The Story Behind the Story of How the Boy Scouts Announced Their Decision to Consider Gay Scout Leaders
On Wednesday the Boy Scouts of America board of directors deferred action on allowing professed homosexuals to serve as troop leaders until their annual meeting in May. The lack of a decision is seen by many as merely a strategy to buy the organization more time to drum up support and possibly neutralize the opposition of religious and pro-family groups. But there is much more to how this story unfolded.
On Friday, January 25, one of our senior editors at The Christian Post informed me someone close to the issue knew that BSA chief Wayne Brock had called on the major […]
The Story Behind the Story on Louie Giglio and President Obama
Many articles have been written on why Pastor Louie Giglio withdrew from giving the benediction at President Obama’s second inauguration on Monday. Now the story on why Giglio may have pulled out and what might have happened between the Presidential Inaugural Committee and the White House is discussed.
My colleague at The Christian Post, Michelle Vu, has written an excellent article entitled Obama May Have Disagreed With Inaugural Committee’s Handling of Giglio Controversy, describing how the decision to scrub Giglio may not have sat well with the White House, but nevertheless, President Obama seemed reluctant to use his political capital to […]
Chuck Hagel’s First Three Hurdles for Sec of Defense: Gays, GOP and Gaza
Former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) was nominated by President Barack Obama on Monday as his new Secretary of Defense. Yet the three groups that appear likely to stand in the way of his nomination, not typically known for working together, include gay rights activists, Republicans and pro-Israeli organizations.
Hagel is not the first Republican lawmaker nominated by an incumbent Democratic president. In 1997, former President Bill Clinton nominated retired Sen. William Cohen of Maine to head up the Pentagon and he sailed through an easy nomination process.
However, it seems Hagel will not be afforded the same luxury and here are some […]
Planned Parenthood Received $1,622 in Gov’t Funds for Each Abortion
The nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, reports it received $542 million from government sources in 2011-2012 while performing 995,687 abortions from 2009-2011. In 2011 alone, its clinics performed 333,964 abortions.
When broken down on an approximate annual basis, that means Planned Parenthood receives around $1,622 in government funds per abortion. From a time perspective, it translates to one abortion every 94 seconds.
Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, along with Board Chair Cecilia Boone addressed some of the challenges faced by the abortion giant in the past year, including the drama surrounding the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s temporary withdrawal of support.
“The past […]
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 […]
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 […]