http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/evangelicals/ en-us Sun, 5 Oct 2008 19:39:15 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2098112/posts Last weekend, a few pastors of large, evangelical congregations chose to convert their pulpits into planks for the Republican Party platform. These participants in “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” sought to challenge IRS regulations that maintain a wall between tax-exempt religious activities and taxable political ones. Citing controversial issues like reproductive freedom and same-sex marriage, they claimed that a biblical mandate required them to take a more activist role in instructing their congregants to choose the candidate who matched their political beliefs. Their actions are yet one more indicator of the degree to which purveyors of a reactionary political agenda have continued... Atlanta Journal-Constitution http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2098112/posts#comment Sun, 5 Oct 2008 19:39:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2096277/posts A friend of mine in the media covered the Republican National Convention and brought me back a souvenir: a navy blue yarmulke with “McCain ’08” printed on it in English and Hebrew. I guess there wasn’t time for the campaign to make them up with Sarah Palin’s name, too, which is a shame. With all the disquiet she has evoked in the Jewish community, that would be a collector’s item. Jews themselves, and liberals who feel we belong naturally in the Democratic fold, give reasons for the gathering unease about her. A gaping cultural difference is noted. “Eating moose meat... The Jewish Daily Forward http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2096277/posts#comment Fri, 3 Oct 2008 02:17:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095842/posts DALLAS (Reuters) - Conservative U.S. Christians say the culture has gone to hell and it has taken the economy and Wall Street down with it. It is a view which outsiders may find puzzling but has wide resonance in the U.S. heartland: the notion that moral decay and a lost sense of responsibility has brought on the worst banking and credit crisis since the Great Depression. Such a view helps explain the unpopularity in conservative Christian circles -- which have a big influence on the Republican Party -- of a $700 billion bailout plan which the U.S. House of Representatives... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095842/posts#comment Thu, 2 Oct 2008 16:13:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2089937/posts Pentecostals number between 10-30 million in the United States depending on how you define the term and make up one quarter of all Christians worldwide. They are a subset of the larger evangelical movement that numbers about 102 million people in the United States. ABC News recently published this article on the type of churches Sarah Palin has attended at one time or anther. What Does Palin’s Faith Mean For US? As America gets a crash course in Sarah Palin, the question has been raised of how her two decades as a member of the Assemblies of God church in... Men's News Daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2089937/posts#comment Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:09:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2088037/posts Lynchburg, VA (LifeNews.com) -- For the new Barack Obama "faith tour" to have any success, it needs to be able to draw young and evangelical voters. Yet, at its first stop in the Virginia back yard of well-known pastor Jerry Falwell, just 15 people showed up for the event.The Obama campaign has signed up evangelical author Donald Miller, Pepperdine University professor Doug Kmiec and former Indiana Congressman Tim Roemer, for the "Barack Obama: Faith, Family and Values Tour."The trio made a stop at Liberty University, which is home to over 10,000 evangelical students from across the county and a... Life News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2088037/posts#comment Mon, 22 Sep 2008 23:02:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2086608/posts Barack Obama is not giving up on faith-based voters. While polls seem to show voters stuck in same pattern as 2004, despite the Democrat's persistent outreach and God talk, the campaign is redoubling its efforts and rejecting suggestions that the Palin Effect has caused them to bail on the religious community. Obama's two top lieutenants in faith outreach came out to address dozens of reporters at the annual Religion Newswriters Association conference in Washington late this afternoon to pitch the campaign's new Faith, Family and Values Tour, which will launch next week with aides and representatives for the campaign (including... http://news.google.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2086608/posts#comment Sat, 20 Sep 2008 17:30:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2086270/posts Despite an unprecedented ramped-up faith outreach campaign in the last few years that many see as unprecedented for Democrats, Barack Obama has so far made few inroads with one of the main groups the Democratic Party has been hoping to budge -- white evangelical Protestants -- according to a poll released today. The poll was done by the University of Akron, which has been tracking the presidential preferences of voters by faith for the last five presidential elections. It was conducted between June and August of 2008 and involved a random sample of 4,017 adult Americans. Overall, it showed Obama... washingtonpost.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2086270/posts#comment Sat, 20 Sep 2008 01:18:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2086181/posts John C. Green, the University of Akron political scientist who is the nation's most prominent scholar of how religious affiliation affects voting behavior, is just releasing new survey data showing that, even before John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate, Barack Obama was failing to move evangelicals into his camp. Green, releasing initial results of his quadrennial survey of religion and politics at the annual convention of the Religion Newswriters Association, said the most surprising result of his survey was how little had changed since 2004. "The divisions based on religious affiliation are very deep-seated in the United... The Boston Globe http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2086181/posts#comment Fri, 19 Sep 2008 22:57:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2081919/posts A Winning Streak with Evangelicals The Palin pick is only one reason McCain is suddenly doing well with the religious right. Sep 12, 2008 When word leaked the Friday morning before the Republican National Convention that Sarah Palin was John McCain's choice for vice president, a group of 40 religious leaders meeting in Washington all gave a standing ovation. They were convinced that McCain would settle on one of his buddies, Tom Ridge or Joe Lieberman, men whose pro-choice views render them unworthy contenders from the Christian-right perspective. They didn't know much about Palin, but the fact she wasn't Ridge... www.newsweek.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2081919/posts#comment Sun, 14 Sep 2008 01:58:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2078853/posts WASHINGTON (AFP) — The "Palin factor" may have boosted support for Republican presidential contender John McCain among evangelical Christians but he should not bank on the religious right putting him in the White House as it did George W. Bush in 2004, analysts said Tuesday. White evangelical Christians were key in getting Bush elected to a second term in 2004, but the US political landscape has changed for this year's contest, analysts from the Pew Research think-tank told reporters at a forum in Washington. For a start, fewer voters, including evangelicals, align themselves with the Republican party. "Since about 2005... AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2078853/posts#comment Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:14:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2078538/posts WASHINGTON -- Sen. Barack Obama chastised fellow Democrats on Wednesday for failing to "acknowledge the power of faith in the lives of the American people," and said the party must compete for the support of evangelicals and other churchgoing Americans. "Not every mention of God in public is a breach to the wall of separation. Context matters," the Illinois Democrat said in remarks to a conference of Call to Renewal, a faith-based movement to overcome poverty. ... "It is doubtful that children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance feel oppressed or brainwashed as a consequence of muttering the phrase `under God,'"... Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2078538/posts#comment Tue, 9 Sep 2008 22:55:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2077096/posts EP News--- Family Research Council Tony Perkins said, “It’s obviously an outstanding choice. Very smart. Very strategic. Those who might have voted for Obama only because they wanted to be a part of something historic can now vote for the Republicans for the same reason.” Richard Viguerie, the conservative icon who has been brutally critical of McCain, was even more effusive, “She’s perfect.” Setting aside the doctrine of original sin for a moment, religious conservatives do think the selection of Sarah Palin as the vice presidential candidate is pretty near perfect. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and... thecharlotteworld.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2077096/posts#comment Mon, 8 Sep 2008 04:58:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2076855/posts When the news came out earlier this week that the family situation of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is a little more complicated than had originally been disclosed, pundits immediately began speculating whether social conservatives -- not least, evangelicals -- would stick with their woman. Surely a person who allowed her 17-year-old daughter to get pregnant while she was off running a state could not be the type of mother and female politician that conservatives go for. The Daily Kos was filled with sarcastic remarks about the hypocrisy of the "family values" crowd. A poster to Slate noted: "I have been... WALL STREET JOURNAL http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2076855/posts#comment Sun, 7 Sep 2008 20:23:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2076827/posts Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- New polling data shows if Catholic voters knew Barack Obama voted against a measure to offer medical protection for unborn children they would be more likely to vote against him. The same poll also showed Catholics who are active churchgoers are more likely to oppose abortion and support pro-life candidates. The survey found that, if pro-life groups continue to drive home the point that Obama voted against a bill in the Illinois legislature to protect infants, they could make a dent in his support between now and the elections. The poll, conducted by the National Scientific... Life News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2076827/posts#comment Sun, 7 Sep 2008 19:32:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2076727/posts A terrible tragedy happened 10 years ago this month known as the Ben Lomond Crisis. According to these re-published accounts, it was an event characterized by rigidity, intrigue and ethnocentricism on the one hand, and a defiance of legitimate episcopal authority on the other, which ruined Antiochian Orthodoxy’s best hope for a major influx of Evangelical converts. The “Orthodox Moment” among Evangelicals began and ended at Ben Lomond, California. While there are undoubtedly conflicting versions of this event, here are two accounts of what took place in this historic turn for Orthodoxy in America. From Ben Lomond Tragedy: An account... The Black Cordelias http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2076727/posts#comment Sun, 7 Sep 2008 16:42:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2076416/posts Palin/McCain’s Winning Coalition Unlike many of my FR posts this one contains no satire. I’ve been following national electoral politics since 1970 or so, and I often try to create models and frameworks to understand the dynamics of how elections are won and lost. One model I use as a tool suggests that the last 72 hours have created an unbeatable coalition for the Palin/McCain ticket. I now believe that unless it turns out that Saracuda is distributing cocaine and Russian sex slaves to the North Slope oil camps, the ticket will win comfortably, perhaps by as much as 10%... self http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2076416/posts#comment Sun, 7 Sep 2008 01:46:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2076377/posts A friend asked me why evangelicals think it’s okay that Sarah Palin’s seventeen-year-old daughter got pregnant by her boyfriend. I think the exact wording was, “Why are we so excited about it?” Hmmmm. That’s not exactly the way I would put it. I don’t know anyone who is “excited” about a teenage girl getting pregnant out of wedlock. This seems to be a point on which there is near-universal agreement. Getting pregnant outside of marriage is always problematic, but when you are a teenager, the difficulties are magnified. This isn’t a liberal or conservative observation—just a statement of reality.  However,... Crosswalk http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2076377/posts#comment Sun, 7 Sep 2008 00:28:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2076263/posts All year, Sen. Obama has worked hard to win evangelical voters. They’ve run campaign ads, distributed literature about being a “committed Christian,” and offered numerous outreach events at the Democratic convention. At stake are about six million voters - moderate evangelicals who voted for George W. Bush last time but were intrigued by Sen. Obama.Several things have battered Sen. Obama’s standing with moderate evangelicals:1) His poor performance at the Saddleback candidates forum, especially (or perhaps entirely) his comment about it being “above my pay grade” to know when life begins. 2) The selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, an appealing... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2076263/posts#comment Sat, 6 Sep 2008 20:55:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2074538/posts I teach at a Catholic university. I study and write about evangelical Protestants. I have no religious convictions of my own. This bothers people who insist that if you are not yourself religious you cannot possibly "get" religion. I leave it to others to decide whether my lack of faith helps or hinders my capacity to understand the subject. But I do know one thing. Because of where I teach and who I study, I have come across some remarkable people I otherwise would never have met. Familiar with the Catholic tradition, I cannot say I am surprised to meet... New Republic http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2074538/posts#comment Thu, 4 Sep 2008 14:58:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2073469/posts ST. PAUL, Minn. — Undaunted by questions about Sarah Palin's political resume and family, evangelical Christians at the Republican National Convention are cheering the choice of the Alaskan governor for vice president, saying she will energize social conservatives critical to the party's success in November. "I've seen a resurgence of enthusiasm from our evangelical base in the party," said Minnesota GOP chairman Ron Carey, himself an evangelical. "She is a woman who believes in family values, traditional conservative values," said Nancy Haapoja, a Minnesota delegate and local director of a Christian youth organization. Sen. John McCain's selection of Palin as... The Centre Daily Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2073469/posts#comment Wed, 3 Sep 2008 03:00:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2073116/posts John McCain hit it out of the park. "Brilliant!" "Electrifying!" "Energizing!" – words used to describe Sen. John McCain's selection of Gov. Sarah Palin as a running mate. So dazzling, so groundbreaking was his choice on the day following the Democratic National Convention, that no one even remembered the speech that other guy gave in that stadium. What Sarah Palin did is something no one else quite could. She energized the pro-life base of the Republican Party while reaching out to the disgruntled Hillary supporters. Let me give you 15 reasons why Palin will lead to McCain's victory in November:... World Net Daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2073116/posts#comment Tue, 2 Sep 2008 17:33:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2072811/posts Dr. James C. Dobson of Focus on the Family issued the following statement: "In the 32-year history of Focus on the Family, we have offered prayer, counseling and resource assistance to tens of thousands of parents and children in the same situation the Palins are now facing. We have always encouraged the parents to love and support their children and always advised the girls to see their pregnancies through, even though there will of course be challenges along the way. That is what the Palins are doing, and they should be commended once again for not just talking about their... ABC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2072811/posts#comment Tue, 2 Sep 2008 05:57:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2072825/posts ST. PAUL, Minnesota (CNN) -- Key evangelical leaders rallied to Sarah Palin's support Monday amid news that her 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, was having a child. "Before, they were excited about her, with the Down syndrome baby," conservative, anti-tax activist Grover Norquist said. "But now with this, they are over the moon. It reinforces the fact that this family lives its pro-life values." Palin and John McCain oppose abortion and have supported promoting abstinence in schools, which would seem to make Bristol Palin's pregnancy an inconveniently timed development. But she is keeping the child, a fact that could make the Alaska... CNN http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2072825/posts#comment Tue, 2 Sep 2008 07:39:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2072125/posts Conservative Republican prayers for the November 4 presidential election may have been answered. John McCain's choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate sends a clear message to the party's conservative religious base: God and guns are on the ticket. Conservative Christians and analysts say the 44-year-old devout born-again evangelical and mother of five has the "right stuff" to energize this base, from her staunch opposition to abortion to her passion for hunting and fishing. She has a compelling personal narrative for religious conservatives capped by the fact that she opted to have her fifth child... The Peninsula/Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2072125/posts#comment Mon, 1 Sep 2008 02:10:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2072075/posts Evangelical Christians living in Jerusalem on Sunday voiced unflinching support for presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, and heaped praise on his surprise selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. "McCain has a depth of understanding of foreign policy - including in the Middle East - which makes him the best choice for Israel," said Michael Mott, a native of Colorado who has lived in Israel for the past 12 years. McCain's choice of Palin was a "strategic move" that "blew away" last week's Democratic National Convention, he said, adding that it was certain to win him more... jpost.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2072075/posts#comment Mon, 1 Sep 2008 00:31:47 GMT