2013 - Page 6 of 6 - Paul Stanley

Support for School Prayer Declines Among Catholics, Jews; Remains High Among Evangelicals

A new study shows that support for school prayer has steadily decreased among most Americans since the 1970s with the exception of two groups: evangelicals and older Americans. University of Nebraska-Lincoln sociologist Philip Schwadel concludes from examining studies over the past 30-plus years that overall support for school prayer has declined – even among Catholics and mainline Protestants – but the support among evangelicals across all generations has remained steady at around 71 percent. "Social and cultural changes have led to greater opposition to state-sanctioned prayer and reading religious materials in public schools among some segments of the population," Schwadel reported in his findings. "Specifically, there's growing opposition among non-evangelicals but not evangelicals, and these changes manifest across generations." In an interview with The Christian Post on Monday, Schwadel pointed out that surprisingly, the rise of the "Christian right" in the 1980s and 1990s may have been a contributing factor as to why some Americans are less likely to support prayer in school. "I can't definitely conclude that to be the case, there is a large amount of evidence that leads some to conclude that the growth of the religious right may have turned some Catholics and mainline Protestants against [...]

By Paul Stanley|2013-01-07T13:42:20-06:00January 7th, 2013|My Blog Post|Comments Off

Religion on Capitol Hill: What Are the Faith Backgrounds of the 113th Congress?

The religious and faith backgrounds of the 113th Congress are more diverse now than at any time in the nation's history, with the addition of America's first Buddhist senator and the first Hindu in the House of Representatives. Since the birth of the nation in 1776, Congress has typically reflected the religious beliefs of the districts from which they were elected. But gone are days where the overwhelming majority of Congress was Protestant. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, with the assistance of Congressional Quarterly's Roll Call, compiled data comparing the faith breakdown of Congress to the American population and released their report on Wednesday. Here is what they found. There are 299 Protestants in Congress, making up 56.1 percent of the Senate and the House. In comparison, 48 percent of Americans are Protestant. Of those, 13.7 percent are Baptist, 10.9 percent are Unspecified/Other, 8.6 percent are Methodist, 8.1 percent are Presbyterian, 7.3 percent are Anglican/Episcopal and 4.3 percent are Lutheran. The remaining 3.4 percent belong to nondenominational churches, or are Congregationalist and Christian Scientist. One hundred sixty-three, or 30.6 percent of the body, are Catholic, 6.2 percent are Jewish and 2.8 percent are Mormon. All of these [...]

By Paul Stanley|2013-01-05T13:17:22-06:00January 5th, 2013|My Blog Post|Comments Off

Sandy Hook Elementary Opens Under NRA Recommendation of Armed Security

Sandy Hook Elementary students returned to another facility today under the protection of armed security guards which the National Rifle Association recommended after the Dec. 14 massacre that killed 26 people, including 20 children. Although the children returned to classrooms with their old desks and furniture, they were relocated to an unused school facility nearby. But the most noticeable difference may be the presence of armed police officers. Monroe, Conn., Police Lt. Keith White confirmed that officers would be in and around the school but that their presence would hopefully not be a distraction to students. "We want this to be a normal school where they can go and enjoy themselves and learn throughout the day," White told reporters. "I think right now, we have to make this the safest school in America." Within moments of the school shooting, gun control advocates including Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and others began calling for a ban on assault weapons. The conversation grew intense in the days following with proponents of gun rights arguing that the debate should instead focus on mental health issues and how to identify those who have the ability and desire to commit such heinous crimes. But a week [...]

By Paul Stanley|2013-01-04T16:39:13-06:00January 4th, 2013|My Blog Post|Comments Off

Tea Party Leaders Outraged Over House Passage of Fiscal Cliff Bill

Tea Party Leaders are expressing outrage and disappointment over the House passing a bill late New Year's Day that allows President Obama and Congressional Democrats to raise taxes on wealthy Americans with no guarantee of future spending cuts. "Sadly, our New Year's predictions have all come true," said Jenny Beth Martin, national coordinator of Tea Party Patriots. "Congress and the president had all year to do their jobs and be fiscally responsible – and, just like we said they would, they waited until the last possible moment to fail their nation miserably with a 'fiscal cliff' scheme to raise taxes and keep overspending. The issue for those who believe the nation has a spending problem and not a revenue problem suddenly became a nightmare when 85 Republicans in the House joined 172 of their Democrat colleagues in supporting the measure that was sent over in the wee hours of the morning on New Year's Day. For the past 17 months the fiscal game of chicken rarely changed. Obama and liberal Democrats demanded higher taxes on families making over $250,000 annually and Republicans, led by House Speaker John Boehner with some assistance by presidential candidate Mitt Romney, wanted to extend the [...]

By Paul Stanley|2013-01-02T19:12:14-06:00January 2nd, 2013|My Blog Post|Comments Off

Yearly Archives: 2013

Support for School Prayer Declines Among Catholics, Jews; Remains High Among Evangelicals

Religion on Capitol Hill: What Are the Faith Backgrounds of the 113th Congress?

Sandy Hook Elementary Opens Under NRA Recommendation of Armed Security

Tea Party Leaders Outraged Over House Passage of Fiscal Cliff Bill