The Latest: May 2007 Archive

5/31, 11:38p CT: McCain campaign accused by fired religious outreach staffers of having “contempt” for the Christian community — wanting the votes without wanting to bother developing serious relationships. 

5/31, 2:32p CT: Catholics United gets it right , again: family values means preserving and protecting families — even across national borders.  Do we want an immigration bill that brings families together, or tears them apart?

5/31, 8:50a CT: Stan Moody on leaders from places like Messiah College and Regent University.

5/30, 5:23p CT: An interesting thought: is global warming “the fire next time” from the old spiritual? 

5/30, 4:26p CT: Jesse Lava on how the media marginalizes religious progressives.

5/30, 12:05p CT: Stan Moody asks, isn’t there enough sin to go around?

5/29, 5:35p CT: Media Matters released a study today showing that the mainstream media’s coverage of faith in the public square is consistently biased against liberals.  A post coming soon.

5/29, 12:14p CT: Obama’s health care plan.  This is how a country can take Matthew 25 seriously.

5/29, 11:20a CT: Most of you know already that Congress passed the minimum wage hike.  Too bad it had to be linked to the war spending, but it’s a concrete accomplishment to which the Democratic Congress can point. 

5/29, 11:10a CT: David Brooks ask if the religion vs. atheism debate is leaving out an influential segment of the population: the semi-religious.  And a Vicksburg Post columnist suggests that “evangelical” does not equal “conservative.”

5/24, 2:19p CT: Taking a break from the college reunion to link to this family values no-brainer on immigration.  Shouldn’t we help legal immigrants reunite with their spouses and kids?

5/23, 2:02p CT: I (Jesse) won’t be posting much over the next few days; it’s college reunion time.  Have a great Memorial Day weekend. 

5/22, 9:39a CT: Faith in Public Life identifies a new trend in the mainstream media: reporting on the diversity of political issues important to the evangelical community.

5/21, 10:08p CT: Jesse Lava finds hope in the new guard of evangelical leadership.

5/21, 7:35a CT: The New York Times on the changing of the guard in the evangelical political movement.  More soon. 

5/19, 11:48p CT: Protestors visit Falwell’s funeral because he apparently wasn’t harsh enough on gays.

5/18, 3:30p CT: Even though James Dobson at least has enough self-respect to veto Rudy Giuliani, partly because of the former mayor is a thrice-married adulterer, he hasn’t withdrawn his effusive praise of Newt Gingrich, a thrice-married adulterer.

5/18, 3:20p CT: Faith-based groups want Congress to consider the minimum wage increase on its own instead of tying it to the war supplemental bill.  The pay raise for America’s lowest-paid workers needs to happen, one way or the other.

5/18, 12:15p CT: NPR says the evangelical vote is up for grabs.  Perhaps blowback from Falwell is part of the reason.

5/17, 11:57a CT: Bush won’t deny ordering his lackeys to seek a signature from a sedated, hospitalized, and legally incapacitated John Ashcroft.

5/16, 4:17p CT: Stan Moody sees Falwell’s life through the lens of our “American Gospel.”

5/16, 4:03p CT: Alberto Gonzales is a disgrace, as is the administration that empowers him.  This is really sick.

5/16, 10:45a CT: David Kuo — a former faith-based initiatives officialin the Bush administration — on Falwell’s mixed legacy. 

5/15, 7:20p CT: Jesse Lava’s take on the death of an adversary, Jerry Falwell.

5/15, 1:57p CT: Jerry Falwell dies at 73 after being found unconscious in his office.  More soon.

5/15, 11:11a CT: Sojourners will host a candidates’ forum for Hillary, Obama, and Edwards, focusing on poverty and other faith issues. 

5/15, 6:45a CT: Stan Moody vs. “the cult of individuality.” 

5/11, 2:12p CT: Howard Dean gets it right : we must invite more young evangelicals into the party. 

5/11, 11:45p CT: Romney cooks up a non-controversy about Al Sharpton to ingratiate his would-be supporters.

5/10, 11:45p CT: Great news: White House gives in to Democrats on trade, accepting labor and environmental provisions to be attached to trade pacts. 

5/10, 6:12p CT: Rudy will only do events with millionaires — seriously. 

5/9, 11:51p CT: Moderate Republicans give Bush the straight talk on Iraq — finally. 

5/9, 11:08p CT: Really uncomfortable moment on the Colbert Report tonight when Jane Fonda sat in Stephen’s lap and started kissing him — obviously against his will.  I cringe to think that some people think she represents progressives.

5/9, 2:56p CT: The Pope favors excommunicating or denying communion to politicians who push abortion rights.  Presumably, this principle also applies to politicians who refuse to act on measures to reduce the abortion rate.

5/9, 9:17a CT: Mitt Romney whines that he’s getting too much flak for switching from pro-choice to pro-life.  He neglects to mention that abortion is just one in a series of flip-flops for him — immigration, intelligent design, gun control, and gay rights being a few of the others.

5/9, 9:10a CT: Hillary extends her lead over Barack.

5/8, 11:02a CT: Evangelical leaders take a liberal view on immigration.  (But shhh…don’t use that word around them.) 

5/7, 11:40a CT: Mitt Romney keeps courting the religious right, this time at Pat Robertson’s pad.  Meanwhile, John Edwards courts those who care about poverty.

5/6, 2:31a CT: Jesse Lava spots a Chicago Tribune article that — finally — gets the story right on Democrats and faith. 

5/5, 10:29a CT: The public wants the Democrats to be aggressive in confronting the Republicans over Iraq. 

5/4, 1:53p CT: Hillary proposes to revoke the 2002 war authorization.  Sounds good, but Jesse Lava’s not so sure it will help. 

5/3, 5:02p CT: TPM’s got the scoop on what the top Republican candidates have to accomplish in their debate tonight.

5/3, 2:18p CT: Whoa: Jim McGreevey’s trying to become an Episcopal priest. 

5/3, 2:09p CT: Virginia Governor Tim Kaine earns plaudits — being called a vessel of Christ, no less —  at an evangelical megachurch.

5/3, 9:45a CT: Iraqis’ religious freedom has deteriorated as a result of Bush’s war. 

5/3, 9:19a CT: Mississippi’s Democratic candidate for governor is a conservative evangelical — and an economic populist.

5/1, 11:45p CT: Stan Moody pits George Washington against “Christian Zionism.”

5/1, 8:27p CT: White mainline Protestants prefer Obama; white Catholics prefer Hillary. 

5/1, 4:36p CT: Hillary teams up with Bono; Barack is the Great Conciliator. 

5/1, 4:28p CT: A contrast worth pondering: In Israel, the prime minister may have to resign amid reports that he rushed his country into war with Lebanon; in the U.S., the president who rushed his country into war is secure enough in his position to veto a bill to end that war.