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Politics & Religion

Started by Imperator; Last updated by D Lim

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Politics & Religion

From middle America to the Middle East, politics and religion form the ultimate in unholy unions

Stories

Stories 1 - 20 of 171

1 2 3 4 5 ... 9 Next >>

June 2009
- More Than Bush Did, Obama Cites Jesus
  
  Politico | Jun 9, 09 10:13 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - President Obama has invoked Jesus more than his predecessor, despite the major role Christianity played in George W. Bush’s policies, Politico reports. Obama has mentioned his faith in recent speeches in Cairo, at Notre Dame, and at Georgetown, to name a few instances. Though he was backed by evangelicals, “I don’t recall a single example of Bush as president ever saying ‘Jesus’ or ‘Christ,’” said a conservative Christian activist. More »
- 11 Dead in Mosque Shooting in Thailand's Volatile South
  
  AFP | Jun 8, 09 1:48 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Gunmen killed 11 people and injured 12 in a southern Thailand mosque today, AFP reports. Officials said between two and five armed men entered the mosque and fired “indiscriminately.” It’s the latest incident in a 5-year guerrilla war that has killed 3,700 in Narathiwat province. The gunmen were likely rebels trying to pass themselves off as soldiers in an effort to stir up anger, one official says. More »
- Obama's Mideast Success Jacks Expectations
  
  Politico | Jun 7, 09 1:45 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Barack Obama’s trip to the Middle East has established even higher standards for his presidency, Politico reports. Obama is using his global celebrity to restart Israel-Palestine talks and improve relations between the West and the Muslim world, proving he’s “not a president who has ever shied away from setting high expectations, and then trying to meet them,” a White House official says. More »
May 2009
- Kuwait Elects First Women to Parliament
  
  BBC | May 17, 09 5:30 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Kuwaitis have elected the first women ever to become members of Parliament, reports the BBC. US-educated Aseel al-Awadhi and Rola Dashti won seats in regional votes. Former Health Minister Massouma al-Mubarak, who was the first Kuwaiti woman to be appointed to a ministerial post, and Salwa al-Jassar also secured seats. "It's a victory for Kuwaiti women and for Kuwaiti democracy," said Awadhi. Women have only been eligible to vote and run for office since 2005. More »
- Bishops Scorn Obama, but Pope Is a Fan
  
  Time | May 16, 09 3:50 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - While conservative Catholics rage over President Obama's upcoming commencement speech at Notre Dame, one man has remained silent: the Holy Father. Indeed, American Catholic leaders and the Pope have staked out dramatically different positions from the Obama administration's, Amy Sullivan observes in Time . Yet the Vatican’s response to the pro-choice president has verged on approval. More »
- Rabbi Seeks Boycott of 'Revolting' Mannequins
  
  AFP | May 13, 09 2:21 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - An Israeli rabbi has called for a boycott of shops that display scantily clad mannequins, AFP reports. Mannequins and "obscene photographs" of models wearing swimsuits or underwear "elicit sorrow among the passers-by," said the rabbi. Stores in the northern city of Tiberias that keep their racy displays will lose their religious customers and their kosher certification, he said. Modest mannequins are OK. More »
- Notre Dame Splits on Obama Speech, Protests
  
  Washington Post | May 13, 09 10:38 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - As President Obama's commencement speech at Notre Dame approaches, pro-life activists have converged on the campus with banners, planes, and plans for civil disobedience. But students, who expressed pride that the president chose their school, aren't too happy with the protests. "It cheapens the argument. As someone who is pro-life, I don't respect it," one told the Washington Post. More »
- Prejean: 'Satan Set Gay Trap for Me'
  
  US News & World Report | May 12, 09 4:07 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Miss California has told a Christian radio program that "Satan tried to tempt me" with the gay marriage pageant question that rocketed her into controversy. "I wanted to sound politically correct" and win the Miss USA pageant, Carrie Prejean told evangelical leader James Dobson yesterday. "Then God was in my heart saying, 'Do not compromise. You need to stand up for me.'" Prejean also slammed the pressure she's been under since presenting her "personal opinion" against gay marriage. More »
- Huckabee's Plan to Revive GOP Doesn't Add Up
  
  FiveThirtyEight | May 11, 09 12:24 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Perhaps it's Mike Huckabee's admitted distrust for math, but he's dead wrong about the best strategy to bring back the Republican Party's power, writes Nate Silver on his blog. To make the case that the party shouldn't move to the middle, Huckabee says, "People that are social conservatives are also economic conservatives, but a lot of the economic conservatives are not social conservatives." Statistician Silver disagrees, and he's got diagrams to back up his point. More »
- Christian Silence on Torture Speaks Volumes
  
  Atlanta Journal-Constitution | May 9, 09 2:01 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The silence emanating from the Christian right on torture has been deafening, writes Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution . One prominent Christian conservative finally came out against the practice, saying it “violates everything we stand for,” but he is conspicuously alone and was conspicuously silent during the Bush years. Tacit support of torture "seems oddly out of step with the radical gospel of a carpenter who preached peace, forgiveness and mercy," Tucker writes. More »
- Obama to Address Muslim World From Egypt
  
  McClatchy Newspapers | May 9, 09 3:34 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - President Obama will travel to Egypt next month to deliver a speech aimed at mending America's relationship with the Muslim world, McClatchy Newspapers reports. Egypt is a politically risky choice due to President Hosni Mubarak's heavy-handed autocratic rule, but a White House spokesman said the country "in many ways represents the heart of the Arab world" and that the speech would be pitched at ordinary Muslims, not their leaders. More »
- Obama's Toned-Down Take on Day of Prayer Irks Some
  
  Boston Globe | May 7, 09 12:35 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - President Obama has opted to observe today’s National Day of Prayer in private, a sharp turn from his predecessor’s policies that angers at least one organization, the Boston Globe reports. President Bush held public celebrations at the White House. “We are disappointed in the lack of participation by the Obama administration,” said Shirley Dobson of the National Day of Prayer Task Force. More »
April 2009
- Americans Switching, Not Losing, Religion
  
  Washington Post | Apr 27, 09 8:30 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A majority of Americans who have abandoned organized religion "gradually drifted away," a new Pew Forum poll says. The finding surprised experts who expected policy debates or scandals—like clergy sex abuse in the Catholic Church—to fuel people's rejection of a faith. But overall, the survey found Americans more likely to switch religions than drop faith altogether. More »
- US Atheists Step 'Out of Closet'
  
  New York Times | Apr 27, 09 10:14 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Atheists across the country are turning up the volume, gathering openly and advertising their lack of faith, the New York Times reports. Their goal isn’t to win others over—“The most important thing is coming out of the closet,” said one activist—and win acceptance for their beliefs. And their numbers may be growing: A recent survey saw “no religion” as the only group that grew in every state. More »
- Israelis Learn to Adapt—and Argue
  
  New York Times | Apr 17, 09 9:00 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - American Jews are “taught to go all gooey-eyed at the thought of Israel,” writes David Brooks in the New York Times , but this isn’t the appropriate reaction. It’s not so much a sentimental place as it is “exhausting, admirable, annoying, impressive, and foreign.” After decades of struggle, everyone shares the same trauma, and there’s little public-private boundary. Everyone gets into everyone else's business, loudly. It's a country “held together by argument.” More »
- Obamas Head to Episcopal Church for Easter Services
  
  Associated Press | Apr 12, 09 12:39 PM CDT
  
  (AP) - President Barack Obama and his family celebrated Easter today at St. John's Episcopal Church, across from the White House. The Obamas left the White House at midmorning for services. St. John's is popular with presidents—it's where President George W. Bush often attended services. Obama hasn't attended public church services in Washington since taking office, but attended a traditional service at St. Johns on Inauguration Day. More »
- Obama Religious Adviser Steers Clear of Politics
  
  South Florida Sun-Sentinel | Apr 12, 09 11:26 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Having idolized Martin Luther King Jr. as a child, Joel Hunter felt especially proud when America's first black president tapped him as one of his top spiritual advisers. Never mind that the Rev. Joel Hunter is an evangelical Republican: He has taken an Obama-like approach to ministering without polarizing, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports in a profile of a man who has publicly criticized the "cottage industry of hostility." More »
- Controversial Muhammad Cartoon Goes on Sale
  
  Huffington Post | Apr 8, 09 3:03 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Three years after political cartoons of the prophet Muhammad sparked violent riots in Muslim countries, the Denmark Free Press Society is selling prints of the controversial art. Some of the 1,000 copies, priced at $250 each, are signed by the artist, who remains in hiding due to death threats, reports the Huffington Post. More »
- Sick of Compromise, Christian Right Drops Politics
  
  Washington Post | Apr 4, 09 4:04 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A new generation of religious conservatives is turning its back on political activism, Kathleen Parker writes in the Washington Post . Today's Moral Majority accuses Christian leaders like James Dobson of bringing the cultural wars from churches to Congress and compromising their beliefs. Now, “Dobson and the Christian right political movement is a failure,” said one, calling the loss “self-inflicted.” More »
- UK Bans Ad With Lusty 'Pope'
  
  Daily Telegraph (UK) | Apr 2, 09 4:02 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A British advertising commission has blocked the use of a dancing, beer-guzzling photo-manipulated "Pope John Paul II" in an advertisement promoting a nightclub, reports the Telegraph . "It was hugely offensive," said a spokeswoman for a Polish organization, one of several Catholics who complained about the brochure. "They cannot be allowed to get away with this." More »

Stories 1 - 20 of 171

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[Images (5)]

[Videos (1)]

A mosque is seen behind a Turkish flag during a rally in Istanbul...

A mosque is seen behind a Turkish flag during a rally in Istanbul... (Getty Images)

Pope Benedict XVI waves to the crowd during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, on a rainy Wednesday, May 2, 2007. Benedict XVI on Wednesday urged prayers of support for his trip to Brazil next week, his first pilgrimage to Latin America and an effort...

Pope Benedict XVI waves to the crowd during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, on a rainy Wednesday, May 2, 2007. Benedict XVI on Wednesday urged prayers of support for... (Associated Press)

In this photo released by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI and Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami are pictured prior to a private audience at the Vatican Thursday, May 4, 2007. The pontiff met Khatami for talks the Vatican hoped would further heal tensions with Muslims following the...

In this photo released by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI and Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami are pictured prior to a private audience at the Vatican Thursday,... (Associated Press)

The Dalai Lama, the spiritual mentor to millions of Buddhists, greets a crowd of about 11,400 at Millennium Park on Sunday, May 6, 2007, in Chicago, Ill. The Dalai Lama, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, is making his first public appearance in Chicago since 1999.(AP Photo/Jerry Lai)

The Dalai Lama, the spiritual mentor to millions of Buddhists, greets a crowd of about 11,400 at Millennium Park on Sunday, May 6, 2007, in Chicago, Ill. The Dalai Lama, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet,... (Associated Press)

Christian Burridge For US Congress

Christian Burridge For US Congress (BurridgeForCongress (YouTube))

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Inside Story - Secularism in Turkey - 29 Apr 07 - Part 1 (AlJazeeraEnglish (YouTube))

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Related Threads

The Religious Right • Election 2008 • Obama 2008 • McCain 2008 • Gay Rights • Clinton-Obama Tussle • Interfaith Insensitivity • Bush 43 • Gay Marriage • Huckabee 2008

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