Barack Obama on Religious Tolerance and Persecution
Obama: Over time, what we are doing is setting up new norms and creating a universal principle that people’s faith and people’s beliefs have to be protected.
Tight California Prop. 8 race closely watched (AP)
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.
Sarah Palin’s Interview on Faith (CBN)
Sarah Palin discusses her faith in an interview with the 700 Club.
Washington State – Faith-based groups taking crucial role in Euthanasia initiative battle
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.
The 2008 Election – Religion, the Economy, and Values Voters (AP)
“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.”
OUTRAGE IN COLORADO: More than 100 Muslims Fired When They Protest Employer’s Policy Prohibiting Prayer Breaks (NPR)
Greeley, Colorado – Last month, more than 100 Somalis were fired for walking off the job after the company refused to let them take breaks to pray at sunset during the Muslim holiday month of Ramadan. They are in the process of filing a class-action lawsuit against the company.
Interview with Attorney and Pastor Mitch Tyner
“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.
VIDEO: Palin linked political success to prayer of Kenyan witch hunter
According to accounts of the witchhunt circulated on evangelical websites such as Prayer Links Ministries, after Pastor Muthee declared Mama Jane a witch, the townspeople became suspicious and began to turn on her, demanding that she be stoned. Public outrage eventually led the police to raid her home, where they fired gunshots, killing a pet python which they believed to be a demon.
The Politics of Obama’s Faith and the Evangelical Left – Stephen Manfield
According to Stephen Mansfield, the author of this book, Barack is “raising the banner of what he hopes will be the faith-based politics of a new generation . . . and he will carry that banner to whatever heights of power his God and the American people allow.”
VIDEO: Sam Harris Discusses Religion Run Amok (FORA.tv)
“With gentle demeanor and tight argument, Sam Harris carried an overflow audience into the core of one of the crucial issues of our time: What makes some religions lethal? How do they employ aggressive irrationality to justify threatening and controlling non-believers as well as believers? What should be our response?”- The Long Now Foundation