, the leading answer to the poll question, “How do you decide which candidate to vote for?” was summarized this way:

“Policy proposals by candidates are likely to run into all kinds of snags—legislative, bureaucratic, judicial and regulatory. Don’t expect that a candidate can really deliver on most promises. But, the virtues and character strengths that a candidate has developed will remain constant. Indeed, those character strengths may be intensified by opposition. So judge a candidate on character as much or more than on policy proposals.”

National Association of Evangelicals President Leith Anderson's reflection on the survey results -- “I couldn’t guess which way many [evangelicals] will vote” -- is consistent with recent polls and evidence indicating that the evangelical vote is "very much up for grabs" this year (as John Green of the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life puts it).

Caring most about character sounds pretty consistent with the American population as a whole. An Associated Press-Ipsos poll last year found that 55 percent of those surveyed consider honesty, integrity and other values of character the most important qualities they look for in a presidential candidate.

More evidence from the front that it may well be time to stop stereotyping evangelicals and start focusing more on our shared values.

Mainline Protestants Leaving GOP

Much ink has been spilled and plenty of research done about white evangelical, Catholic and Jewish voters' swing potential this year. Now, a closer look at last month's study from Calvin College's Henry Institute turns up another religious demographic that's breaking away from their traditional voting habits -- mainline protestants (a group historically tilted toward the GOP).

According to the study, 46 percent identify as Democrats and 37 percent say they're Republicans. It's the first time more mainliners have identified with the Democratic party since the New Deal (that's a big deal).

And this has not been a knee-jerk, election year reaction to Obama's use of some Jesus words. A recent Christian Century piece identifies mainliners' steady "slippage" from the Republican ranks. John Dart notes that through 2000, half of mainline Protestants saw a Republican in the mirror but by 2004, the GOP's advantage had slimmed down to 44-38.

For an explanation, Dart looks to Calvin's Corwin Smidt, who says "Social justice issues and the Iraq war might have been the major influences for change by centrist mainline Protestants."

Dart notes some historical context, as well:

Mainline churches were known for having activist leaders who called for change in the social revolutions of the 1960s and 1970s, and in later years brought more women into leadership and struggled with gay issues. "The leadership and clergy acted as the vanguard in the prophetic mode," said Smidt, "and maybe over the years this might have had some impact."

For years, members of the Religious Right have used wedge issues in an attempt to paint protestants into a conservative corner. Looks like the strategy is wearing off.

Update: Responses to the Obama speech

Yesterday, we gathered a few reactions to Obama's faith-based initiative rollout in Ohio. Responses keep coming in -- here are a few of the most interesting:

Jim Wallis seems to share David Kuo and John DiIulio's guarded optimism. (Wallis was involved with the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives before his opposition to the Iraq War rendered him persona non grata.)

Wallis appreciates Obama's "robust vision" and expresses a desire that future efforts don't "get mired in the endless political debates of the past while God's concerns for the weak and vulnerable get ignored," as happened when the Bush administration politicized the office.

A few others from the Beliefnet blogging tree weighed in: Dan Gilgoff points out the Family Research Council seizing the chance to reiterate its displeasure with Obama's stance on same-sex marriage. Imagine my surprise.

Rod Dreher also explores the same-sex marriage angle, speculating that "the only churches, synagogues, etc., that would be eligible to receive federal funds would be those that have abandoned traditional teaching on homosexuality."

Taking a broader perspective are Beliefnet's Steven Waldman and The New Republic's Damon Linker. While Linker was personally "disappointed" with Obama, he sees a possible evangelical bump:

"Is it possible that the Democratic nominee for president in 2008 is the better Christian candidate? That is the question Obama's speech attempted to plant in the minds of evangelicals voters."

Waldman points out how Obama's community organizing experience could go a long way in shaping his initiative. He also lists three main benefits a faith-based plan provides the candidate:

Amy Sullivan vs. Mark Stricherz: Faith/Politics '08

Two experts, TIME's Amy Sullivan (an evangelical) and journalist Mark Stricherz (a Catholic), discuss faith and politics in the 2008 election.

Rounding up reactions to Obama's faith-based speech

Barack Obama appeared at Eastside Community Church in Zanesville, Ohio, to announced his plan for involving faith groups in social services. Predictably, reactions have been mixed and have, so far, fallen into a few categories:

Been there, but never got to do that: Perhaps the two most germane commentaries came from John DiIulio and David Kuo, both dissatisfied former heads of Bush's faith-based office.

DiIulio referred to Obama's "principled, prudent, and problem-solving vision" and said the nominee's ideas reminded him of "much that was best in both then Vice President Al Gore's and then Texas Governor George W. Bush's respective first speeches on the subject in 1999."

"Many good community-serving initiatives can be built, expanded, or sustained on the common ground that Senator Obama has staked out for us here," he added.

Kuo, according to the AP, "called Obama's approach smart, impressive and well thought-out but took a wait-and-see attitude about whether it would deliver."

When it comes to promises to help the poor, promises are easy, said Kuo, who wrote a 2006 book describing his frustration at what he called Bush's lackluster enthusiasm for the program. The question is commitment.

Putting it all in perspective: Beliefnet's Dan Gilgoff called Obama's vision "significant " and said that "In effect, he's out-Bushing George W. Bush in one of the President's specialty areas--connecting faith and public policy."

Mother Jones' Jonathan Stein said the plan lacked detail and speculated that "[t]here's no reason to suspect that Obama's outreach to evangelicals is insincere, but that doesn't mean I can't point out that it's also politically advantageous. (Translation: This isn't necessarily a pander, but it has the effects of one.)"

Lot's more after the jump.

Rabbis For Human Rights: Social Justice

"A short film highlighting the work of Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR) in Israel. RHR is an organization of Israeli rabbis committed to defending the human rights of all people in Israel and in the territories under Israeli control: Israelis and Palestinians, Muslims, Christians, and Jews, young and old, rich and poor, citizens and foreigners. Rabbis for Human Rights-North America was founded in 2002 by a group of American rabbis inspired by the work of RHR in Israel. RHR-North America is the only rabbinic association in North America dedicated to human rights for all and which represents more than 1,000 rabbis of every Jewish denomination across the U.S. and Canada."

"Jesus for President" presents radical call

The strains of Woody Guthrie’s “Christ for President” echoed through the sanctuary of D.C.’s Calvary Baptist Church Friday night, setting the tone for a powerful evening of words, worship and activism-- a "theological circus," as dubbed by ringleader Shane Claiborne who, along with co-author Chris Haw and a host of skilled musicians, made a stop there on their Jesus for President book tour.

Shane and Chris are upstarts even by the standards of upstart evangelicals. The media often focuses on Shane's most radical features: his dreadlocks, the "intentional" Christian community in Philadelphia where he lives, his vegetable oil-powered van.

Yet, the most radical aspect of Friday’s gathering was the vision laid out for a new way of political engagement. It is a vision based on the teachings of Jesus and the subversive ways in which the first Christian churches interacted with the Roman empire.

Shane and Chris are fine representatives for a growing generation of evangelicals who refuse to be typecast as conventional political actors. Trading in wedge issues for a focus on poverty, peace and the environment, they are basing their actions on spiritual teachings, not the directives of old-guard leaders or the Religious Right.

They long to see Christians place their faith in the front seat, the state in the back. They want a faith no longer co-opted and changed into some extreme form of nationalism. A political climate stripped of bitterness and partisan hostility (As Shane said Friday night, one thing he's learned from liberals and conservatives is that you can have all the right political answers and still be mean).

Debating the Divine in Public

The Center for American Progress released a new book, Debating the Divine Religion in 21st Century American Democracy, arguing for some fresh approaches on religion in American public life.

David Hollinger, the Preston Hotchkis Professor of American History at the University of California, Berkeley, argues in his essay for a strong civic sphere in which democratic national solidarity and civic patriotism trump all religious loyalties. He asserts that religious ideas are too often given a pass and argues that they be critically scrutinized.

See the flip for more on the contributors and the book.

Does Dobson Speak for Latino Evangelicals?

The Fidel "Butch" Montoya, blogging at the Latino Evangelical, writes:

One of the biggest concerns about the news media covering religious news and issues of Evangelicals revolves around the central fact of who actually represents the point of view of this large diverse group.

The on-going controversy and questions as to whether the Religious Right is dead or is irrelevant to the issues of the 2008 Presidential election continues to generate more questions and interest in the mainstream news media.

This election year we have seen a resurgence of new voices raising concerns and wanting to be heard. Many members of the Evangelical sector of the Church have tired of being aligned with the voices of the Religious Right and in particular of Rev James Dobson.

In Colorado, a diverse and cross cultural interfaith group of religious leaders are tired of being misrepresented by Dobson and his cohorts at Focus in the Family and have formed “We Believe Colorado.” We Believe Colorado has committed to work together on issues of common interest and to represent faith groups not aligned with the dying breed of the Religious Right leadership.

A question continually bought up, “Is why does the cable and network news media think that Rev. James Dobson speaks for the majority of religious and value voters?” That is one question We Believe Colorado can answer. Dobson and company do not speak for the new voices of religious leaders fighting for justice and righteousness and who have no interest in taunting our faith as a wedge issue.

Read More Here.

Mega-religion and the environment

The Weather Channel's Forecast Earth talks with Evangelical leaders about the "greening" of God's people. This 8 min. clip features Dr. Joel C. Hunter, author of "A New Kind of Conservative" (Regal) and senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed and Richard Cizik, governmental affairs director of the National Association of Evangelicals.

The June 30 New Yorker has an article (not online) by Frances FitzGerald on "The New Evangelicals: A growing challenge to the religious right."

Pew study is good news for the common good

In case you're still not convinced, there's more evidence today that people of faith have enough in common to come together at the table of public discourse and embrace their shared values.

So say data released in part two of the Pew Forum's monumental Religious Landscape Survey. First impressions of the results are good...there is ample encouragement for Americans who would use their faith to build bridges, rather than torch them.

On the following key points, researchers found agreement among most Americans as well as most religious groups (and if not a majority among all groups, at least a significant plurality):

62% of Americans "favor the government doing more to help needy Americans, even if it means going deeper in debt."

61% "say tougher environmental laws are worth the cost."

59% "say good diplomacy is the best way to ensure peace."

62% "reject the notion that religion causes more problems in society than it solves" while 68% are frustrated with the way our political system operates.

String these numbers together and what do you get? Solid evidence that Americans are tired of the politics of division, see religion as a force for good and agree on enough of the day's issues to move forward for the common good.

The study doesn't gloss over points of division--faithful Americans still disagree on issues like abortion and homosexuality--but we can take away hope in the knowledge that Americans from all backgrounds are hungry for new solutions and common ground.

Political and religious leaders, take note: we won't be divided as easily as in the past. A message to this year's candidates: leave the wedge issue politics behind, because the voters already have.

A changing political tide

Here's that increasing meme. . .

Thanks to the AmericanNewsProject:

How solidly Republican will Christian evangelicals be in 2008? As the country enters the next phase in this historic election season, concern about the state of God's earth may be the issue that draws many believers into the Democratic camp.

Inside Media: Ray Suarez on faith + politics

Here's three short clips of Ray Suarez, senior correspondent for "The News Hour With Jim Lehrer" on PBS, discusseing the politics of faith in America in a special "Inside Media" program at the Newseum.

The other two are on the flip. . .

Tim Russert | Man of Faith and Politics

Over at On Faith, Timothy Shriver writes:

C.S. Lewis once wrote, “You have never met a mere mortal.” Those words came to me as soon as I heard of the sudden and heartbreaking death of Tim Russert. He was no mere mortal. The last time I saw Tim Russert was just 10 days ago. He came up to me as I was talking to his sparkling wife, Maureen Orth, about the school in Colombia that bears her name and is the focus of her passion. Tim asked me about my uncle Ted, who’s fighting cancer. He told me that he’d written to Ted to express his support. “I wrote him,” he said, “and told him that I was praying for him with my wood bead rosary. I told him that nothing beats praying with the wood bead rosary.” I’m not sure why, but on that particular day, I had my own wood bead rosary in my pocket, a rosary I’d bought in Nazareth last Christmas. As Tim spoke, my fingers were on the beads and I felt a rush of emotion and strength. I felt an immediate closeness to Tim and an immediate sense that my uncle was in God’s hands at that very moment. I could only smile. I didn’t have any words. I simply pulled the rosary from my pocket, cupped it in my hands and showed it to Tim. He smiled. “You got it,” he said. And in the moment, I knew I did have “it.” And I knew he had “it” too. Many things will be written about the greatness of this brilliant journalist in the days ahead, and many people knew him far better than I. But I hope amid all the political and journalistic wisdom, people will remember that Tim Russert was a man raised and steeped in faith—a faith that focused on service, a faith that is confident in God’s plan, and a faith dedicated to the love of peace and the work of justice. Life was the race that was most important to Tim Russert and he won it by a landslide. It was no accident that he loved people, loved the pursuit of the common good we call politics, loved his family. After all, he loved God and prayed with a wood bead rosary. Tim Russert was no mere mortal. May his wife Maureen and his son Luke be comforted in believing that the mother of God to whom he prayed was with him at the hour of his death. Amen.

In this video with Sally Quinn, Tim Russert discusses his childhood, faith, the Catholic Church, religion mixing with politics, and a life of service. Catch the great video on the flip

McCain's Apathy-ist Problem

The poll reading gurus at FiveThirtyEight note a key demo shift. This lackluster appeal to the secular Americans, combined with David Brody's analysis of McCain's slow reach for faith voters seems like trouble.

According to Gallup, John McCain trails Barack Obama by 25 points among voters for whom religion is not "an important part of [their] daily life". McCain leads by 5 points among those who answer that question in the affirmative. These sorts of numbers are generally described as a problem for the Democratic candidate. However, as Ruy Teixeira pointed out four years ago, if you had to pick a sign of this divide to be on, it might be on the side of the secular. That is because by almost all indicators, religious participation in the United States is decreasing. According to a Pew poll, 45 percent of Americans now completely agree with the statement that "prayer is an important part of my daily life", down from a peak of 55 percent in 1999. (There does appear to have a bit of a "God Bounce"/mini-revival in the mid-late 1990s -- not so much in the number of religious Americans, but in the activity and enthusiasm of those that do practice). Moreover, the younger generation is less religious than the older generation. 19 percent of those born after 1977 say they are atheist or agnostic, as compared with 11 percent of Boomers (born 1946-1964), and 5 perecnt of pre-Boomers (born before 1946). Barack Obama, of course, does need to at least hold his own among actively religious voters, who constitute 65 percent of the electorate according to Gallup. He is able to do so thanks to substantial support from African-American and Latino voters, while trailing McCain by 25 points among actively religious, non-Hispanic whites. Nevertheless, if these generational trends hold, then each year a coalition based on actively religious voters will become marginally less successful.

Of course, the religious right will reconstitute some sort of mobilization, but clearly, the indicators place McCain in the middle of something like a Malthusian-scissor faith effect.

David Brody on McCain's Struggling Faith Outreach

David Brody and Tony Perkins talk about McCain's faith outreach difficulties and Obama's recent visit with evangelical leaders.

Evangelicals Whither-ing Over McCain and Obama

On Hardball, David Kuo and Tony Perkins discuss the politics of evangelical options in 2008.

Tell the old, old story...

When The New York Times runs an A1 story and the Washington Post runs an op-ed on the same day about your campaign's struggles with evangelical voters, it's fair to say that the conventional wisdom is solidifying. An understated aspect of this alleged problem is that it's with conservative evangelicals.

To believe the CW, McCain must be heading straight off a cliff, about to be dashed on the rocks of failure to mobilize “the base.” Not so fast: This particular McCain-is-in-trouble argument is based on his rocky relationships with the usual suspects: Dobson. Hagee. “Agents of Intolerance.” Excuse me while I promptly insert my fingers in my ears and sing loudly. Over at Spiritual Politics, Mark Silk pokes a few much-needed holes in current assumptions about McCain and evangelicals. He writes:

“McCain's real trouble is with evangelical political leaders--with the Religious Right, understood as an organized movement. Those guys don't like him for much the same reason they don't like all this ‘broadening the agenda’ stuff: He, like it, tends to dull the sharp end of the wedge in the culture wars.”

Silk adds that Mike Huckabee struggled to gain traction with the Religious Right for the same reasons. McCain isn’t us vs. them enough to satisfy the premier figures of the movement, he says.

It’s true that these leaders have a great deal of influence and following. Yet, a great number of evangelicals see Dobson and Hagee as leaders of a Bizarro evangelicalism they can’t abide. Evangelicals who believe Dobson, et al. don’t get to cast votes as proxy for an entire, diverse group of people will go a long way in deciding what problems McCain does or doesn’t have.

The final story on how the dynamics of this historic race affect evangelicals is unlikely to be written until after the votes are cast. Clinging to the tired meme that as the old guard leaders goes, so go the faithful, ignores the host of factors that make 2008 such a unique year for evangelical voters.

Moving on...

As we approach the general election campaign, looking back at the looong primary season suggests a great deal about what to expect between now and November. As the campaigns heated up in the fall, it didn't take long to see that, for better and for worse, religion would play a prominent role in the race. Since then it has been utilized, politicized and weaponized in ways that capture the better angels and base elements of our political culture, the shifting role of religious leaders in elections, and the broadening agenda associated with people of faith.

Lately we've been so steeped in pastoral perfidy that it's easy to forget about all the other faith and politics storylines of this primary season: religious prejudice hurting Romney and Obama; Catholic, Jewish and evangelical voters in play; the Religious Right edging toward disarray -- it's all been quite a drama. (Incidentally, that's almost a limerick.)

Over the summer and into the fall I'll be looking for most of these storylines to continue developing:

Jeremiah Wright will keep many a Swiftboat Veteran employed. The inefficacy of the Wright ads in North Carolina and Mississippi this spring won't stop 527 groups from trotting him out through the summer and fall.

Democratic religious outreach will rival the Republicans' 2004 efforts not only in scale but in sophistication (while differing in method).

McCain will figure out that there's more to courting white evangelicals than lining up a few big-name endorsers and saying "activist judges" over and over. Look for him to talk to them about compassion issues such as poverty and HIV/AIDS relief too.

When gay marriage turns out to be a flop as a wedge issue the religious right will embarass the hell out of itself with absurd spin the likes of which we've never seen.

Obama leaves Trinity UCC

Via TPM Election Central:

Just one more thing about Catholic voters!

In an addendum to yesterday's Wall Street Journal article about conservative Catholics being swing voters in '08, FoFPL and Catholics United exec. director Chris Korzen stopped by the Huffington Post to remind us of something the media had long forgotten: conservative Catholics have always been in play:

Contrary to popular belief, Bush didn't win Catholics in 2004 because of his positions on life and marriage. He won because of the Kerry campaign's inability to articulate a coherent message to Catholic swing voters, and because of an astoundingly sophisticated media and grassroots operation on the part of the Republican Party and allied "Catholic" organizations. As the party worked the phones and the doors, Catholic League president Donohue peppered Kerry with holier-than-thou invective (a cursory look at the Catholic League's 2004 press release headlines dispels any lingering doubt that the organization has become a front for the GOP), and an obscure group called Catholic Answers somehow found the money to distribute millions voting guides and full page USA Today ads advancing the manufactured theological notion that five "non-negotiable issues" trumped all the others at the polls.

The issues? Abortion, same-sex marriage, stem cell research, human cloning, and euthanasia. Never mind war, poverty, the death penalty, or that whole loving your neighbor thing. Of course, none of these groups have any formal authority to speak on behalf of the Church institution - which, by the way, refused to endorse the right's message. But - with the help of a small handful of renegade or perhaps unsuspecting bishops - these partisan operatives nonetheless managed to fool a sizable bloc of Catholics into thinking that a vote for Kerry meant certain eternal damnation.

A deathbed confession

wasn't expecting a faith angle to emerge on the Scott McClellan tell-all, but sure as the sun rises, here 'tis:

CBNNews.com - Former White House spokesman Scott McClellan says his Christian faith motivated him to learn from his mistakes and to write his controversial book about his days as press secretary.

Catholics in play in November

Via Mark Silk at Spiritual Politics, the AP reports that Catholic voters are evenly split between Obama and McCain:

Polls this month show the Illinois senator leading McCain among women, running even with him among Catholics and suburbanites and trailing him with people over age 65. Results vary by poll for those without college degrees. And though Obama trails decisively with a group that has shunned him against Clinton — whites who have not completed college — he's doing about the same with them as the past two Democratic presidential candidates.

The story doesn't point to any particular poll, but taking it at face value it suggests that the Catholic vote has staying power as one of the top storylines heading toward November. Place your bets!

Religion, Politics and the End of the World

Sam Harris and Chris Hedges engage in a debate over the role that religion and politics play in faith-based extremism.

Clinton's Sunday Taste of Victory (Church)

The Times' Caucus blog reports:

Mrs. Clinton’s choice of a place of worship Sunday morning surprised some Puerto Ricans, and has been discussed on local radio. On an island that is predominantly Roman Catholic, she ended up going to the Pavilion of Victory, an evangelical church in Hormigueros, in the southwest corner of the island.

Among those Protestant strivers, who had been worked into a state of enthusiasm by an hour of singing and dancing to rock and salsa-flavored hymns before her arrival, Mrs. Clinton obviously felt at home. She talked, in English and mostly without translation, not only of her political program, but also of her faith, and in terms that seemed to refer to her uphill struggle and recent difficulties.

She urged the congregation, for example, not to be “deterred by the setbacks that often fall into every life” and also said: “Do not fear to go forward, do not give up.”

“There isn’t anything we can’t do together if we seek God’s blessing and if we stay committed and are not deterred by the setbacks that often fall in every life.”

She added, “If I had listened to those who have been talking over the last few months, we would not be having this campaign in Puerto Rico today.”

A sign of changing religio-ethnic demographics? Check out the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference on CNN.

Jeff Sharlet | Is Biblical Capitalism an Oxymoron?

Will Wilkinson of The Cato Institute, talks about Jeff Sharlet's (NYU's Center for Religion and Media) book on The Family and the global impact of Christian Right free market manipulation.

"Use abortion and parochial-school aid to deepen the split between Catholics and social liberals"

Here's pretty damning evidence that the simplistic Right/Left polarization of the last generation was driven by Nixon-bred conservatives. According to another person from the inside, namely Pat Buchanan, the politicization of complicated moral issues was exploited for cheap electoral gain. In the May 26 New Yorker article, The Fall of Conservatism, George Packer writes:

[Pat] Buchanan gave me a copy of a seven-page confidential memorandum—“A little raw for today,” he warned—that he had written for Nixon in 1971, under the heading “Dividing the Democrats.” Drawn up with an acute understanding of the fragilities and fault lines in “the Old Roosevelt Coalition,” it recommended that the White House “exacerbate the ideological division” between the Old and New Left by praising Democrats who supported any of Nixon’s policies; highlight “the elitism and quasi-anti-Americanism of the National Democratic Party”; nominate for the Supreme Court a Southern strict constructionist who would divide Democrats regionally; use abortion and parochial-school aid to deepen the split between Catholics and social liberals; elicit white working-class support with tax relief and denunciations of welfare. Finally, the memo recommended exploiting racial tensions among Democrats. “Bumper stickers calling for black Presidential and especially Vice-Presidential candidates should be spread out in the ghettoes of the country,” Buchanan wrote. “We should do what is within our power to have a black nominated for Number Two, at least at the Democratic National Convention.” Such gambits, he added, could “cut the Democratic Party and country in half; my view is that we would have far the larger half.”

Meet the Press: Discussion of Obama's Outreach to Christians

How does Sen. Obama's Christian outreach compares to other candidates? Remember the cross in Gov. Huckabee's campaign ad? Is it ok for Obama to use crosses in his advertising in Kentucky?

A discussion with the DLC's Harold Ford, Jr., former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, GOP strategist Mike Murphy, and Democratic strategist Bob Shrum.

The Fall of the House of Dobson and Rise of Progressive Faith

Over at Religion Dispatches, our friend Robby Jones has a terrific essay about the concurrent rise of progressive religious leaders and decline of the old religious right. (Seriously, I'm not just saying that because he has nice things to say about FPL.)

Walking us through some of the key examples, he takes us from the religious gridiron of Ohio to the national scene to the airwaves, he shows the right's waning fortunes on multiple fronts as progressive religious groups find their voices. It's impossible to clip a fully representative excerpt from such a broad essay, but this passage hits many key notes:

In the meantime, Ohio Christians clearly voiced their preference for a candidate that shared all their values rather than a candidate running on a narrow divisive platform of opposing abortion and same-sex marriage. Blackwell was handily defeated by Ted Strickland, a Methodist minister who stumped as a “Golden Rule Democrat” and who, as a senator, insisted on paying for his own health coverage as long as his constituents were not covered. According to the 2006 NEP exit polls, Strickland gained fourteen points among voters who attended religious services once per week or more, compared to support these voters gave Senator John Kerry in 2004. And voters, including a majority (fifty-one percent) of weekly church attenders, overwhelmingly supported a long-overdue ballot measure to increase the minimum wage.

Especially since 2006, I have been struck (and heartened) by the contrast in the energy, new ideas, and accomplishments among progressive religious groups and the flagging, tired efforts to trot out the same old lines among the religious right. Just two more examples hammer this point home. First, it is worth noting that the once-formidable Christian Coalition, founded in 1989, has virtually imploded. By 2006, its $26 million budget had shrunk to $1 million, and it was $2 million in debt; and its state chapters have been steadily folding or disassociating because the group has become so associated with a narrow, divisive agenda—an agenda of which Americans, including evangelical Americans, have grown weary.

Second, progressive religious voices have moved from being reactive to proactive. In 2004, progressives were on the defensive, having been largely caught off guard by the successful (and distorting) “values voter” campaign. Three of the largest groups on the religious right—the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), Focus on the Family (FOF) and its associated Family Research Council (FRC)—jointly launched this strategy as the “I Vote Values” campaign on April 15, 2004. This coalition effort involved mirrored websites, with SBC hosting ivotevalues.com and FOF/FRC hosting ivotevalues.org. The fact that progressives are still fighting off the misleading stereotypes of “values voters” in the media is testimony to that effort’s relative success.

Well worth a full read.

Steven Waldman & Peter Wehner | Is America a Christian Nation?

Steven Waldman, of Beliefnet, and Peter Wehner, of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, discuss Waldman's new book: Founding Faith and other topics in religion and politics.

Issues discussed:

• Steve’s new book, “Founding Faith” (10:46)
• Government funds for madrassas and Christian schools alike? (07:13)
• How politics sullies religion (12:22)
• Can Obama win over evangelicals? (06:24)
• Why evangelical leaders hate McCain (06:15)
• Thomas Jefferson: too theologically radical for today’s voters (02:37)

Watch the video conversation on the flip. . .

Religion in the Primaries

Randall Balmer of Barnard College, and Jacques Berlinerblau at Georgetown University, share their expertise on the intersection of faith and politics in the United States, with specific reference to the current election cycle, moderated by Sondra Farganis, Director of the Wolfson Center for National Affairs. Click on the flip to see the video. . .

Apology not Accepted

Pastor John Hagee has extended an olive branch to Catholics in the form of an apology letter addressed to Bill Donohue. Donohue--a lay person and self-appointed spokesman for the Catholic Church-- is likely to accept the apology and major media will report that Hagee's "Catholic problem" has been solved.

They shouldn't.

As a Catholic, I appreciate that Hagee took time to clarify his comments about my Church, but he didn't go far enough. Catholics talk a lot about forgiveness--we even have a pretty formalized process for it--and while I'm in no position to judge what's in Pastor Hagee's heart, his apology letter wouldn't fly in the confessional.

As a Catholic, I was taught that in order to receive forgiveness you have to 1) make a full confession and 2) mean it. Hagee's letter is unconvincing on both counts.

Absent from his apology was any sense of remorse for his appalling anti-gay and anti-Muslim statements. While the Catholic Church doesn't have a record of standing up for gay rights, it doesn't care much for hate speech or taking cheap shots at disadvantaged communities.

And while I'm doing my best to refrain from picking at the speck in Hagee's eye (Lord knows I have some planks in my own), I struggle with accepting Hagee's stated commitment to the "common good' and defending "the rights of the poor" as sincere.

For all his lip service to Catholic values, after watching this video -- in which, among other things, he says the unemployed can STARVE -- you'd be hard pressed to see how Hagee and Catholics share the same idea of the preferential option for the poor--a central component of Catholic Social Teaching:

Hagee's letter might be good enough for Bill Donohue, a partisan operative who'll be more than happy to go back to attacking Democrats full-time, but it's not good enough for me.

While Catholics have been victims of bias and discrimination in the past, most contemporary anti-Catholic attacks (like Hagee's) tend to sound more nutty than truly threatening, so it was hard for me to get too worked up over Hagee's Reformation-era rants. Nonetheless, bigotry is bigotry.

While I pray for the grace to forgive John Hagee, I'll be thinking of my Muslim and GLBT brothers and sisters who still face the threat of violent hate-crimes and other discrimination every day.

They deserve an apology much more than me, and until they get one, this Catholic will still have a Hagee problem.

Hot Rod: A real pastor problem

At the Washington Monthly, Kevin Drum writes:

We have, of course, all gotten inured to this over the past few decades. Frothing at the mouth about Muslims and gays and baby killers and Hurricane Katrina just seems like normal stuff from crazy right-wing white preachers. But it's not normal. It's crazy, and John McCain used to agree that it was crazy. But now there's an election coming up, so he's delighted to cozy up with lunatics like Parsley and John Hagee.

A couple of weeks ago, here's McCain on the stage in Ohio:

"I am very honoured today to have one of the truly great leaders in America, a moral compass, a spiritual guide, Pastor Rod Parsley....I am very grateful you are here."

This from the great moral compass himself:

"I do not believe that our nation can truly fulfill its divine purpose until we understand our historical conflict with Islam....I know that this statement sounds extreme. But I am not shrinking back from its implications The fact is that...America was founded in part with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed."

And here Kevin Drum nails it down:

This isn't just some dumb campaign gotcha, either. Unlike Jeremiah Wright's egocentric blatherings, which got truckloads of attention but don't, in the end, really matter, this does. That's why I chose to link to al Jazeera's report about McCain's appearance with Parsley in Cincinnati even though lots of other news outlets covered it too. One of the biggest foreign policy challenges Barack Obama will face if he wins in November is the fact that a very large number of Muslims believe that the United States is not merely fighting terrorism, but is engaged in a war against Islam. And why wouldn't they? Rod Parsley says so, and one of our presidential candidates is willing to get up on a stage, shake his hand, and call him a "moral compass."

Young, evangelical ... for social justice?

It looks like young, evangelical believers don't fit the MSM patterns of late.

Eugene Cho, a founder and lead pastor at Seattle's Quest Church, which caters to a predominantly under-35 crowd, urges young Christians to look beyond the two or three issues that have allowed Christians to be "manipulated by those that know the game or use it as their sole agenda."

"While the issue of abortion — the sanctity of life — must always be a hugely important issue, we must juxtapose that with other issues that are also very important," Cho wrote in his blog on faith and politics.

Polls have shown that young Christians aren't any less concerned about the "family values" issues that have traditionally driven Christians to the Republican camp. (In fact, a study by the Barna Group, an evangelical polling organization, shows young Christians are actually more conservative on abortion than their elders.) It's just that they're also concerned about issues such as social justice and immigration, issues traditionally associated with Democrats.

Judy Naegeli, 25, who works at a Christian philanthropy, says easy access to information about the world via social-networking sites, YouTube and blogs is the reason her generation is more concerned with social justice.

"It's changed our perspective. ... Each generation chooses their cause, and ours is AIDs in Africa, or poverty or social justice," she said.

Ana Marie Cox: Cosmo vs. Pop Evangelicals

At Swampland, Ana Marie Cox reports from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. (Here with Bob Wright, she starts discussing it, before the video runs out.)

Here is her post:

Greetings from a dim conference room. Today's diversion from the beach was a presentation from Michael Lindsay in which he presented "eight myths about evangelicals." Lindsay is the author of "Faith in the Halls of Power," and had conducted some of academia's most thorough and sensitive research on evangelicalism. His "myths" are after the jump.

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Religion and Progressive Politics in 2008

May 5, 2008

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life invited Laura Olson, author of the forthcoming book with the working title, Generals Without an Army: The Protestant Left in American Politics; Jennifer Butler, author of Born Again: The Christian Right Globalized; and Chris Korzen, Executive Director of Catholics United, to discuss the issue.

A variety of religious voices have been prominent in the 2008 presidential campaign to date, and to the surprise of many observers, these voices include religious activists with liberal and progressive perspectives. They describe a growing movement focused on justice and the common good. Where did this movement come from, and how might it influence this year's election?

Participants:

• Laura Olson, Political Science professor, Clemson University
• Jennifer Butler, Executive Director, Faith in Public Life
• Chris Korzen, Executive Director, Catholics United

Moderator:

• John Green, Senior Fellow in Religion and American Politics, Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

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Stop Politicizing Prayer

May 1, 2008

The National Day of Prayer has been hijacked, reports Jews on First.

What began in 1952 as President Truman's declaration of a National Prayer Day for all Americans is now excluding and dividing us on religious lines. The "Task Force" excludes Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Catholics and even mainline Christians from participation in the events it coordinates around the country. Many of those events are staged in government venues with elected officials, in a deliberate affront to the separation of church and state.

Jews on First has been promoting a campaign for a more inclusive National Day of Prayer.

The National Day of Prayer falls on May 1st this year, and in most parts of the country, there is a religious "litmus test" limiting participation to fundamentalist Christian evangelicals. Focus on the Family, the largest organization on the Christian Right, and groups allied with it control the occasion, calling themselves the National Day of Prayer Task Force and asserting that their website is the "National Day of Prayer Official Website."

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God, Pam, Rev. Wright

April 30, 2008

Some faith bloggers are taking a second look at Rev. Wright, in light of his weekend appearances. Pam's House Blend writes:

Wright's litany of grievances -- including a perceived attack on the black church, the conspiracy theories about the government and 9/11, or inflicting AIDS on blacks (referencing the Tuskegee experiment) -- reveal a very real thread of beliefs in a segment of the black community of a certain generation who lived under the thumb of Jim Crow and in-your-face bluntly institutionalized white privilege. Making light of this kind of thinking diminishes the fact that it comes from an element of truth, and that white privilege, though not as boldly naked as in generations past, is alive and well. It also illuminates the lack of black cultural competence in the dominant culture.

Rev. Chuck Currie adds:

After reading over Rev. Wright's Q & A session at the press club - in which he acted far differently than he did in his PBS interview, I have to say that I agree with Rev. Hinkel's comments and those made today by Senator Obama. My natural instinct is to want to support Rev. Wright, with whom I share a denomination. He has built a great church in Chicago that continues to do good work. But this week Rev. Wright made the issue not the gospel or the church but himself and we don't have room in this election for that. There is a war to end, a broken health care system to fix, a climate change crisis to address, and a world to reconcile.

Jeff Sharlet disagrees:

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Waldman at Google: Religious Freedom in America

April 21, 2008

Steven Waldman, co-founder, editor-in-chief, and CEO of Beliefnet.com, visits Google's Mountain View, CA headquarters to discuss his book "Founding Faith: Providence, Politics, and the Birth of Religious Freedom in America."

Waldman focuses on the five founding fathers who had the most influence on religion's role in the state — Franklin, Jefferson, Washington, Adams and Madison — and untangles their complex legacy. This event took place as part of the Authors@Google series.

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The Pope is Not a Republican. Or a Democrat.

April 18, 2008

I hope Sojourners will forgive the play on their awesome campaign. I just couldn't resist.

While much of the discussion of the Papal visit has been excellent (see, for example, the New York Times' A Papal Discussion blog), I'm continually amazed by some of the beltway pundits' inane efforts to reduce the pontiff's message to simple political slogans.

Over the last eight years, George W. Bush and his allies have launched a highly successful Catholic outreach strategy, much of which consists of highlighting areas of agreement between Bush and the Catholic hierarchy, which is itself a perfectly legitimate exercise.

More nefarious, however, is the aggressive re-branding strategy launched by a few conservative operatives depicting the Republican party and Bush policies as the only "authentic" Catholic positions despite glaring disagreement on torture, the Iraq war, poverty and the environment. These important issues are either ignored or dismissed as "negotiable." Bush is referred to as the "second Catholic president," a highly partisan political event gets unironic billing as the "National Catholic Prayer Breakfast," and Dana Perino suggests that the Pope and the President share an understanding that the surge is working despite Benedict's outspoken opposition to this war in particular and preemptive war in general.

The last straw, for me, was hearing Benedict XVI referred to as an "honorary Republican." That's just plain silly. (Ditto to calling him an honorary Democrat). The Pope, and his message, simply don't fit in our conventional political boxes.

I was one of the lucky people who attended the Papal mass at Nationals Park. Being packed in a stadium with almost 50,000 people and being led in prayer by the leader of over a billion Catholics worldwide, I was overwhelmed by the sheer bigness of it all. Partisan politics seem small by comparison.

Benedict's message made his priorities clear: he is a pastor first and foremost. He addressed the sexual abuse crisis with great sensitivity and sought to give encouragement to all of us trying to live lives of grace in our local Catholic communities. Benedict doesn't shy away from engaging with public policy, but his message is always rooted in his understanding of the Gospel, not which sound bite will swing an election.

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Compassion Forum

April 9, 2008

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Clinton and Obama confirmed to attend Compassion Forum

April 4, 2008

Religious leaders from across the ideological spectrum are pleased to announce today that Senator Obama and Senator Clinton have both confirmed that they will participate in an unprecedented bipartisan presidential candidate forum at Messiah College near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on the evening of Sunday, April 13 – just nine days before the Pennsylvania primary. Senator McCain has thus far declined the invitation, which is still open.

Now more than ever, Americans motivated by faith are bridging ideological divides to address domestic and international poverty, global AIDS, climate change, abortion, genocide in Darfur, and human rights and torture. The Compassion Forum will provide the opportunity for candidates to discuss how their faith and moral convictions bear on their positions on these important issues.

The Compassion Forum is not a debate. Each candidate will participate in a separate substantive conversation. “This is an occasion to talk about the substance and not the sensationalism of religion and politics,” said moderator Jon Meacham, editor of Newsweek, author of American Gospel, and respected scholar on faith and American politics.

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CBS: Discussing the Pew, Pulpit and Poll Implications of Wright and Race

March 28, 2008

Interestingly, contra the poll that Katie Couric shares, the more recent NBC/WSJ poll shows that this has had little effect on the race.

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Does the IRD Renew or Ruin Mainline Churches?

March 26, 2008

Behind many of the attacks on mainline churches as too liberal or too political lies the Institute on Religion and Democracy, a front organization funded by Far-Right tycoons.

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Norman Lear: Religion in politics is the greatest conversation going

March 20, 2008

Norman Lear received the America's Future Lifetime Leadership Award at the Take Back America Gala Dinner on Tuesday evening. Lear was recognized for his work as both a groundbreaking television producer and an outspoken progressive activist and benefactor. He is introduced by Iara Peng, director of Young People For, who speaks about how her faith in God drives her activism and appreciation for Mr. Lear.

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Some Informed Rev. Wright Thoughts

March 17, 2008

At God's Politics, Diana Butler Bass puts Rev. Wright's sermon in perspective:

But the attack on Rev. Wright reveals something beyond ignorance of basic dynamics of Christian community. It demonstrates the level of misunderstanding that still divides white and black Christians in the United States. Many white people find the traditions of African-American preaching offensive, especially when it comes to politics.

I know because I am one of those white people. My first sustained encounter with African-American preaching came in graduate school about twenty years ago. I had been assigned as a teaching assistant to a course in Black Church Studies. The placement surprised me, since I had no background in the subject. But the professor assured me that "anyone with experience teaching American religion" would be able to handle the load.

Street Prophet supremo (and UCC minister), Pastor Dan writes:

This is of course part of the two-pronged effort to attack Obama's religious beliefs: smear him as a Muslim, and if not a Muslim, a member of a radical, "racist" church. It makes sense, if you think about it: it's one of the few ways conservatives have to define Obama before he defines himself.

The bad news is that it works among the uninformed. The good news is that more people are becoming informed.

As for the clip itself, I didn't see anything offensive. Harsh, perhaps, but nothing to get our knickers in a knot over. Wright's point - to a congregation in one of the blackest and poorest neighborhoods in Chicago - is that Jesus understands their plight. The stuff about Obama is a tangent. So unless conservatives want to argue that Jesus didn't know anything about being poor and can't sympathize with them (an utterly un-Biblical proposition), they need to sit down, shut up, and let him have his religious freedom.

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Social Progress: What's Christianity Got to Do With It?

March 6, 2008

Dr. Marcus Borg is a leading historical Jesus scholar, author of several books on progressive Christianity. Ms. Christine Pelosi is an attorney, a grass-roots activist and author of the recently published Campaign Boot Camp: Basic Training for Future Leaders. The conversation was sponsored by The Beatitudes Society.

Borg and Pelosi discuss the role of secular and religious progressives in the public sphere, in light of the impact of the religious right on our culture.

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Top 10 Moments in the Race for "Pastor-in-Chief"

March 3, 2008

As the presidential primary season winds down, The Interfaith Alliance has compiled a list of the 10 worst abuses of religion during the campaign so far.

Although I don't think that all of these instances are equally egregious, this Interfaith Alliance video does highlight a troubling trend in this presidential election. Like personality and photo ops, personal faith has often precluded a more telling discussion of policy and national spending priorities. As the League of Conservation Voters reports, out of 3201 debate questions, only 8 have dealt with global warming. And as folks of faith from all traditions note, our climate is an issue that invites serious discussion of policy and morality.

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CNN on shifts in evangelicalism

February 27, 2008

With 26.3% of the American population identifying as evangelical -- the largest Pew-measured faith block in the country -- the MSM often treats these "born-again Christians" as monolithic. But new data shows shifts in affiliation tied to youth and education and as Georgetown's Jacques Berlinerblau argues in the WaPo, evangelicals are broadening their issues and even becoming "Obama-curious:"

Conservative Evangelicals do not necessarily equate Obama with the anti-Christ: This is of great importance. For, I don’t expect the majority of Evangelicals to actually vote for Obama. Most will find his pro-Choice and other liberal positions far too much to bear. But this does not mean that they would subject him to the Hillary Treatment. I have always been struck by the remark of a pastor who although chagrined by Obama’s positions on abortion conceded: “I wouldn’t vote for him . . . But if we had to have a Democrat, I’d like to have a Democrat like him.”

This clip includes interviews with Jim Wallis and Diana Butler Bass.

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Former Lawyer for the Religious Right Critiques the Past

February 25, 2008

John W. Whitehead, founding member of the Council for National Policy, now echoes Frank Schaeffer and David Kuo in noting how the GOP appropriated Christianity for its own agenda. I found this vlog interesting because he speaks to an emerging pattern of conservative evangelical dissatisfaction with the collaborationist politics of the past. While some advocate a new compassionate internationalism, some preach local creation care, others, like Whitehead, articulate a chastened, outsider approach to evangelicalism in public life.

Whitehead writes:

Inevitably, speaking truth to power will mean standing outside the political establishment and criticizing the political Herods of this world, i.e., the government and its policies. When it comes right down to it, the most appropriate role of religion in politics lies in its ability to define moral issues and speak truth to power. The voice of moral authority, enabled and enhanced by its spiritual roots and raised without dependence upon the legitimacy of the state, will always be the highest expression of true freedom.

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Missing the point

February 22, 2008

In a column published last Friday on the Rothenberg Political Report, political editor Nathan Gonzales took aim at a poll we commissioned in two Super Tuesday states to demonstrate the need for exit poll surveys to ask all voters, not just Republicans, if they are evangelical. Gonzales claims that the poll failed to demonstrate a shift among evangelicals away from the Republican Party. This misses the point of our poll. We, along with the Center for American Progress Action Fund, commissioned the poll to demonstrate the political diversity of evangelical Christians, which the exit polls have chosen to ignore. Our poll accomplished four important things:

• It showed that evangelicals are voting in significant numbers in both parties’ primaries.

• It showed that evangelicals are broadening their issue priorities beyond the narrow culture war agenda.

• It showed the need for more thorough polling of evangelicals.

• It provided a meaningful baseline for future comparisons.

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C-SPAN's StudentCam Winner - "Leaving Religion at the Door?"

February 20, 2008

Today C-SPAN announced the winners of its StudentCam contest. The Grand Prize winning video is “Leaving Religion at the Door,” by Scott Mitchell and Nick Poss, 11th graders at Jenks High School in Jenks, Oklahoma. Their film explores the role of religion in decisions about presidential candidates in 2008. A cash prize of $5,000 accompanies the award. Their winning video will air on C-SPAN on Sunday, April 27th followed by an interview with the students.

Leaving Religion at the Door?: Faith & Politics in Decision 2008

C-SPAN StudentCam is an annual documentary competition that encourages students to think seriously about issues that affect our communities and our nation. C-SPAN StudentCam invites students to identify a current political topic of interest and produce a short (up to ten minute) video documentary which creatively explores an issue while integrating C-SPAN programming.

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Rumors of an Obama Muslim rumor are quite true

February 14, 2008

The other night I went to an election-returns watch party at a pub near my house (this is what dorks do in DC), and some time after CNN called Maryland for Barack Obama a well-dressed stranger came up to me and asked who I thought had more baggage in the general election -- Obama or Clinton (this is what big dorks do in DC).

Not so confident in my own handicapping abilities -- and figuring the inquisitive gentleman had an argument he was just dying to make -- I said "I don't know, what do you think?"

A mistake, but a revealing one.

"Obama, easily! I mean, he's a MUSLIM," the young man said. My brow raised like a kite. I was unsure which tack to take first: the bigotry angle, or the accuracy angle. I went with the latter. (It turned out that my ignorant itinerant thought it horrible that being a Muslim was a liability, which was a relief.)

I had little trouble convincing the guy that Obama is a member of the UCC, but he held fast to "well, he's definitely a former Muslim. I mean, he went to a Wahabbi madrassa in Indonesia, and his dad was a radical, like almost al Qaeda radical. He will get ripped apart for that!"

Good flipping grief.

A couple months back, I wrote about what I call the matrix of deceit, the swirling combination of false reports on Fox News, misleading headlines, "accidentally" calling him "Osama" (Romney did twice in one speech), viral emails, and good old fashioned word-of-mouth creating a dishonest, bigotry-stoking buzz. I knew it was out there, and I knew people believed it, but seeing is more than believing. It amazed me that the rumor could turn even an unbigoted observer against him.

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The fall of the Right, the rise of the 'Gospel Voter'

February 13, 2008

Talking Points Memo's TPMcafe is hosting a great book club on EJ Dionne's "Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith and Politics After the Religious Right." If you're looking for an insightful discussion of the state of religion in American politics (and I have a hunch that you do), it's well worth a read.

EJ's introductory post captures the moment in religion and politics:

Souled Out insists that religious faith does not lead ineluctably to conservative political convictions. It argues that the era of the religious Right is over. Its collapse is part of a larger decline of a certain style of ideological conservatism that reached high points in 1980 and 1994 but suffered a series of decisive--and I believe fatal--setbacks during George W. Bush’s second term.

Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good director Alexia Kelley introduces an aptly named counterweight to the Religious Right culture warrior:

We could call these religious Americans -- the new “Gospel Voters” – people of faith guided by biblical admonitions to side with the weak over the strong and to love our neighbors as ourselves. These voters are increasingly outspoken about the scandalous gap between rich and poor (the largest since 1929), the shame of 47 million Americans without health care and an unjust war in Iraq that is a humanitarian disaster.

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New poll demonstrates Evangelicals' political diversity

February 11, 2008

In the 2008 election, media organizations and pollsters are relying on an outdated script by treating evangelicals as a monolithic voting bloc. The exit polls (sponsored by the major networks, CNN, Fox, and the Associated Press) provide the data for nearly all post-election analysis. Yet, thus far, exit polls have only asked Republican primary voters whether they considered themselves “born-again or evangelical Christian.”

A new post-election poll in Missouri and Tennessee, commissioned by Faith in Public Life and the Center for American Progress Action Fund conducted by Zogby International, demonstrates the diversity of evangelical voters and the need for more thorough polling and careful analysis. Large numbers of white evangelicals participated in the Republican and Democratic primaries; majorities of both Democratic and Republican evangelical voters want a broader agenda that goes beyond abortion and same-sex marriage, and like other voters, white evangelicals ranked jobs and economy as the most important issue area in deciding how to vote.

[Click here to listen to the press teleconference about the poll.]

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Huckabeecoming More Faith-full

February 11, 2008

Gov. Huckabee goes on Right-winger Denis Prager's show Americans of Faith and complains about how the media keeps talking about him primarily in terms of faith. After emphasizing his gubernatorial experience, he goes on to explain his recent words about it being easier to change the Constitution than the Bible. To give him credit he does talk about how churches can deal with social ills and discusses his record of compassionate conservatism.

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Splits in the Pro-life Vote

February 8, 2008

I see that James Dobson has thrown his focus onto Huckabee, not a surprise given Dobson's bi-issue tendencies.

But a Huff-post yesterday by Christian conservative Frank Schaeffer has added evidence that the Religious Right is splitting between the power-broker politics of the old guard and an emerging generation of evangelicals who are putting the human back into the race.

Here, Schaeffer writes why he is pro-life and pro-Obama.

Evangelicals weren't politicized until after my late father and evangelical leader Francis Schaeffer, Dr. Koop (Reagan's soon-to-be Surgeon General) and I stirred them up over the issue of abortion in the mid-1970s. Our Whatever Happened to the Human Race? book, movie series and seminars brought the evangelicals into the pro-life movement.

(Dad's political influence persists. Last week one of my father's followers -- Mike Huckabee -- was interviewed by Katie Couric, along with all the other presidential candidates. Couric asked the candidates if they were to be sent to a desert island and could only take one book besides the Bible, what would that that book be? Huckabee answered that he'd take my father's book Whatever Happened To The Human Race?)

[Snip]

Conversely the "pro-life" ethic of George W. Bush manifested itself in a series of squandered opportunities to call us to our better natures. After 9/11, Bush told most Americans to go shopping while saddling the few who volunteered for military service with endless tours of duty (something I know a little about since my son was a Marine and deployed several times). The Bush doctrine of life was expressed by starting an unnecessary war in Iraq that has killed thousands of Americans and wounded tens of thousands more.

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