Here are the items we're watching today:
-- Some pro-life groups say the health care bill proposed by Senator Max Baucus would allow the government to pay for abortions.
A Rasmussen Reports survey suggests that 48 percent believe any government-subsidized health care plan should be prohibited from covering abortion while 13 percent believe a plan should be required to cover it. Thirty-two percent of those surveyed favor a more neutral approach with no requirements in either direction.
-- The president of Notre Dame plans to participate in the March for Life in January in Washington, D.C. John I. Jenkins took heat after the school invited President Obama to speak at commencement and gave him an honorary doctorate.
-- A mayoral candidate in Florida faces scrutiny over his creationism beliefs.
-- History nuts might enjoy this item. A man is expected to sell one of 32 copies of "the Bible of the Revolution" for at least $40,000. Here's more from the Washington Post.
This endorsement by the secular of the spiritual would have been a flagrant violation of the church/state divide -- but it was nine years before that concept would be codified and ratified in the First Amendment.
...
On Thursday, at a rare book auction in Manhattan, the 59-year-old retired real estate developer, a self-described devout Christian who avoids affiliation with any denomination and deeply dislikes "political Christians," is selling one of his copies.
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at September 17, 2009 6:08PM | Comments (7)
Here's what we're reading today:
-- Florida authorities found no credible threats against Rifqa Bary, a 17-year-old who fled from Ohio to Florida because she claimed her Muslim family would kill her for converting to Christianity. Here's more form the St. Petersburg Times.
The FDLE's report, though, which a judge in Orlando unsealed Monday evening, says there's no evidence of any abuse, and also no indication that she's in danger of being killed. The report calls that fear "a subjective and speculative concern."
FDLE asked the girl's father if he was going to kill her.
"Absolutely not," Mohamed Bary told investigators.
FDLE did not investigate the Islamic community in Columbus or the mosque the Bary family sometimes attends.
-- Democrat Rep. Jerrold Nadler plans to introduce legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits federal recognition of same-sex marriage. The bill has the support of at least 75 lawmakers, according to the Associated Press. A spokesperson for Rep. Barney Frank told the AP he believes the legislation would have a small chance because it would allow same-sex couples to take their benefits across state lines.
-- Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius discussed abortion and the political struggles with her Catholic faith in a Washington Post interview.
Q: Do you think that the federal government should do some federal funding of abortions, personally?
A: Well, the President has made it pretty clear that Congress and the new health insurance plan will not provide federal funds for abortions.
Q: Well, I know that. I was asking you what you thought.
A: I am the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and I will support the President's proposal moving forward.
Then she spoke about how the archbishop in the Kansas City area asked that she not present herself for communion.
A: Well, it was one of the most painful things I have ever experienced in my life, and I am a firm believer in the separation of church and state, and I feel that my actions as a parishioner are different than my actions as a public official and that the people who elected me in Kansas had a right to expect me to uphold their rights and their beliefs even if they did not have the same religious beliefs that I had," Sebelius said.
Q: Do you continue to take communion?
A: I really would prefer not to discuss that with you.
-- For some international reading, a council in London has barred a Christian group to display their posters in public places unless they remove words such as “God” and “Christian.” The group plans to hold a series of events on climate change.
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at September 15, 2009 11:16AM | Comments (7)
After a week of vacation (my new last name might give it away), here's a round-up of items I'm catching up on:
-- President Obama called the killing of pro-life activist Jim Pouillon "deplorable."
"Whichever side of a public debate you're on, violence is never the right answer," he said in a statement released yesterday.
-- An adopted Christian teenager could face deportation to England for refusing a vaccination. Simone Davis says she has no reason to receive Gardasil, which protects from sexually transmitted HPV, because she has taken a virginity pledge, ABC reports.
-- A group called Personhood USA tells the Associated Press that it has chapters in 29 states trying to get "personhood" measures passed that would define fertilized embryos as persons.
-- Dan Gilgoff spoke with former Southern Baptist Convention President Frank Page about his frustrations with President Obama's advisory council for the faith-based initiatives.
What good am I doing? I wouldn't go out huffing and puffing but saying, "Have I made any positive contribution?" Within the next month or so I will be able to understand if my own time is well spent there. I'm praying deeply about the issue. I can't say I'm leaning either way at this point.
Cathy Lynn Grossman writes more about the frustration from a panel at the Religion Newswriters Association conference.
-- Al Mohler and John Piper had some nice things to say about President Obama's address to school children.
-- Several conservative Christians visited the White House and met with President Bush during his tenure, according to a report from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics.
- Focus on the Family founder James Dobson visited the White House 24 times during President Bush's time in office, 10 of which he met directly with Bush.
- Andrea Lafferty, executive director of the Traditional Values Coalition, made 50 visits, six of which were visits with Bush.
- Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America, made 43 visits, four of which were with Bush.
-Gary Bauer, president of American Values, made 10 visits.
- The late Jerry Falwell made eight visits, three of which were with Bush.
-Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council, made 14 visits, two of which were with Bush.
-Louis Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition, made 19 visits and two visits to Bush.
-The late Paul Weyrich made 17 visits, including six visits to Bush.
-Donald Wildmon, Founder of the American Family Association, made three visits to the White House between July 2001 and March 2003, including one visit to President Bush.
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at September 14, 2009 10:48AM | Comments (6)
Here's what we're reading today:
-- Time reports that a United Nations agency is preparing guidelines that recommend that school systems begin sex education at an earlier age than they do now, drawing criticism from conservatives. The agency is also preparing to suggest that as students mature, teachers should offer them more detailed information about avoiding pregnancies and disease, aiming to reduce the 4.4 million abortions sought by 15 to 19-year-olds annually. Here's more from The New York Times.
Conservative groups have also criticized the draft guidelines for discussions of condom use, sexually transmitted diseases and the assertion that “legal abortion performed under sterile conditions by medically trained personnel is safe.” The guidelines suggest discussing “access to safe abortion and post-abortion care” and the “use and misuse of emergency contraception” with those ages 12 to 15. The guidelines recommend that “the right to and access to safe abortion” should also be discussed.
-- Dan Gilgoff tweets that Sojourner's Jim Wallis has hired Burns Strider, who used to work on Hillary Clinton's campaign.
-- Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley defended his participation in Ted Kennedy's funeral after hearing opposition from some conservative Catholics because of Kennedy’s support for abortion, the Boston Globe reports. The New York Times writes that Kennedy calls the 1969 car accident that killed a woman “inexcusable” in a new memoir coming out. Kennedy writes in another portion of the book, "Some people make mistakes and try to learn from them and do better. Our sins don’t define the whole picture of who we are.”
-- Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin says the Senate is swamped and has little time to go over the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that does not allow openly gays to serve.
-- Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was arrested last year on federal corruption charges, is referencing God in his new book.
“I believe there is a purpose behind all that has happened to us. And maybe God has a plan for me to be an instrument for good. And that the troubles we are facing, the lies, the abandonment, the heartbreak, the pain, are all obstacles in the journey we must make, where like the stories in the Bible, God brings good out of bad.”
-- New York yogis are preparing to fight a state proposal that would require them to spend money on a certification.
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at September 3, 2009 10:23AM | Comments (34)
It's a fairly quiet morning, but here's some articles we're watching today.
-- Vermont began allowing same-sex marriages yesterday. To mark the occasion, Ben & Jerry's changed its “Chubby Hubby” ice cream to “Hubby Hubby” during September. In case you were wondering, the flavor combines peanut butter cookie dough ice cream, fudge and pretzels.
-- Alliance Defense Fund has filed a lawsuit on behalf of an Idaho public charter school, claiming the state illegally barred use of the Bible as a teaching material. According to the Associated Press, the school had planned to use the Bible as a primary source of teaching material, but not to teach religion.
-- A a federal agency announced yesterday that President Obama's "United We Serve" initiative has made August 31 through September 6 as "Interfaith Service Week." The press release states that in Orlando, college Jewish students from Hillel, the Hindu Students Association, Muslim Students Association will join evangelical students from Joel Hunter's Northland Church as part of a September 6 project to help the homeless.
-- Bloggers are buzzing about Levi Johnston's latest claim in Vanity Fair that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin wanted to adopt Bristol Palin and Johnston's son.
Sarah told me she had a great idea: we would keep it a secret—nobody would know that Bristol was pregnant. She told me that once Bristol had the baby she and Todd would adopt him. That way, she said, Bristol and I didn’t have to worry about anything. Sarah kept mentioning this plan. She was nagging—she wouldn’t give up.
Politico's Ben Smith points out that it contradicts Johnston's previous statements.
KING: Levi, was abortion ever considered?
L. JOHNSTON: No.
KING: Giving up for adoption ever considered?
L. JOHNSTON: Oh, no.
KING: When the two of you talked and the baby, Tripp, was born, was there ever a thought that you would not be the -- I mean not be the active father of that child?
L. JOHNSTON: No.
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at September 2, 2009 11:30AM | Comments (11)
Florida megachurch pastor Joel Hunter attended President Obama's Ramadan dinner tonight, another instance of an evangelical commemorating the Muslim holy month.
Brian McLaren is fasting in observance of Ramadan. However, Hunter, who has reached out to Muslims in the Orlando area in the past, attended due to his role on the faith-based office's advisory council. Ramadan commemorates the month during which Muslims believe the Quran was revealed to Mohammed.
Portions of Obama's remarks from t he dinner can be found after the jump.
(As provided by the White House)
Indeed, the contribution of Muslims to the United States are too long to catalog because Muslims are so interwoven into the fabric of our communities and our country. American Muslims are successful in business and entertainment; in the arts and athletics; in science and in medicine. Above all, they are successful parents, good neighbors, and active citizens.
...One of those values is the freedom to practice your religion -- a right that is enshrined in the First Amendment of the Constitution.
...Of course, we know that when it comes to athletes who have inspired America, any list would include the man known simply as The Greatest. And while Muhammad Ali could not join us tonight, it is worth reflecting upon his remarkable contributions, as he's grown from an unmatched fighter in the ring to a man of quiet dignity and grace who continues to fight for what he believes -- and that includes the notion that people of all faiths holds things in common. I love this quote. A few years ago, he explained this view -- and this is part of why he's The Greatest -- saying, "Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams -- they all have different names, but they all contain water. Just as religions do -- they all contain truths."
They all contain truths. Among those truths are the pursuit of peace and the dignity of all human beings.
...So tonight, we celebrate a great religion, and its commitment to justice and progress. We honor the contributions of America's Muslims, and the positive example that so many of them set through their own lives. And we rededicate ourselves to the work of building a better and more hopeful world.
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at September 1, 2009 8:05PM | Comments (45)
