The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Communities (COMECE) on Thursday expressed its regret at the refusal to put to vote several amendments aimed at the inclusion of a work-free Sunday in the new Working Time Directive by the chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs.
The church representatives expressed their wish to see the Sunday rest day being better protected in national legislations as well as in the future EU working time directive which currently is being revised.
The race has tightened over the past six weeks and is expected to be close. A Field Poll released Friday found 49 percent of likely voters oppose the ban and 44 percent favor it. In mid-September, the measure was losing by 17 points.
With a few exceptions, whatever seemed odd or fringe trumped serious discussion about how candidates’ religious beliefs shape their approach to governance.
Sarah Palin discusses her faith in an interview with the 700 Club.
Faith-based groups or individuals are playing a crucial role on
both sides of the battle to make Washington the second state, after
Oregon, to allow physicians to legally prescribe deadly medication —
hardly surprising, since the issue deals with literal matters of life
and death.
“Barriers remain to both major parties if they seek to appeal to religious voters on the economy. You’re either for or against gay marriage or abortion rights, but no one supports foreclosures and layoffs. Differences arise over solutions, and analysts say it can make more sense for campaigns to make general pitches on the economy than faith-based appeals.”
The report cited a survey of 600 Southern white evangelicals and said that 57 percent hold the belief that torture can sometimes or often be used to extract information from suspected terrorists, as opposed to 48 percent of the general population. The survey also pointed out that they are guided by their own life experience and common sense rather than the Bible when thinking about the acceptability of torture.
Some analysis by Michael Peabody – These pastors are deliberately challenging the IRS law prohibiting political endorsement from the pulpit. This shadows a story from a few years back when […]
“In my view, if we are not prepared to protect the rights of those with whom we disagree, we are not serious about religious freedom.”
Former associate general counsel of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Mitch Tyner, asks questions about the legal process, lawsuits between believers, separation of church and state, and addresses the controversy about gay marriage.