The Religious Right

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May 2009
- Carville: GOP Can't Abandon Christian Right
  
  Huffington Post | May 4, 09 1:53 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Analysts who say the Republicans should rethink their social platform and move away from the Christian right are off their rockers, James Carville tells the Huffington Post. “Their party would crumble,” the Democratic strategist says. A whopping 90% of conservative, white, married Christians identify themselves as Republicans, up from 64% 30 years ago. “There’s nowhere to go from 90%,” Carville argues, “and Republicans aren’t winning moderate and liberal Christians.” More »
April 2009
- Secular Kid Goes Undercover at Falwell's School
  
  Newsweek | Apr 22, 09 1:18 PM CDT
  
  (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 conduct: no drinking, no cursing, no hugs lasting longer than three seconds,” he tells Newsweek as he promotes his book about the experience. More »
- Colbert Fights 'Gay Storm'
  
  Huffington Post | Apr 17, 09 11:32 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Stephen Colbert has taken up the cause against gay marriage, the Huffington Post reports. A recent web ad from the National Organization for Marriage—which apparently was serious—featured a “rainbow coalition” of actors solemnly declaring, “A storm is coming.” That, and New York's move toward legalizing same-sex marriage, motivated Colbert to start a rainbow coalition of his own. More »
- Palin Visits Midwest, Blasts Obama
  
  Evansville Courier & Press | Apr 17, 09 11:20 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Amid complaints from the Alaska legislature that she's is spending more time cultivating her image than running her state, Sarah Palin gave a rousing speech before a right-to-life group in Indiana last night the Evansville Courier & Press reports. Speaking of her son Trig, whom she called "a miracle," Palin teared up. She then blasted President Obama for backing abortion rights and stem-cell research, the AP reports. More »
- Top McCain Aide Comes Out for Gay Marriage
  
  CNN | Apr 17, 09 10:45 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Backing what he calls "a sound conservative argument," a top McCain campaign operative is explaining his newly public personal support for gay marriage, CNN reports. Steve Schmidt will address the Log Cabin Republicans today and urge them to reverse their position. “No other exercise of one's liberty comes with greater responsibilities than marriage,” an advance text says. More »
- Warren Cancels ABC Interview at Last Minute
  
  Politico | Apr 12, 09 11:32 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Rick Warren, who had been expected to explain contradicting statements about gay marriage today on ABC's This Week , backed out at the last minute because he was “sick with exhaustion,” Politico reports. The prominent evangelical pastor was to clarify the difference between his claims last week that he "never once gave an endorsement" to California's Prop 8 and a YouTube video in which he says, "If you believe what the Bible says about marriage, you need to support Proposition 8." 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 »
- Gay Rights Gain Upper Hand in Courts
  
  Washington Post | Apr 10, 09 11:30 AM CDT
  
  (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 people’s religious views about us.” More »
March 2009
- Pro-Choice Obama Exploits Sebelius' Catholicism
  
  Washington Post | Mar 11, 09 7:52 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - President Obama is enacting a ghastly brace of pro-choice policies, including weakening "conscience protections" for doctors and adopting the “most radical possible option” on stem cell research, Michael Gerson writes for the Washington Post . And enlisting a Catholic—HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius—to help implement his agenda “smacks of religious humiliation,” writes Gerson, “like asking a rabbi to serve pork roast.” More »
- Calif. Supreme Court Hears Prop 8 Arguments
  
  Associated Press | Mar 5, 09 1:07 PM CST
  
  (AP) - California Supreme Court justices heard arguments today on lawsuits seeking to overturn the state's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage as thousands demonstrated outside the San Francisco courthouse. Gay-rights advocates are urging the court to overturn Proposition 8 on the grounds it was put before voters improperly, or at least prematurely. The measure's sponsors argue that it would be a miscarriage of justice for the court to overturn the results of a fair election. More »
February 2009
- Focus on the Family Chair Dobson Resigns
  
  Associated Press | Feb 27, 09 2:53 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - James Dobson is stepping down from his perch atop Focus on the Family, the AP reports, saying he wants to “lessen his administrative burden.” The conservative evangelist said he’ll keep playing a big role in the organization he founded, and will keep pushing his political agenda. Though Focus on the Family says it spends most of its resources on parenting and marriage advice, it’s best known for its ardent conservative politics. More »
- Catholic Group Savages Dems Using Senator's Signature
  
  Huffington Post | Feb 24, 09 2:49 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - A letter suggesting that top Democratic lawmakers aren’t “real Catholics” is attributed to Sen. Sam Brownback, the Huffington Post reports, but in fact came from a conservative Catholic group, Politico confirms. “Real Catholics need a new voice—not the likes of Ted Kennedy and Nancy Pelosi who have campaigned as Catholics while voting to undermine the values that we hold most dear,” it reads. More »
- Christian Films Tempt $$$-Hungry Hollywood
  
  NPR | Feb 21, 09 5:34 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Lurking behind the mainstream film industry is a low-budget, high-return business poised to break through: the world of Christian filmmaking, NPR reports. Fireproof , a tale of marital woes and redemption, was the highest-grossing independent feature of 2008—a fact trumpeted at a Christian film festival in San Antonio last month. “Christian filmmaking is coming of age!” festival organizer Doug Phillips told an enthusiastic crowd. More »
- Pope Scolds Pelosi on Abortion
  
  CNN | Feb 18, 09 4:45 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Pope Benedict didn't beat around the bush in his short meeting with Nancy Pelosi today. He lectured the Catholic House speaker about her liberal views on abortion and assisted suicide, the Vatican says. Pelosi's aides, however, focused on brighter moments: She showed the pontiff photos of her grandkids and discussed poverty and global warming with him, they tell CNN. More »
January 2009
- Vatican Blasts Obama Policy on Abortion
  
  BBC | Jan 25, 09 2:24 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - The Vatican today condemned President Obama's move to give federal funding to international groups that include abortions and abortion counseling with health care, the BBC reports. A Vatican official said the policy dealt a blow to those fighting "the slaughter of the innocents." Supporters of the move say it will promote women's health and help fight AIDS. More »
- You're Going to Hell, and There's Nothing You Can Do About It
  
  New York Times | Jan 11, 09 1:52 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Jesus needs salvation from the liberal, pansy ethos of mainstream evangelicals, and Mark Driscoll is determined to save him, Molly Worthen writes in the New York Times Magazine. The foul-mouthed Seattle pastor, who preaches in distressed jeans and unflinchingly discusses oral sex in the Bible, is a culture warrior resurrecting the fire-and-brimstone of Calvinism, “a theology that makes Pat Robertson seem warm and fuzzy.” More »
- Atheist Bus Ads Draw Fire from UK Christians
  
  Guardian (UK) | Jan 9, 09 4:43 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - A series of pro-atheism ads on London buses have prompted nearly 150 complaints to Britain’s advertising regulator, the Guardian reports. The complaints largely claim that the ads, which declare, “There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life,” are offensive to monotheists and break the advertising code requirements of substantiation and truthfulness. More »
December 2008
- I'm Anti-Gay Marriage, Not Anti-Gay: Warren
  
  Associated Press | Dec 24, 08 9:34 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Rick Warren continues to refine his stance on gays and gay marriage, saying he is “not opposed to gays having their partnership,” and that his anti-gay marriage stance doesn’t make him anti-gay, the AP reports. “I’m opposed to gays using the term marriage for their relationship,” the pastor, whose inauguration invitation raised hackles in the gay community, tells his church in a new video. More »
- Warren Deletes Anti-Gay Note, Cites 'Christ-o-phobia'
  
  Queerty | Dec 23, 08 5:08 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Rick Warren—whose upcoming invocation at the Obama inauguration is causing a ruckus—has removed anti-gay language from the website of his Saddleback Church, Queerty reports. A page that explicitly barred gays from membership has suddenly gone missing, along with some Catholic bashing and a defense of dinosaurs in the Bible. Warren also posted a video in which he blamed bloggers for distorting his views and accused them of "Christ-o-phobia," the Boston Globe notes. More »
- Etheridge: Warren's No Monster
  
  Huffington Post | Dec 23, 08 10:21 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Melissa Etheridge is Rick Warren’s new best friend. She met with the pastor last week, after finding out they were set to perform at the same event, and discovered he's not, as expected, a "hate spouting, money grabbing, bad hair televangelist," one of those guys who has "his own gay little secret bathroom stall somewhere, you know." In the Huffington Post, she urges fellow gay-marriage advocates not to protest or boycott the man Obama’s invited to do the invocation at his inauguration, but to reach out. More »