Mike's Church Trip Annoys Catholics

Is he the GOP's best answer to Obama—and Palin?

(NEWSER) - Mike Huckabee is putting on weight, literally as well as politically, and the former Arkansas governor is now registered to vote in Florida, which offers some advantages to the man who may be the GOP's best shot at grabbing the White House in 2010. In a New Yorker profile, Ariel Levy catches up with Huckabee in Israel, where the former preacher and '50s crooner Pat Boone were leading a group of evangelicals on a tour of Christian holy sites. Some highlights: More»

(NEWSER) - The hallelujahs are strained in US churches these days as donations plunge at the same time demand for aid is skyrocketing, reports the Wall Street Journal. Congregations across the nation are slashing budgets and even laying off staff, including pastors. Churches and synagogues usually weather downturns well, but not this time. "There has been significant tightening of budgets," said Rabbi Elliott Kleinman, spokesman for the Union for Reform Judaism, which represents some 900 congregations. "People have less money to give." More»

Obama approves language that finds 'common ground'

(NEWSER) - The Obama campaign is reaching out to Catholics, evangelicals, and other anti-abortion swing voters by adjusting the language of the official Democratic platform on the controversial issue, Alec MacGillis writes in the Washington Post. The new party plank moves "closer to the middle ground where most Americans reside—not wanting to criminalize abortions, but wanting to reduce the number performed." More»

But leaders are skeptical, wounded by Hagee, Parsley slams

(NEWSER) - John McCain faces a challenge uncommon among GOP presidential candidates: rallying evangelical Christians to vote for him. As the New York Times reports, the McCain campaign is holding meetings with evangelical leaders and blasting them with emails, but many are still taking a wait-and-see approach. And McCain's lack of rapport with religious conservatives was exacerbated by his recent rejection of endorsements of the Rev. John Hagee and the Rev. Rod Parsley. More»

50% have switched denomination, and 16% have no affiliation

(NEWSER) - Americans are swapping religious affiliations at an accelerating rate, with 50% choosing a different denomination than the one they were raised in, and 16%—double the number 20 years ago—saying the have no ties to a particular church, a new survey of religious life finds. That doesn't mean they're atheists, the Pew Forum report released yesterday concludes; only 1.6% say they are non-believers. More»