At least 25,000 people turned out for tea party protests across the country today, according to the Atlantic, and groups like Focus on the Family Action, Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America, and the American Family Association helped promote the demonstrations.
The tea parties were initially promoted by FreedomWorks, a conservative nonprofit advocacy group based in Washington, but Christian conservative groups quickly latched on.
CitizenLink: "The mainstream media largely have ignored the nationwide protests, even as Congress loads pork projects and stimulus bills on the backs of American taxpayers and their children."
Tony Perkins: "There is no justification for the countless billions that citizens will have to pony up this tax season to fund liberalism's reckless abuse of the federal treasury."
"The religious right's support for the Tea Parties is a partisan exercise, not a religious one. It will not help their cause," Dan at the left-leaning Faith in Public Life writes.
What do you think? Would you participate in the tea party ritual?
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at April 15, 2009 | Comments (16)
President Obama defended his plans tonight for a healthcare overhaul that include a lower tax deduction for wealthy who donate to charities.
"Those of us who are a little bit fortunate are going to have to spend a little bit more," Obama said at tonight's press conference.
Politico's Mike Allen asked him if he's "confident that charities are wrong" that this will hurt giving, and he responded: "yes."
The Washington Time's Jon Ward asked Obama whether he wrestled with the ethics of funding embryonic research.
I think that the guidelines that we provided meet that ethical test. What we have said is that, for embryos that are typically about to be discarded, for us to be able to use those in order to find cures for Parkinson's or for Alzheimer's or, you know, all sorts of other debilitating diseases, juvenile diabetes, that, that it is the right thing to do.
And that's not just my opinion. That is the opinion of a number of people who are also against abortion.
Now, I am glad to see progress is being made in adult stem cells. And if the science determines that we can completely avoid a set of ethical questions or political disputes, then that's great.
The Associated Press has transcriptions of the press conference here, here, and here.
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at March 24, 2009 | Comments (3)
The U.S. Senate defeated an amendment to the economic stimulus bill Thursday that would have allowed federal funding for renovations at college buildings that are used for religious activity.
Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., proposed the amendment after voicing criticism of a stimulus provision that says funds for colleges and universities could not be used for modernization or renovation of buildings where "sectarian instruction" or "religious worship" occur.
"This is a direct attack on students of faith, and I'm outraged Democrats are using an economic stimulus bill to promote discrimination," DeMint said after the 54-43 vote defeating the amendment.
Church-state groups, however, welcomed the vote.
"The Senate has voted to reaffirm an important American principle -- that religious groups should pay their own way and not expect funding from the taxpayer," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Conservative Christian groups, meanwhile, agreed with DeMint. Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice said the provision "has nothing to do with economic stimulus and everything to do with religious discrimination."
Andrea Lafferty, executive directosr of the Traditional Values Coalition, called the vote "a significant defeat to our First Amendment's guarantee of religious freedom and free speech."
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at February 7, 2009 | Comments (6)
The economic stimulus bill includes a provision for funding $100 million for grants to faith-based organizations, Howard M. Friedman notes on Religion Clause.
According to page 141 of bill, half of the amount would become available October 1, 2009. Friedman also notes that a proposed amendment by Rep. Susan Davis of California would increase the total appropriation to $500 million.
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at January 28, 2009 | Comments (10)
Slate's media watchdog Jack Shafer thinks he's got the NYT dead to rights for Paul Vitello's December 14 story on how the recession is boosting worship attendance, at evangelical churches in particular. Not so, clucks Shafer, citing Gallup editor-in-chief Frank Newport's marshalling of evidence that there has, in fact, been no increase in church attendance in these hard times. Weekly attendance, saith Newport, has remained around 42 percent for months and months.
Unbeknownst to Shafer, however, is the bogosity of Gallup's church attendance numbers. What Newport doesn't say is that his company's surveys have shown church attendance to be in that exact numeric neighborhood ever since they began asking the question 60 years ago. As sure as death and taxes, two in five Americans will say they attend church weekly.
But for over a decade, sociologists of religion (and those who read them) have known that 1) a lot of those supposed weekly attenders are fibbing; and 2) more of them are fibbing now than used to. The evidence for this comes from multiple sources, including time-usage studies, on-the-ground observation of parking lots, church attendance records, interviews with clergy. These days, the real number for weekly attendance is in the low 20 percent range. (Here's a citation for one of the more important articles on the subject: C. Kirk Hadaway, Penny Long Marler and Mark Chaves, "Overreporting Church Attendance in America: Evidence That Demands the Same Verdict," American Sociological Review, Vol. 63, No. 1 [Feb., 1998], pp. 122-130.)
So does this meant that Vitello's article is on the money? Could be. A bunch of phone calls to pastors is more likely to turn up something new in the going-to-church department than Gallup's invariant two-in-five. Don't expect the phenomenon to last, though. After 9/11, a host of stories tracked a bump in churchgoing, and then a host tracked the quick reversion to the norm. As Yoda might have said, "Backsliding always we are."
(Originally published at Spiritual Politics.)
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at December 23, 2008 | Comments (0)
It's not very often you'll see an S.U.V.'s at the altar, but that's where they sat at a church in Detroit, where the congregation prayed to save the auto industry.
The Wall Street Journal put together a slideshow, and Nick Bunkley wrote about a Pentecostal church for The New York Times.
Greater Grace, the largest church in Detroit, invited officials from the United Automobile Workers union to speak before Bishop Ellis gave his sermon, titled "A Hybrid Hope."
The S.U.V.'s on the stage, a Chevrolet Tahoe, Ford Escape and Chrysler Aspen on loan from local dealerships, were all gas-electric hybrids, and Bishop Ellis urged worshipers to combat the region's woes by mixing hope with faith in God.
"We have done all that we can do in this union, so I turn it over to the Lord," General Holiefield, a U.A.W. vice president for Chrysler, told the crowd. A vice president for the parts suppliers, James Settles Jr., asked those present "to continue your prayers, so we can see a miracle next week."
(h/t Eileen Flynn)
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at December 8, 2008 | Comments (0)
As Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced a plan to inject $250 billion into national banks, the candidates are getting more specific with their own plans to stimulate the economy.
John McCain will release proposals that add up to $52.5 billion, following Barack Obama's proposals unveiled yesterday estimated at $60 billion, The New York Times reports.
McCain will propose the following:
-Give a lower tax rate for people 59 years and older who withdraw money from retirement plans in 2009 and 2010
-Reduce the capital gains tax on stock profits for two years by 50 percent
-Create an acceleration in the tax write-off for stock losses, allowing Americans to deduct $15,000 in losses a year for 2008 and 2009
-Place a suspension on the tax on unemployment insurance benefits in 2008 and 2009
-Buy troubled mortgages at face value and give qualified homeowners instead fixed-rate mortgages (Already proposed)
Yesterday, Obama proposed the following:
-Give a $3,000 tax credit to employers who create new jobs
-Eliminate a tax penalty for everyone to borrow from their retirement savings, eliminate income taxes on unemployment benefits, and double the government’s loan guarantees for automakers
-Create a government facility to lend money to cities and states
-Place a 90-day moratorium on most home foreclosures
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Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at October 14, 2008 | Comments (22)
The House of Representatives voted 263-171 today to pass the Senate’s version of the $700 billion bailout bill, a plan some evangelicals told me they cautiously support.
The House voted against the plan on Monday, creating a steep decline in the markets. The Senate sweetened the deal, adding $150 billion in tax breaks and increased Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation coverage from $100,000 to $250,000. The bill would also bill would curb executive pay, provide relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax for another year, and set up oversight committees.
Update: President Bush signed the bailout bill.
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at October 3, 2008 | Comments (6)
John McCain, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden voted with 71 senators to pass the $700 billion bailout bill that would allow the government to buy troubled securities, The New York Times reports.
The bill included $150 billion in tax breaks for individuals and businesses and increased the amount covered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation from $100,000 to $250,000. The bill was also attached to legislation requiring insurers to treat mental health conditions similar to general health problems, The Times reports. The House is expected to vote Friday.
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at October 1, 2008 | Comments (1)
The Dow Jones industrials plunged this afternoon after the bailout plan failed to pass the House of Representatives.
Christianity Today posted two articles today related to the economic crisis: Christian Financial World Sees Silver Lining in Banking Mess and A Christian View of the Economic Crisis.
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at September 29, 2008 | Comments (0)
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson received a skeptical reception today when he appeared before senators, asking to grant him authority to rescue the country's financial system, The New York Times writes. The administration has proposed a $700 billion plan to buy up and hopefully resell troubled mortgage-backed securities.
Christian financial adviser Dave Ramsey is against the bailout. Feel free to post more evangelicals' reaction in the comments section below.
Cartoon by Gary Varvel, Indianapolis Star
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at September 23, 2008 | Comments (24)
Howard Friedman looks at what could happen for church-state relations if the government's proposed bailout is approved.
The bailout would give the government powers to purchase mortgage related assets (residential or commercial mortgages) from any financial institution with headquarters in the United States. Friedman points to an article by The Deal, which reports that several churches are short in their mortgage payments and face foreclosure.
Friedman writes:
"In many cases the mortgage holders are not financial institutions, but instead holders of church bonds. But where the mortgage lender is a bank, is the draft bailout legislation broad enough to permit purchase of shaky church mortgages by the Treasury? If so, are there any church-state problems with the federal government essentially owning an interest in church buildings?"
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at September 22, 2008 | Comments (3)
