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NEWS ABOUT: religious right

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Political Pastors Pick Fight With IRS

Glenn Beck calls on 1,000 religious leaders to break law

(Newser) - Hundreds of pastors are trying to goad the IRS into a political battle over free speech from the pulpit, the New York Times reports. Organizers of tomorrow's Pulpit Freedom Sunday are urging pastors to flout a law that prohibits tax-exempt churches and other charities from political campaigning. Sponsored by... More »

Hey, Media: Tone Down the 'Theocracy' Fears

Journos' 'language of conspiracy' stems from lack of understanding: Ross Douthat

(Newser) - Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry’s time in the spotlight has brought back a “fear of theocracy” not seen since the days of George W. Bush. Liberals are concerned that “Christian extremism is again on the march,” writes Ross Douthat in the New York Times . And while... More »

Stimulus Gave $140M to Faith-Based Groups

It's one of the quieter aspects of the federal package

(Newser) - Conservatives slammed it as “anti-religious”—but in fact, some $140 million from President Obama’s stimulus package has gone to faith-based organizations. The money “kind of fell from the sky, and it was unbelievable,” says the head of a church-backed nonprofit. But the matter has gone... More »

Christians, Libertarians Battle for Soul of Tea Party

Schism could be imminent

(Newser) - The Tea Party movement is already starting to fracture, with battle lines being drawn between libertarians and Christian conservatives, Newsweek observes. A mere day after the election, Christian conservative groups like the Family Research Council wrote Republican leaders urging them to ban same-sex marriage and abortion; less than two weeks... More »

Tea Party Overlaps With Religious Right: Poll

Half of Tea Partiers identify as Christian conservatives

(Newser) - The Tea Party and the religious right have a complex, overlapping relationship, a new poll on conservative trends found. Half of those who identified as members of the Tea Party also considered themselves part of the Christian right, a poll by the Public Religion Research Institute found. Overall, 11% of... More »

Angle Fought Against 'Evil' Black Jerseys: Columnist

She says he's a lying Harry Reid supporter

(Newser) - Sharron Angle is embroiled in her weirdest controversy yet, with a small-town newspaper columnist who alleges that she once led a religious crusade against black football jerseys. Bill Roberts of the Pahrump Valley Times recalls that in 1992, the year Angle first entered politics with a school board run, she... More »

Tea Party Candidate Thinks He's the Messiah

Tim D'Annunzio believes god will drop a pyramid on Greenland

(Newser) - Republican leaders have declared open war on Tim D'Annunzio, a Tea Party-backed North Carolina congressional candidate who they fear may be insane. They're publicizing documents from D'Annunzio's divorce, in which his wife testifies that he called himself the messiah, predicted God would drop a 1,000-mile high pyramid on Greenland,... More »

Religious Right Worried About Tea Party Movement

They fear anti-tax crowd is too secular

(Newser) - Religious conservatives are glancing nervously at the tea party movement, afraid the cool new kids at the GOP lunch table don’t care about their issues. It seems the movement “has a politics that’s irreligious,” evangelical leader Richard Cizik tells Politico . “I can’t see how... More »

Politics Driving Young Away From Religion

Millennials less likely to belong to a faith; conservatives blamed

(Newser) - Young people are turning their backs on religion, with a whopping one in four 18- to 29-year-olds unaffiliated with any particular faith, according to a recent Pew study of the so-called “Millennial” generation. Yet the number who say they believe in god or pray frequently is similar to past... More »

Right-Wingers to God: Stop Health Care Bill

Republican congressmen join 'prayercast' opposing reform

(Newser) - Some Republican members of Congress joined Family Research Council members in Washington last night for a “prayercast” asking God to stop the health care bill. The hour-long event was streamed live on the web, and the hosts said people in churches and homes everywhere were praying along. “The... More »

Religious Right Sets Phasers to 'Stun Obama'

Coalition takes a page from Enterprise's book

(Newser) - The religious right is going Star Trek, Dana Milbank writes for the Washington Post. “Individual, national, multi-ethnic and transgenerational organizations” have joined forces to create the Freedom Federation to promote “faith, moral values, and freedom” and equality, says the organization’s statement. But rather than targeting Nero the... More »

NH Legalizes Gay Marriage

Gov. Lynch expected to sign it today

(Newser) - New Hampshire became the sixth state to allow same-sex marriage when Gov. John Lynch signed legislation this afternoon shortly after it was approved by lawmakers, the AP reports. Legislators hammered out a new version clearly spelling out that churches and religious groups would not be forced to officiate at gay... More »

Allen's Idol Win Another Triumph for Religious Right

(Newser) - Last night’s American Idol was more than just a reality-show finale: It was a symbolic victory of the religious right over the liberal left; red states over blue states. At least according to two bloggers. “For a theory about how Kris Allen pulled an upset over the wildly... More »

Little Backlash as Gay Marriage Spreads

(Newser) - Gay marriage rights are spreading faster than ever, and it’s happening awfully quietly, reports Rick Klein of ABC News. Conservatives barely made a peep when gay marriage was legalized in Iowa or Vermont, and aren’t mounting much resistance to motions to do the same in New York, Connecticut,... More »

Secular Kid Goes Undercover at Falwell's School

Book about his experience is out now

(Newser) - Kevin Roose spent spring break in Florida last year, but instead of boozing with the rest of the college students, he proselytized them. It was all part of the Brown University student’s undercover semester at Jerry Falwell-founded Liberty University, where he “had to follow their 46-page code of... More »

Gay Rights Gain Upper Hand in Courts

Faith-based groups perceive loss of religious liberty

(Newser) - Religious groups are coming out losers in an increasingly significant body of lawsuits: those involving discrimination based on sexual orientation. The groups say it’s an impingement on their religious freedom, but a gay-right advocate tells the Washington Post, “We are not required to pay the price for other... More »

Weyrich, Who Coined 'Moral Majority,' Dead at 66

Conservative thinker gave name to movement key in GOP rise

(Newser) - Paul Weyrich, the influential conservative who co-founded the Heritage Foundation and coined the term “moral majority,” died today at 66, the Washington Post reports, after years of poor health. A reporter, Weyrich got his Washington entree in 1967 as press secretary for a Colorado senator. At a 1979... More »

The GOP Has a God Problem

Parker: It's time for a break-up with the Christian Right

(Newser) - After getting death threats for dissing Sarah Palin, Kathleen Parker is stirring up trouble in the right-wing ranks again. The Republican Party is going to go the way of the Shakers if it doesn’t lose some of that old time religion, she writes in the Washington Post. The party’... More »

Clerics to Defy IRS, Endorse Candidates From Pulpit

Ministers aim to test constitutionality of ban

(Newser) - Pastors from 22 states plan to purposely defy the IRS this Sunday by endorsing presidential candidates in their sermons, the LA Times reports. The so-called “pulpit initiative” aims to trigger a legal showdown, testing the constitutionality of the law forbidding such endorsements by tax-exempt groups. “There is nobody... More »

Why Palin Is Mac's 'Meal Ticket'

The culture of celebrity, evangelical ideals, and small town nostalgia combine to enable Palin's 'outsized' influence

(Newser) - The number of enthusiastic Republicans have doubled in polls since John McCain picked Sarah Palin for his ticket, and Palin figures in slightly more news coverage than her running mate. That might be expected, but she is mentioned 10 times more than  Democratic counterpart Joe Biden. Tim Rutten offers up... More »

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