One-Fifth of Americans Have No Religious Affiliation
A new ABC News poll finds the number of adults expressing no religious affiliation has risen from 12% in 2003 to 21% of all adults in 2017. That includes 3% who say they’re atheists, 3% agnostic and 15% who say they have no religion.
The largest shifts during this 15-year period include 16-point increases among young adults (age 18 to 29) and political liberals.
John Bolton Chaired Anti-Muslim Think Tank
“John Bolton, President Trump’s new national security adviser, chaired a nonprofit that has promoted misleading and false anti-Muslim news, some of which was amplified by a Russian troll factory,” an NBC News review found.
“The group’s authors also appeared on Russian media, including Sputnik and RT News, criticizing mainstream European leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron.”
Trump Hits All-Time High with White Evangelicals
A new PRRI survey finds President Trump’s favorability at an all-time high with white evangelical Christians, 75% to 22%.
Also interesting is that white evangelicals prefer Trump as 2020 Republican nominee, 58% to 32%.
Megachurch Leader Quits Amid Misconduct Allegations
The Rev. Bill Hybels, founder of one of the nation’s most influential evangelical megachurches, is stepping down “less than a month after a Chicago Tribune investigation disclosed that Hybels had been the subject of inquiries by church leaders into claims that he ran afoul of church teachings by engaging in inappropriate behavior with women in his congregation — including employees — allegedly spanning decades.”
Evangelicals Will Meet With Trump as Sex Scandals Swirl
Several Evangelical Christian leaders are planning a sit-down with President Trump in June over allegations that his lawyer paid an adult film star $130,000 for her silence about an alleged affair, NPR reports.
Said the leader of one ministry: “We’re very concerned… There’s things that are like fingernails on the chalkboard to people of faith. That’s not who we are; that’s not a ‘fruit of the Spirit’; that’s not leading with humility.”
Why Evangelicals Are Sticking with Trump
Monkey Cage: “Why are white Christians sticking so closely to Trump, despite these claims of sexual indiscretions? And why are religious individuals and groups that previously decried sexual impropriety among political leaders suddenly willing to give Trump a ‘mulligan’ on his infidelity?”
“Our new study points to a different answer than others have offered. Voters’ religious tenets aren’t actually what’s behind Trump support; rather, it’s Christian nationalism — their view of the United States as a fundamentally Christian nation.”
Trump Will Attend Billy Graham’s Funeral
The White House says President Trump will attend Friday’s funeral for the Rev. Billy Graham, the AP reports.
Trump said last week that Graham was a “great man” who had a “great family” and was “for us” — meaning Trump’s campaign — from the beginning.
Pruitt Says God Justifies His Environmental Policies
EPA chief Scott Pruitt told the Christian Broadcasting Network that his religious convictions led him to conclude that America should use coal freely.
Said Pruitt: “The biblical world view with respect to these issues is that we have a responsibility to manage and cultivate, harvest the natural resources that we’ve been blessed with to truly bless our fellow mankind.”
Billy Graham Is Dead
New York Times: “The Rev. Billy Graham, a North Carolina farmer’s son who preached to millions in stadium events he called crusades, becoming a pastor to presidents and the nation’s best-known Christian evangelist for more than 60 years, died on Wednesday at his home. He was 99.”
“Mr. Graham spread his influence across the country and around the world through a combination of religious conviction, commanding stage presence and shrewd use of radio, television and advanced communication technologies.”
Trump Adviser Says You Don’t Need a Flu Shot
Gloria Copeland, a controversial minister on President Trump’s evangelical advisory board, said flu shots aren’t necessary when you have Jesus, the HuffPost reports.
Said Copeland: “Inoculate yourself with the word of God.”
She said the faithful who don’t have the flu can ward off the infection by repeatedly saying, “I’ll never have the flu. I’ll never have the flu.”
Quote of the Day
“The evangelical base is about as solid as I’ve seen for any sitting president. By and large, they’re focused on results, and they’re willing to overlook any perceived imperfections in the president.”
— Republican consultant Marc Rotterman, quoted by the Washington Post.
Millions Believe God Made Trump President
“If Donald Trump gets a little bored on his flight home from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he can always page through a book handed to him by a delegate not long after he arrived: God and Donald Trump,” Politico reports.
“The volume, written by Stephen Strang, a leading Pentecostal figure and the longtime publisher of Charisma magazine, is an easy read—part spiritual hagiography, part Fox News bulletin and part prophecy. It ultimately says far less about Trump than about the charismatic Pentecostals who were some of his earliest religious supporters and who now view his election as the fulfillment of God’s will.”
Quote of the Day
“We kind of gave him—‘All right, you get a mulligan. You get a do-over here.'”
— Evangelical leader Tony Perkins, in an interview with Politico, on President Trump’s extramarital relationship with porn star Stormy Daniels.
Brownback Will Get Another Shot at Trump Job
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) is going to get another chance to join the Trump administration, the Kansas City Star reports.
“President Trump will formally renominate the Kansas Republican late Monday to become ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom… Brownback was first nominated last July but failed to receive a confirmation vote in the Senate after resistance from Democrats over his record on LGBT rights.”
Bannon Bashes Romney Over His Religion
“Steve Bannon bashed Mitt Romney for, as he put it, hiding behind his religion to avoid getting drafted into the Vietnam War,” CNN reports.
Said Bannon: “Mitt, here’s how it is, brother: The college deferments, we can debate that — but you hid behind your religion. You went to France to be a missionary while guys were dying in rice paddies in Vietnam.”
First Read: “After Bannon’s vicious attack on Romney and his sons, how does Romney – who’s a competitive guy – respond? Does he think about potentially challenging Trump in 2020? Does he consider running for the Senate, even with Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) looking like he’s gearing up for another term? Or does Romney back down?”
“Remember, Romney and Trump are pretty much the polar opposites of the Republican Party. And if 2020 started tomorrow, Trump would probably get a primary challenge from someone like a Romney or a Flake or a John Kasich.”
Why Evangelicals Stick with Trump
Stuart Rothenberg: “I’ve been watching evangelical voting behavior since I worked for Paul Weyrich’s Free Congress Foundation in the 1980s, and I’ve come to believe that, in most cases (though certainly not all), white evangelicals get their religion from their politics, not their politics from their religion.”
“That is, many evangelicals are first and foremost political conservatives drawn to a church (or a pastor) that confirms their worldviews and, in turn, their political views.”
“They gravitate to evangelical, fundamentalist and Pentecostal churches that are spread across the American landscape, particularly in rural and small-town America, because those churches hold views about the Bible and human behavior that are traditional rather than pragmatic. Not surprisingly, most of those church members are politically conservative, particularly on social/cultural issues but increasingly also on the role of government.”
GOP Tax Bill Would Politicize Churches
Think Progress: “The newly unveiled Republican tax reform bill includes a provision that will likely make leaders of the Religious Right very happy—by amending a part of the tax law that keeps churches from engaging in explicit political advocacy.”
“Embedded within the bill’s more than 400 pages is a small provision that would change an aspect of the so-called ‘Johnson Amendment,’ a provision of the tax codes that prohibits churches, faith communities, and other non-profits from outright endorsing political candidates.”
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- …
- 23
- Next Page »