This morning, the White House announced that the late Jack Kemp, a hero of many political conservatives, prolifers, and many conservative evangelicals, would be awarded the Medal of Freedom. (See below for the full list, which also includes Desmond Tutu and Rev. Joseph Lowery.)
Kemp's biography reveals a person of conviction who lived out his life in the public through sports, politics, and social activism, motivated by his faith convictions. He joined his wife's Presbyterian church after their marriage.
In the New York Times obit from this past May, there was this comment:
"Jack Kemp is the indispensable political leader of the modern conservative economic revival," Edwin J. Feulner, president of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative research institution in Washington, said recently, adding, "Jack's role in developing and exploring the potential of supply-side economics in the late 1970s laid the groundwork for Reagan's economic program."
Kemp was indeed a rare person and most conservatives (I hope) will salute the decision of the Obama administration to grant Kemp this kind of recognition. His voice certainly is missed in the current political debates in Washington.
From the White House press office:
President Obama today named 16 recipients of the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom. America's highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom is awarded to individuals who make an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors. This year's awardees were chosen for their work as agents of change. President Obama will present the awards at a ceremony on Wednesday, August 12.
The White House biosheet on Kemp notes:
Jack Kemp, who passed away in May 2009, served as a U.S. Congressman (1971 – 1989), Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1989 – 1993), and Republican Nominee for Vice President (1996). Prior to entering public service, Kemp was a professional football player (1957 – 1969) and led the Buffalo Bills to American Football League championships in 1964 and 1965. In Congress and as a Cabinet Secretary, Kemp was a self-described "bleeding heart conservative" who worked to encourage development in underserved urban communities. In the years leading up to his death, Kemp continued seeking new solutions, raising public attention about the challenge of poverty, and working across party lines to improve the lives of Americans and others around the world.
The following other individuals will receive the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom:
Nancy Goodman Brinker
Nancy Goodman Brinker is the founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world's leading breast cancer grass roots organization.
Pedro José Greer, Jr.
Dr. Pedro Jose Greer is a physician and the Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs at the Florida International University School of Medicine, where he also serves as Chair of the Department of Humanities, Health and Society. Dr. Greer is the founder of Camillus Health Concern, an agency that provides medical care to over 10,000 homeless patients a year in the city of Miami.
Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking is an internationally-recognized theoretical physicist, having overcome a severe physical disability due to motor neuron disease. He is the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, a post previously held by Isaac Newton in 1669.
Sen. Edward Kennedy
Senator Edward M. Kennedy has served in the United States Senate for forty-six years, and has been one of the greatest lawmakers – and leaders – of our time.
Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King was an acclaimed professional tennis player in the 1960s and 1970s, and has helped champion gender equality issues not only in sports, but in all areas of public life. King beat Bobby Riggs in the "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match, then the most viewed tennis match in history.
Rev. Joseph Lowery
Reverend Lowery has been a leader in the U.S. civil rights movement since the early 1950s. Rev. Lowery helped organize the Montgomery bus boycott after Rosa Parks was denied a seat.
Joe Medicine Crow – High Bird
Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow, the last living Plains Indian war chief, is the author of seminal works in Native American history and culture. He is the last person alive to have received direct oral testimony from a participant in the Battle of the Little Bighorn: his grandfather was a scout for General George Armstrong Custer.
Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk became the first openly gay elected official from a major city in the United States when he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977.
Sandra Day O'Connor
Justice O'Connor was the first woman ever to sit on the United States Supreme Court. Nominated by President Reagan in 1981, she served until her retirement in 2006.
Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier is a groundbreaking actor, becoming the top black movie star in the 1950s and 1960s.
Chita Rivera
Chita Rivera is an accomplished and versatile actress, singer, and dancer, who has won Two Tony Awards and received seven more nominations while breaking barriers and inspiring a generation of women to follow in her footsteps.
Mary Robinson
Mary Robinson was the first female President of Ireland (1990 – 1997) and a former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997 – 2002), a post that required her to end her presidency four months early.
Janet Davison Rowley
Janet Davison Rowley, M.D., is the Blum Riese Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine, Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology and Human Genetics at The University of Chicago. She is an American human geneticist and the first scientist to identify a chromosomal translocation as the cause of leukemia and other cancers.
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu is an Anglican Archbishop emeritus who was a leading anti-apartheid activist in South Africa. Widely regarded as "South Africa's moral conscience," he served as the General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches (SACC) from 1978 – 1985, where he led a formidable crusade in support of justice and racial reconciliation in South Africa. He received a Nobel Peace Prize for his work through SACC in 1984. Tutu was elected Archbishop of Cape Town in 1986, and the Chair of the South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1995. He retired as Archbishop in 1996 and is currently Chair of the Elders.
Muhammad Yunus
Dr. Muhammad Yunus is a global leader in anti-poverty efforts, and has pioneered the use of "micro-loans" to provide credit to poor individuals without collateral. Dr. Yunus, an economist by training, founded the Grameen Bank in 1983 in his native Bangladesh to provide small, low-interest loans to the poor to help better their livelihood and communities. Despite its low interest rates and lending to poor individuals, Grameen Bank is sustainable and 98% percent of its loans are repaid – higher than other banking systems. It has spread its successful model throughout the world. Dr. Yunus received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his work.
Posted by Tim Morgan at July 30, 2009 11:36AM | Comments (1)
Tennessee Republican Paul Stanley announced yesterday that he was resigning from the state Senate after his affair with an intern became public.
"I have decided to focus my full attention on my family," the a 47-year-old evangelical said in a statement. Stanley defended his support of a ban on adoptions by unmarried couples in a radio interview yesterday.
"Whatever I stood for and advocated, I still believe to be true," he said. "And just because I fell far short of what God's standard was for me and my wife, doesn't mean that that standard is reduced in the least bit."
The intern's boyfriend had threatened to release nude photos of her unless Stanley paid him $10,000, according to news reports.
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at July 29, 2009 2:44PM | Comments (5)
President Obama touched on religious freedom and human rights at the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in front of about 200 Chinese officials on Monday.
[T]he United States respects the progress that China has made by lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. Just as we respect China's ancient and remarkable culture, its remarkable achievements, we also strongly believe that the religion and culture of all peoples must be respected and protected, and that all people should be free to speak their minds. And that includes ethnic and religious minorities in China, as surely as it includes minorities within the United States.
Support for human rights and human dignity is ingrained in America. Our nation is made up of immigrants from every part of the world. We have protected our unity and struggled to perfect our union by extending basic rights to all our people. And those rights include the freedom to speak your mind, to worship your God, and to choose your leaders. These are not things that we seek to impose -- this is who we are. It guides our openness to one another and to the world.
Earlier this month, The AFP reported that U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said it was "gravely concerned" about China's "repression" of the cultural and religious traditions of the ethnic group Uighurs.
China says 192 people died on July 5 in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi in the country's worst ethnic violence in decades pitting Uighurs against the growing number of settlers from China's Han majority.
The religious freedom commission called for President Barack Obama to consider sanctions on exports coming from Xinjiang or travel restrictions on Chinese government officials in charge of the northwestern province.
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at July 28, 2009 5:10PM | Comments (2)
The White House is promoting a new report that suggests that about 36 percent of Americans volunteer through a religious organization in 2008, more than any other type of organization. However, only about 15 percent of nonprofit charities report partnerships with faith-based organizations.
The Volunteering in America 2009 report found that the number of volunteers increased by a million, totaling 61.8 million Americans who volunteered in 2008 for 8 billion hours.
"Using this information, nonprofit organizations can work to create new partnerships focusing on volunteer service," Joshua DuBois, director of the White House's faith-based office, said in a statement. "There are millions of volunteers who want to be a part of critical efforts from mentoring children to improving schools to helping their neighbors meet their basic needs. The President has called upon all of us to join together in these difficult times, and this report highlights the possibilities of doing just that."
The top rated states were Utah, Nebraska, Minnesota, Alaska, Iowa, Montana, South Dakota, Kansas, Vermont, and North Dakota.
The top rated cities were Minneapolis-St Paul, Portland, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Kansas City, Columbus, Oklahoma City, Hartford, Denver, and Washington, DC.
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at July 28, 2009 4:38PM | Comments
If you tried to log on to the Stop the Abortion Mandate webcast Thursday night, your connection may have timed out like mine did. According to moderator David Bereit 36,187 people were all trying to stream the live event at the same time.
Recent media coverage of the debate about abortion and health care reform may have heighted interest in the webcast. (Christianity Today has blogged about it here and here).
Pro-life leaders participating in the webcast included Kristen Day of Democrats for Life, James Dobson of Focus on the Family (with a pre-recorded message), Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life, and Douglas Johnson of the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), but not former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. His absence after originally being included in the list of participants was not explained, although he blogged against universal health care on the same day.
Webcast speakers focused on abortion. "What you probably haven't heard is that the health care bill being advanced by Democrats is the abortion industry's dream come true," said Dobson, who opened the presentation with his pre-recorded statement. He continued:
The health care bill will force taxpayers to fund a huge abortion industry bail-out, even though the majority of Americans oppose abortion. In addition, it will mandate that virtually every American will be coerced into a health plan that covers abortion, and it would require that health care providers that are opposed to abortion violate their own consciences by performing abortions at the risk of losing their own jobs. It will be a disaster for the sanctity of human life and an assault on the moral values of every American who is forced to support the killing of babies.
Pavone said the bill would be "the largest expansion of abortion since Roe vs. Wade" and said that the health care reform bill would "prop up" the "collapsing" abortion industry. Subsequently, Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America and Tom Minnery, the senior vice president of Government and Public Policy at Focus on the Family, both spoke out against the use of "deceptive language" in the bill. Minnery said:
You'll recall that as a candidate, President Obama said he wanted to make abortion very rare. This proposal gives the lie, I'm sorry to say that, but it gives the lie to that statement. Obviously, we all know that what is … subsidized … will expand.
Day, speaking for Democrats for Life, struck a hopeful note by reminding listeners of the letter sent last month by 20 pro-life Democrats to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, informing her that they would not support abortion funding in the bill. Day said that she knew of several other members of the Democrat majority-led House who would have signed also, had they not missed the deadline. Day said, "I'm convinced we will pick up enough votes to make sure the health reform bill does not pass if the abortion amendment is not in there."
Although not mentioned in the webcast, Thursday provided another example of Democrats in the House working toward common ground in the abortion debate. Reps. Tim Ryan and Rosa DeLauro, who approach the issue from either side of the pro-choice/pro-life divide, proposed the Preventing Unintended Pregnancies, Reducing the Need for Abortion and Supporting Parents Act. The bill provides for an adoption campaign, along with tax incentives for adoption, and increased availability of ultrasound equipment. While groups such as Planned Parenthood and NARAL have signed on to the bill, some pro-life groups protest its funding for contraception and comprehensive sex education.
A 96 minute recording of the event and an "Action Guide" with suggestions for contacting senators and representatives is available at StoptheAbortionMandate.com.
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at July 27, 2009 11:13AM | Comments (13)
More than 4,000 people attended John Hagee's Night to Honor Israel dinner in Washington D.C. earlier this week, according to Erick Stakelbeck's report for CBN news. Speakers at the Christians United for Israel (CUFI) event included Senator Joseph Lieberman, Fred Barnes, Gary Bauer, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (via satellite).
This year, CUFI delegates will ask their representatives on the hill to support Israel by respecting the government's decisions, and to support further legislative sanctions against Iran. Another topic of concern to CUFI and its pro-Israel members is America's foreign policy toward Israel undergo under the new administration. Hagee told Dan Gilgoff:
I have some concerns about President Obama's approach to peacemaking. He may believe that by securing concessions from Israel he will get leverage with which to win reciprocal concessions from the Arabs down the road. Yet I do not believe that the history of Arab-Israeli peacemaking to date supports this view.
Conservative Christian organizations that are pro-Israel might wield the political pressure Netanyahu is counting on in ongoing Middle East peace negotiations, Time reports:
Netanyahu will get strong political support within Israel for standing up to Washington on Jerusalem (as he has done by resisting pressure for a settlement freeze), and he expects that the more symbolically powerful issue of the Holy City will win him support in the U.S. from Jewish leaders and Christian conservatives. In introducing Netanyahu via a video link at the annual conference of his Christians United for Israel group, arch-conservative Pastor John Hagee promised the support of 50 million Christians for "Israel's sovereign right to grow and develop the settlements of Israel as you see fit and not yield to the pressure of the United States government."
The problem facing Obama is that pressing for a two-state solution has put him at odds with a reluctant Israeli government that has now chosen the emotive issue of Jerusalem as the test of how far he's willing to go.
Other Christian leaders have taken a different approach to supporting Israel. A 2007 letter to President Bush signed by 34 Evangelical leaders took a different approach to Middle East peace by expressing support of a two-state solution and stated that "both Israelis and Palestinians have legitimate rights stretching back for millennia to the lands of Israel/Palestine."
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at July 24, 2009 11:32AM | Comments (11)
President Obama said the public should become less focused on whether abortion would be covered under federal healthcare in an interview with Katie Couric last night.
KATIE COURIC: Do you favor a government option that would cover abortions?PRESIDENT OBAMA: You know-- the-- the-- the-- what I think is important, at this stage, is not trying to micromanage what benefits are covered. Because I think we're still trying to get a framework. And my main focus is making sure that people have the options of high quality care at the lowest possible price.
As you know, I'm pro choice. But I think we also have a tradition-- of, in this town, historically, of not financing abortions as part of-- you know, government funded health care. And, you know, my-- you know, rather than wade into that issue at this point-- I think that it's appropriate for us to figure out how to just deliver on the cost savings, and not get distracted by the abortion debate at this station.
(h/t Kathryn Jean Lopez)
Obama's hope that it won't remain a distraction might not happen. Dan Gilgoff has a piece on how the abortion question might turn off more moderate evangelicals.
"I wouldn't call it a litmus test, but this is a prototype moment for the possibility of finding common ground," says the Rev. Joel Hunter, a prominent evangelical who is on Obama's faith advisory council. "If there is a doubt in the pro-life community about public funding of abortion, that will sink the healthcare
bill.""Moderate, pro-life evangelicals like me will be very unhappy if healthcare reform ends up becoming a vehicle for government subsidizing, or mandatory coverage, of abortion," adds David Gushee, a Christian ethics professor at Mercer University who has consulted with the Obama White House on other issues.
Politico's Ben Smith is also doing some coverage.
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at July 22, 2009 5:43PM | Comments (6)
Pro-life organizations are launching efforts to combat proposed health care reform that could fund abortions. The groups' concern revolves around the definition of the "essential benefits" that would be mandated for all insurers to cover under any new plan.
The New York Times reported last weekend that an Obama administration official did not rule out the possibility that abortion could be covered. Peter R. Orszag, the White House budget director, said: "I am not prepared to say explicitly that right now. It's obviously a controversial issue, and it's one of the questions that is playing out in this debate."
Pro-life groups are concerned that abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood will succeed in defining abortion as an element of "women's basic health care." Several leaders will participate in "Stop the Abortion Mandate" webcast at 9 p.m. Eastern on Thursday. The speakers will include Mike Huckabee, Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, Kristen Day of Democrats for Life, James Dobson of Focus on the Family, and Douglas Johnson of the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC).
Newsweek reports that the abortion issue could be the true "stumbling block" to the health care reform plan and extend negotiations past the summer.
… the two versions of a reform bill currently on the table—one from the House and another from the Senate's Health Committee—do not list covered benefits, and that could make it easier to finesse the abortion issue. They leave coverage decisions up to an independent commission or the Department of Health and Human Services.
According to the NRLC, if the bill being discussed by the House now does not include language that explicitly prevents the federal funding of abortion services, "those procedures will be mandated as essential services." On the other side, Planned Parenthood has launched its own campaign, asking people to contact their congressmen about making reproductive health care a priority.
Republicans tried unsuccessfully to restrict abortion coverage in House committees last week. Twenty House Democrats told House Democratic leaders stating they "cannot support any health care reform proposal unless it explicitly excludes abortion from the scope of any government-defined or subsidized health insurance plan."
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at July 21, 2009 4:03PM | Comments (7)
The novelist and law professor supports Sotomayor, critiques Obama.
Former CT associate editor Edward Gilbreath has interviewed former CT columnist (and novelist and Yale Law professor) Stephen Carter over at UrbanFaith.com. They discuss Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor and then briefly touch on race relations, education reform, and, oh yes, Carter's new novel, Jericho's Fall.
A sample: Gilbreath asks Carter "as a law expert and an African-American" what he thinks of President Obama using the criterion of "empathy" in selecting a nominee. Here is Carter's response:
I respectfully disagree with President Obama that "empathy" is an important characteristic in a judge. Had the President said what I think he probably meant -- "patience" or "a willingness to listen and learn" -- I would have agreed. Judge Sotomayor has both in spades. But "empathy" is an empty standard. For example, a judge who always rules in favor of investment banks might have empathy for Wall Streeters; and, during the civil rights era, there were plenty of Southern apologists who described the working-class whites of the South as the truly oppressed in America.
Carter, who was a law school classmate of Sotomayor's, has a great deal of respect for her, and wishes that our confirmation process would not grab occasional phrases to use as "cudgels," but would actually delve into the nominee's opinions.
Read the rest of the interview here.
Read past Stephen Carter columns for CT here.
Posted by David Neff at July 21, 2009 9:42AM | Comments (2)
President Obama met with with Mormon president Thomas S. Monson today, a meeting that was prompted by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who is Mormon. Monson presented Obama with a breakdown of his family history.
"I enjoyed my meeting with President Monson and Elder Oaks. I'm grateful for the genealogical records that they brought with them and am looking forward to reading through the materials with my daughters," Obama said in a statement. "It's something our family will treasure for years to come."
The Salt Lake Tribune gives some background for the visit. Two church leaders attended Obama's inauguration and attended the a prayer service at the National Cathedral the next day. Former President George W. Bush stopped in Utah twice during his last term to talk with church officials.
Update: Here's the press release from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at July 20, 2009 2:43PM | Comments (13)
The Senate voted July 16 to close discussion and attach the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, as an amendment to the Department of Defense Act. The act would add sexual orientation to the category of hate crimes, and the House pass a similar version earlier this year. Changes can still be proposed today, according to the Associated Press.
Because the act is attached to the larger Department of Defense (DOD) spending bill, the entire bill still has to be discussed in a conference committee for both the House and Senate in order to produce a final version. The Washington Times writes about the legislation’s past failures:
Senate Democrats have pushed the hate-crimes legislation since 1993 and successfully added it to two of the past three defense authorization bills, though both times it was removed in negotiating a final version with the House.
Emboldened by having a Democrat in the White House, supporters are optimistic it will make it to Mr. Obama's desk this year.
Because the act is attached to a DOD bill which contains extra funding for F-22s that President Obama has publicly opposed, proponents of the act are expressing concern that even if the bill comes out of committee with the act intact, the president might veto it despite his support for hate crimes legislation.
Conservative Christian groups have opposed the addition of sexual orientation to hate crimes legislation since similar acts were proposed beginning in 1993 because they are concerned that the law could make it difficult for pastors to speak out against homosexuality.
However, other groups do not think the bill poses a threat to freedom of speech. According to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), an organization that backs the legislation, hate crimes deserve special definition because they damage both the individual and “a whole community.†In response to concerns about free speech, the HRC says:
Nothing in this act would prohibit the lawful expression of one’s deeply held religious beliefs. People will always be free to say things like: “Homosexuality is sinfulâ€; “Homosexuality is an abominationâ€; or “Homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of heaven.†The act would only cover violent actions committed because of a person’s sexual orientation that result in death or bodily injury.
See Christianity Today’s earlier story for more details.
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at July 20, 2009 11:07AM | Comments (15)
President Obama chose Regina Benjamin as surgeon general earlier this week, earning initial praise for rebuilding her clinic after it was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and than destroyed by a fire a year later. She has also done missionary work in Honduras was awarded a medal by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006.
But McClatchy reports that Benjamin "supports the president's position on reproductive health issues." White House spokesman Reid Cherlin said, "Like him she believes that this is an issue where it is important to try and seek common ground and come together to try and reduce the number of unintended pregnancies. As a physician, she is deeply committed to the philosophy of putting her patients' needs first when it comes to providing care."
Life News reports that in 1996, she spoke in favor of the American Medical Association's governing body vote to "urge medical schools to expand their curriculum" to teach "more about abortion."
A 2007 interview with the Catholic Digest suggests that her Catholic faith influences her medical practice.
“Church was always a very important part of my life,†Benjamin said. “I believe I am carrying on the healing ministry of Christ. I feel obligated to help continue his works. I think it’s important to make a difference in everything you do, even if it’s small.â€
Benjamin joins Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius as pro-choice, Catholic officials who will handle health-related issues.
Meanwhile, confirmation hearings continue for Sonia Sotomayor, and Wall Street Journal columnist William McGurn wonders why her Catholic faith is not discussed more.
If the indifference to Ms. Sotomayor's Catholicism were truly a sign of a new respect for the "no religious test" provisions of the Constitution, that would be something to celebrate. But in the unlikely case that this "wise Latina" ever comes to see the legal wisdom of overturning Roe and returning abortion to the democratic process, we'll be reading a very different story.
Sotomayor has sidestepped questions that asked about her personal views on abortion, saying that Roe V. Wade is settled and "I will follow the law." She also said that Obama did not ask her opinion on abortion before he nominated her.
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at July 16, 2009 1:03PM | Comments (3)
Christian groups took notice when President Obama chose evangelical scientist Francis Collins as the new head of the National Institutes on Health, despite some questions about his support for embryonic stem-cell research.
Michael Gerson writes for the Washington Post that his appointment signals that evangelicalism is growing up.
Collins's appointment says something good about the maturity of modern evangelicalism, which is starting to abandon some of its least productive debates with modernity. Criticisms of evolution, rooted in 19th-century controversies, have done little more than set up religious young people for entirely unnecessary crises of faith as they encounter scientific knowledge. In the running conflict of modern biology and evangelicalism, Collins is a peacemaker.
Gerson also writes that it signals maturity for President Obama. "In the process, Obama has affirmed something important: that anti-supernaturalism is not a litmus test at the highest levels of science," he writes.
If you want a few chuckles, take a look at this 2006 video where Stephen Colbert heckles Collins a little bit about science and faith.
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Francis Collins | ||||
| ||||
Colbert asks, "Are you going to be the only Christian in hell?"
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at July 15, 2009 9:35AM | Comments (9)
Senate confirmation hearings for Sonia Sotomayor began today as the Supreme Court nominee tried to preempt some of her critics.
"The task of a judge is not to make law," she said in her opening statement. "It is to apply law."
Norma McCorvey, known as "Jane Roe" during the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion, was arrested after she yelled that Sotomayor was "wrong" during Sen. Al Franken's opening statement.
McCorvey became pro-life and converted to Catholicism after she befriended with one of an Operation Rescue leader.
Richard Land and other conservatives are concerned that Sotomayor would be an activist judge.
"The bottom line is that Sonia Sotomayor is an unpredictable wildcard," Land said in a statement today. "Across the issues her record is either far too thin or hidden behind non-published orders and per curium opinions. Simply put, placing Sonia Sotomayor on the highest court in the land jeopardizes our nation's commitment to equal treatment under the law."
Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, plans to testify on Sotomayor's connection to the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, which filed several briefs related to abortion while she was on its governing board.
"Her PRLDEF record proves that she is an abortion advocate," Yoest said in a statement. "That record includes opposition to parental notification, opposition to informed consent, opposition to bans on partial-birth abortion and support for taxpayer-funded abortions."
Melissa Rogers, director of the Wake Forest University School of Divinity Center for Religion and Public Affairs, who is back to blogging, highlighted the religious liberty mentions in the opening statements.
Here's a section from Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD):
There were neighborhoods that my parents warned me to avoid for fear of my safety because I was Jewish. The local movie theater denied admission to African Americans.
Community swimming pools had signs that said "No Jews, No Blacks Allowed." Even Baltimore's amusement parks and sports clubs were segregated by race. Then came Brown vs. Board of Education, and, suddenly, my universe and community were changed forever.
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at July 13, 2009 5:29PM | Comments (7)
President Obama met Pope Benedict XVI for the first time today in a closed-door meeting that a Vatican statement said covered multiple topics but focused on the Catholic Church's opposition to abortion.
The pope also gave Obama copies of his recent encyclical on the global economy and a statement of Catholic teaching on bioethics, which Benedict's personal secretary said would help Obama "better understand" why church positions are at odds with the president's.
Obama's visit to the Vatican came at the end of the G-8 summit in L'Aquila, 70 miles northeast of Rome, which Obama told the pope had been "very productive."
Benedict greeted Obama outside his private library shortly before 4:30 pm, and escorted the president inside for a 30-minute private conversation. Although Benedict speaks fluent English, the leaders were joined by two interpreters seated on either side of the pope's desk.
A Vatican statement released shortly after the meeting made it clear that while the two men discussed a number of issues, abortion was at the top of the pope's agenda.
"In the course of their cordial exchanges, the conversation turned first of all to questions which are in the interests of all ... such as the defense and promotion of life and the right to abide by one's conscience," the Vatican statement said.
The mention of "conscience" was an apparent reference to so-called conscience clauses, which exempt health care providers from participating in services -- namely abortion, sterilization and contraception -- to which they have moral objections. Obama has moved to scrap the protections, which were approved as former President George W. Bush was leaving office.
Even so, Obama "told the pope of his commitment to reduce the number of abortions and of his attention and respect for the positions of the Catholic Church," Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi told reporters after the meeting.
In many ways, Obama's early relations with the Catholic Church, both in Rome and in the United States, have been marked by tension over his policies on medical ethics. In May, some 80 U.S. bishops criticized the University of Notre Dame for granting Obama an honorary degree despite his support for abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research, which church teaching forbids.
The Vatican's approach to Obama, however, has been friendlier, as reflected by coverage in its official newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, which at times has been openly enthusiastic since Obama's election last November.
"The Vatican wants good relations with the Obama administration," said Massimo Franco, a Rome-based expert on U.S.-Vatican relations, and author of the book "Parallel Empires."
Although disappointed that he does not share his predecessor's stands on abortion and stem cell research, Franco said, Vatican diplomats welcome many of Obama's international policies, such as his overtures to the Muslim world.
The Vatican and Washington "are beginning a new phase of an alliance based on pragmatism," Franco said, that is "realistic, not ideological."
Among other topics in Friday's discussion, the Vatican statement highlighted immigration, "with particular attention to the matter of reuniting families," and the Middle East peace process, "on which there was general agreement." Both the Vatican and the White House support the so-called two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Vatican statement said the two leaders also discussed the importance of intercultural and inter-religious dialogue, the "global economic crisis," "food security," "development aid especially for Africa and Latin America," "drug trafficking," and the "importance of educating young people everywhere in the value of tolerance."
Before his audience with the pope, Obama met for about 10 minutes with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. Following his discussion with Benedict, the president introduced first lady Michelle Obama to the pope, and the two leaders exchanged gifts.
The president gave Benedict a ceremonial stole that had once lain over the body of St. John Neumann, a 19th-century bishop of Philadelphia. Benedict presented Obama with the customary papal present to heads of state, a gold medal commemorating his pontificate, as well as a mosaic of St. Peter's Square.
The pope also had a couple of pieces of reading material for the president. One was a white leather-bound copy of Benedict's third encyclical, "Caritas in Veritate," published three days before their meeting, which many Obama supporters have said shows an affinity between the two leaders' vision for the world.
The papal document, which calls for "redistribution" of wealth and enhanced international cooperation for peace and environmental protection, shows a "convergence of interests between the Holy Father's social justice agenda and the announced agenda of the president," said Nicholas P. Cafardi, who served on Obama's Catholic advisory committee during last year's presidential campaign.
Benedict also gave Obama a Vatican document published last December that condemns high-tech infertility treatments and contraception technologies, and reaffirms the church's strong prohibition of abortion and embryonic stem cell research.
Monsignor Georg Ganswein, Benedict's personal secretary, told reporters that the bioethics document "could help the president better understand the position of the Catholic Church."
Obama thanked Benedict for the document and told him he would read it on Air Force One. Shortly after leaving the Vatican, the Obamas flew to Ghana, where they were to be the guests of honor at a state dinner.
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at July 10, 2009 2:05PM | Comments (6)
President Barack Obama chose Dr. Francis Collins - who led a team to map and sequence human DNA and determined its functions - to lead the National Institutes of Health, according to the AP.
Obama called Collins "one of the top scientists in the world." Obama said, "His groundbreaking work has changed the very ways we consider our health and examine disease."
He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award. But he may be more widely known for his 2007 best-selling book, "The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief." Collins also received a
Christianity Today's Book Award in 2007 for his book The Language of God: 'A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.
Collins converted to Christianity after reading C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity. He recently helped found the BioLogos Foundation, a website that attempts to bridge gaps between science and religion.
Christianity Today has interviewed Collins twice: "The Genome Doctor" and "Creation or Evolution? Yes!"
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at July 8, 2009 5:43PM | Comments (6)
President Obama and Pope Benedict XVI will meet for the first time face-to-face on Friday during Obama's trip to Italy for the G8 summit.
The meeting will likely be characterized as a clash of the pro-life and pro-choice agendas. As early as November of last year, Time magazine predicted this meeting and asked: "Will the Pope and Obama Clash Over Abortion?" Abortion and other topics related to bioethics are expected to be raised at the meeting. Time's latest story reports:
To paint the Obama-meets-Benedict dossier in broad strokes, says one senior Vatican diplomat, "it's basically the reverse of Bush." In other words, the Pope tends to appreciate the new President's less aggressive approach to foreign affairs, while he disagrees on ethical matters such as abortion rights and stem-cell research - whereas President George W. Bush was seen by the Vatican as one of the few like-minded Western leaders on social issues, but whose invasion of Iraq was strongly opposed by the Vatican.
In preparation for the meeting, Obama reached out to the Catholic community in the U.S. at a roundtable with mostly-Catholic news service reporters on July 2. At the meeting, Obama emphasized his respect for the Catholic Church and referenced his personal experience with the social work of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago, an early supporter of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.
Obama said:
Cardinal Bernardin was strongly pro-life …never shrank from speaking about that issue, but was very consistent in talking about a seamless garment and a range of issues that were part and parcel of what he considered to pro-life, that meant he was concerned about poverty, he was concerned with how children were treated, he was concerned about the death penalty, he was concerned about foreign policy.
Dan Gilgoff at U.S. News noted that although most of Obama's responses were "trademark Obama" in their diplomacy, a few of his comments - particularly related to abortion and the administration's ongoing review of conscience clause rules for health workers - were surprising. Obama says:
I don't know any circumstance in which abortion is a happy circumstance or decision … and to the extent that we can help women avoid being confronted with a circumstance in which that's even a consideration, I think that's a good thing.
Read more about conscience clause rules at the Her.meneutics blog here and here.
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at July 8, 2009 1:16PM | Comments
Radio waves appear to be the conduit for Christian activism this summer. Christian organizations are running political ads "framing the issue as an urgent matter of Biblical morality," The Wall Street Journal reports.
The American Values Network spent nearly $200,000 placing radio ads advocating action against global warming, according to the report. Previous ads have described the effect of climate change and the need for "redemption."
The Wall Street Journal points out that at least one of the American Values ads supported by name the Waxman-Markey climate bill, which passed the House last week.
Last weekend, radio ads sponsored by Faith in Public Life, Sojourners, and the PICO National Network ran in five states urging "people of faith" to ask their senators to support health care reform.
In each ad, a religious leader from each respective state exhorts constituents to contact their senators. The script for the ads uses Isaiah 65:20 and 2 Timothy 1:7 and provides the interpretation that, "Our love must be a thing of action."
The report suggests that on the other side, Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council (FRC) the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, which opposed the Waxman-Markey bill due to economic concerns. The FRC is also sponsoring a petition to guard against any new health care legislation that would force taxpayers to pay for abortions, and the National Right to Life (NRL) supported a defeated anti-rationing amendment to the bill intended to protect patients who are elderly or disabled.
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at July 7, 2009 2:16PM | Comments (7)
If you haven't heard yet, Sarah Palin resigned. Some people were on vacation and enjoying fireworks when that went down.
Politico's Jonathan Martin examines why Palin could have made the move.
The performance, by these lights, adds credence to the claims of some associates that Palin - burned by the intense scrutiny on her and the crossfire that swirls around her - is so fed up that she's ready to get out of elective politics. Even if it's only the small stage of Alaska politics she hopes to escape, skeptics say Friday's events also diminished and perhaps even demolished what was left of her viability as a 2012 presidential candidate.
But her defenders believed an unorthodox move, even if risky, has a clear logic and may only further increase her standing with conservatives who don't care what establishment figures in or out of the GOP think. Leaving the governor's office at the end of this month leaves her free to travel the country, command large speaking fees, and begin the process of rallying her devotees without pesky home-state opponents criticizing every move.
As pundits weigh Palin's chances of running for President in 2012, a recent poll suggested that evangelicals have been some of her strongest fans. But as Steve Waldman wonders, what happens if Palin faces Mike Huckabee?
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at July 6, 2009 12:23AM | Comments (4)
South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's saga has taken a turn with the latest revelations that he had "crossed the line" with other women. Al Mohler, Charles Colson, and La Shawn Barber seem pretty disgusted with his "love story" description.
"This was a whole lot more than a simple affair, this was a love story," Sanford told the Associated Press. "A forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the end of the day."
As Dan Gilgoff noted, few conservative Christian organizations have spoken up on Sanford while politicians and pundits discuss whether he should resign. But here's Mohler's latest.
David acknowledged the reality of his sin, expressed his hatred of the sin, and became a model for us all of repentance. Governor Sanford, on the other hand, demonstrates the audacity to speak wistfully of his sin, longingly of his lover, and romantically of his descent into unfaithfulness.
Governor Sanford is no King David, and the people of South Carolina -- as well as the watching world -- now observe the sad spectacle of a man who, while admitting to wrongdoing, shows no genuine repentance.
...If the governor is really serious about demonstrating character to his four sons, he should resign his office and give himself unreservedly to his wife and family.
Colson and others discuss Sanford's use of biblical analogies on The New York Times website.
Having read the governor's latest statements about several prior dalliances (enough confessing already, please) I think he needs to go home, and get his own house in order before he can do much for the state of South Carolina.
It's time to bring this tawdry and embarrassing soap opera to a quick ending. I pray for the governor, his wife and his four kids. Get that together, governor, and everything else will fall into place.
Here's what Barber has to say:
But Governor Sanford seems neither humbled by nor contrite about his dishonorable actions, despite the tears. He's admitted to more dalliances and stated publicly that he doesn't love his wife. If he truly were contrite, he'd do the honorable thing and resign. But not only will he not resign, he compared himself to King David of Israel:
The only conservative organization I could find that is tackling the Sanford affair is the Palmetto Family Council in South Carolina, which has started a petition called "Stand with Jenny." I wrote more about Jenny Sanford on Her.meneutics, the Christianity Today blog for women.
A spokesperson told Newsweek that the petition had about 1,000 signatures yesterday.
Oran P. Smith, president and CEO of the Palmetto Family Council, told Mark Barna that the group originally called for forgiveness toward Gov. Sanford. But then the group received pushback from its female constituents. "Women said we should not let this go without people understanding the gravity of what he's done," Smith said.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press and World magazine have done a nice job rounding up the details behind "C Street," which Sanford referred to last week.
The AP tries to make sense of how Sanford could be "in love" with his mistress but love his wife and kids at the same time.
So while there are countless romantics out there urging Sanford to follow his heart, he can expect mostly tough love from his own spiritual community.
"The emotions are the icing on the cake," says Ben Witherington, a New Testament professor at Kentucky's Asbury Theological Seminary. "They're not the cake."
Witherington says feelings are a "notoriously unreliable guide" in personal relationships because they tend to change with time. Marriage is not just a commitment of will, he says, but a commitment before God.
"That's why, at a Christian wedding service, you don't say, 'I feel like' and 'I feel like.' You say, 'I will' and 'I will,' 'I do' and 'I do.'"
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at July 2, 2009 9:57AM | Comments (13)
A new federation of two dozen conservative Christian groups announced plans today to work together to strategize around moral values they feel are under attack across the
country.
"We are not wed to a particular partisan candidate or party," said Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and an organizer of the Freedom Federation. "We are wed to core shared values."
Those values include opposition to abortion, same-sex marriage and pornography and support for religious freedom, limited government and the right to own firearms.
The announcement followed a meeting of some 30 leaders who began a dialogue but did not draw up concrete action plans. Several leaders said work could include addressing health care reform and immigration reform and opposing gay marriage.
Asked if the federation is a response to the new Obama administration, with which many of the affiliated organizations often disagree, Staver said: "It certainly has heightened the concern. It didn't start the concern."
Representatives from the various groups, which include ethnic, women's and youth organizations, said the federation will represent a more inclusive approach to addressing public policy.
"The stereotypical media-exacerbated image of the angry white evangelical will be replaced by an evangelical movement that will reconcile uncompromised values of compassion, truth with mercy, and righteousness with justice," said the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference
Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America, said the federation will show the wide range of individuals and groups that agree on biblical guidelines.
"It is bringing together the different voices and different faces that all believe in the same core principles," she said. "We are on the same page. We do believe the same things, regardless of our sex or our ethnicity."
Among the groups represented are the American Association of Christian Counselors, the American Family Association, Catholic Online, Family Research Council, High Impact Leadership Coalition, Strang Communications, Traditional Values Coalition, Teen Mania, and Vision America.
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at July 1, 2009 3:49PM | Comments (54)
