“Gay Bishop Is Asked to Say Prayer at Inaugural Event”
Then Obama invited the openly gay New Hampshire bishop, V. Gene Robinson, to lead the invocation at another inaugural event, and more outrage ensued.
Category: Government & politics
“Was the Bush Faith-Based Initiative a Failure?”
Read a Jan. 26, 2010, essay on the Web site of Christianity Today in which Stanley Carlson-Thies reflects on George W. Bush’s faith-based initiatives.
“Obama’s Choice of Pastor Creates Furor”
Obama’s choice of Pastor Rick Warren of the Saddleback megachurch to give the invocation sparked an uproar. Liberals felt betrayed that Obama would pick an outspoken conservative evangelical and opponent of gay marriage and abortion rights for such a prime spot, and some of Warren’s allies on the religious right thought his appearance would give Obama […]
“Obama’s Choice of Pastor Creates Furor”
Obama’s choice of Pastor Rick Warren of the Saddleback megachurch to give the invocation sparked an uproar. Liberals felt betrayed that Obama would pick an outspoken conservative evangelical and opponent of gay marriage and abortion rights for such a prime spot, and some of Warren’s allies on the religious right thought his appearance would give Obama […]
“Does anyone remember the faith-based initiative?”
Read a post from Jan. 8, 2010, by sociologist Mark Chaves at the Faith & Leadership site of Duke Divinity School. Chaves summarizes his research, based on the National Congregations Study, showing that federal faith-based initiatives have had little or no impact on houses or worship and religious social service organizations, or on the delivery of social […]
“Religious leaders worry that Obama’s faith council is for show”
Read a Feb. 3, 2010, Washington Post story timed for the first anniversary of Obama’s announcement that he was revamping the faith-based office. The story details concerns among faith leaders.
“Keeping Faith, Courting Conservatives”
Read a Feb. 4, 2010, story in The Wall Street Journal that discusses Obama’s decision to allow religious groups that receive taxpayer dollars to discriminate to some extent in hiring.
Inaugural Prayers Through History – The Ultimate Archive
The chaplain of the Senate traditionally gave a blessing at the inauguration, but since Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1937, the president-elect has chosen clergy to deliver the prayers. Steven Waldman, author of the book Founding Faith: Providence, Politics and the Birth of Religious Freedom in America (2008) and editor in chief of Beliefnet, has an archive of the […]
“Faith-Based Anniversary: Has Anything Changed?”
Read a Feb. 5, 2010, post at ReligionDispatches.org, which rounds up the criticisms of church-state groups such as the Coalition Against Religious Discrimination.