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Poll: Only Slight Rise in Concern About Islamic Extremism After Fort Hood
Tweet Share on Facebook November 18, 2009 Comment (1)By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country
A new Pew survey taken shortly after the November 5 shootings at Fort Hood shows a modest uptick in concerns about Islamic extremism in the United States and internationally but no dramatic surge in such worries. Slightly more than half of Americans (52 percent) reported being "very concerned about the possible rise of Islamic extremism in the United States," up from 46 percent in April 2007.
Check out this graph comparing fears about Islamic extremism in 2007 versus today:
Interesting to note that Pew found Americans paying very close attention to the Fort Hood shooting, with more following that story closely than any other, according to the group's News Interest Index.
These bits of Pew's analysis on the correlation between age and education and concerns about Islamic extremism jumped out at me:
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Sarah Palin's 'Going Rogue' as Christian Literature
Tweet Share on Facebook November 18, 2009 Comment (19)By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country
How religious a book is Going Rogue? The opening vignette tells of Sarah Palin happening upon the Alaska Right to Life booth at the Alaska State Fair and discovering that her 7-year-old daughter, Piper, is still starring in the group's posters, pictured with "pretend angel wings fastened to her soft shoulders." The group had been using Piper as its poster child since she was an infant. And the book's very last paragraph is a long thank you to God, who receives more ink than anyone in the acknowledgments section.
Indeed, Going Rogue is written as much for Christian readers as for political junkies, and it will help establish Palin as much as a Christian figure as a political one. Some of the book's faith-based highlights:
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Abortion Foes Cautiously Optimistic About Healthcare Win
Tweet Share on Facebook November 17, 2009 Comment (5)By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country
As abortion rights groups slam Democrats for allowing a strict prohibition on federally subsidized abortion coverage in the House healthcare bill, antiabortion groups find themselves in an unusual position, given Democratic control in Washington: They're cautiously optimistic about a victory on healthcare.
"The momentum is in the pro-life direction," says Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the antiabortion group Susan B. Anthony List.
Sizing up chances of the House's antiabortion language surviving in a final version of a healthcare overhaul, she says, "This is now a doable project."
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Poll: Should Conservative Christians Renounce Carrie Prejean's Lewd Pursuits?
Tweet Share on Facebook November 17, 2009 Comment (34)By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country
The conservative Christian groups that embraced Carrie Prejean over her public stand against gay marriage at this year's Miss USA pageant would presumably be appalled by revelations that she participated in racy photo shoots and made obscene videotapes for her boyfriend.
Should those groups be expected to renounce Prejean's erotic endeavors? Explain your vote in comments.
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Today's Picture: Postcard Campaign for Immigration Reform
Tweet Share on Facebook November 17, 2009 Comment (15)By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country
(Photo courtesy of ryanrodrickbeiler.com)
A coalition of religious groups that includes progressive faith activists and denominations and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is sending out 250,000 postcards urging comprehensive immigration reform as part of a campaign called Home for the Holidays. This is one of several designs.
"With Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas fast approaching, faith leaders from key states and major national faith-based organizations are pushing Congress to pass reform legislation that keeps families together instead of keeping them apart," the group Faith in Public Life said in an announcement E-mail this week.
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Sarah Palin's Surprising Line on Sex
Tweet Share on Facebook November 17, 2009 Comment (6)By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country
On Oprah Winfrey's show yesterday, Sarah Palin said her daughter Bristol had one message for other young women about her experience as a teen mom:
Her only public mission right now is to remind her sisters and to remind other young women, her peers, that there are consequences to unprotected sex.
It's pretty surprising to see Palin promote that message because it implies that young women should practice safe sex, which is at odds with the message of conservative Christian groups that constitute Palin's strongest base of institutional support. Group like Focus on the Family teach that safe sex is an oxymoron and that Christians should delay sex until marriage.
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Poll: Democrats Now More Supportive Than Republicans of Faith-Based Initiatives
Tweet Share on Facebook November 16, 2009 Comment (1)By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country
The bombshell from the new Pew survey on government faith-based initiatives: Democrats are now more supportive than Republicans of houses of worship getting government money for social services, a turnabout from 2001, when George W. Bush launched the White House faith-based office.
A large majority of Americans continue to support faith-based programs, the new Pew Research Center survey shows, though support has slid from 75 percent in 2001 to 69 percent now.
Other key findings from Pew:
- Three quarters oppose George W. Bush's policy—yet to be reversed by the Obama administration—of allowing faith-based organizations receiving federal funds to hire only like-minded believers.
- Just more than half of Americans, 52 percent, oppose permitting Muslim mosques to apply for government dollars, up from 46 percent in 2001.
- Slightly less than half of Americans, 48 percent, support permitting Mormon churches to apply for government funds.
- There's been a marked increase in the percentage of Americans who say religious groups are best poised to feed the homeless. Check out this graph:
- Most Americans don't know President Obama's position on government faith-based initiatives, nor did they know Bush's. Twenty-seven percent know that Obama supports faith-based funding; 36 percent knew that Bush backed it.
- About 1 in 10 Americans (9 percent) reports seeking help from a religious group during the recession.
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Quote of the Week: Obama Urges Freedom of Worship in China
Tweet Share on Facebook November 16, 2009 Comment (2)By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country
"We do not seek to impose any system of government on any other nation, but we also don't believe that the principles that we stand for are unique to our nation. These freedoms of expression and worship—of access to information and political participation—we believe are universal rights. They should be available to all people, including ethnic and religious minorities, whether they are in the United States, China, or any nation."
—President Barack Obama in Shanghai, China, today
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Rick Warren Comes to Washington
Tweet Share on Facebook November 16, 2009 Comment (12)By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country
When the Rev. Rick Warren walked into a conference room perched above Washington's K Street last Friday to address a group of journalists, I was surprised to see him warmly embrace a New York Times reporter. Warren literally hugged the guy. I could just imagine the Weekly Standard headline: "Country's Top Evangelical Embraces Scourge of the Right."
Then Warren spied Sally Quinn, the Washington Post journalist and famed hostess, and hugged her, too. For a folksy Baptist preacher known for his extensive Hawaiian shirt collection, I thought, this guy sure knows his way around Washington's power circles.
Having never met Warren—I've interviewed him by phone—I approached him, introduced myself, and extended a hand. He wrapped me in his arms like I was his nephew.
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Today's Picture: Feds Move to Seize an Islamic School
Tweet Share on Facebook November 13, 2009 Comment (6)By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country
(AP Photo / Stephen Chernin)Students arrive at the Razi School in Queens, N.Y., part of a mosque that the federal government is seizing as part of a suit against the Alavi Foundation, an alleged Iranian front group. The government is moving to seize four mosques owned by Alavi. But their tenants are not being charged, and the mosques may continue to operate as houses of worship.