“Republican leaders in the North Dakota House of Representatives said they canceled the opening prayer by a Muslim on Ash Wednesday because some members thought it was more appropriate to have a Christian deliver the invocation,” the Fargo Forum reports.
Obama Faulted for Not Using ‘Islamic’ Label
New York Times: “Obama aides say there is a strategic logic to his vocabulary: Labeling noxious beliefs and mass murder as ‘Islamic’ would play right into the hands of terrorists who claim that the United States is at war with Islam itself. The last thing the president should do, they say, is imply that the United States lumps the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims with vicious terrorist groups.”
“But Mr. Obama’s verbal tactics have become a target for a growing chorus of critics who believe the evasive language is a sign that he is failing to look squarely at the threat from militant Islam. The vague phrasing, they say, projects uncertainty and weakness at a time when extremists claiming to fight for Islam threaten America and its interests around the world.”
Los Angeles Times: “Republicans accuse Obama of tiptoeing around the issue out of an apparent reluctance to offend Muslims.”
Tennessee Lawmaker Wants Bible to be Official Book
Tennessee state Rep. Jerry Sexton (R) “has introduced a bill to make the Bible the official state book, after two other Southern states considered similar moves in recent months,” the Huffington Post reports.
“Although Tennessee doesn’t have a state book, it does have a state fruit (the tomato), mineral (agate) and wild animal (raccoon).”
A Very Political Pope
Bloomberg: “In less than two years in office, he’s nudged the conversation away from abusive priests and used the image makeover to wade into conflicts from helping to restore Cuban-U.S. ties to lobbying for a global climate accord. In September, he will become the first religious leader who serves as a head of state to address a joint session of Congress.”
“By sidestepping the debate on abortion, gay marriage and sex, Francis has positioned himself for a role in world affairs.”
GOP Candidates Object to Obama Comparison
“Would be 2016 presidential hopefuls including Rick Santorum and Bobby Jindal seized on President Obama’s comparison of Islamic extremism to the Christian Crusades and other violent excesses during Thursday’s National Prayer Breakfast, decrying the comments as ‘inappropriate’ and ‘insulting to every person of faith,'” CNN reports.
Said Jindal: “We will be happy to keep an eye out for runaway Christians, but it would be nice if he would face the reality of the situation today. The Medieval Christian threat is under control, Mr. President. Please deal with the Radical Islamic threat today.”
Said Santorum: “Today’s remarks by the President were inappropriate and his choice of venue was insulting to every person of faith at a time when Christians are being crucified, beheaded, and persecuted across the Middle East.”
Nearly 40% of Iowa Republicans See Islam as Violent
A new Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register Iowa Poll finds that 39% of Republicans likely to participate in Iowa’s presidential caucuses say they are inclined to view Islam as an inherently violent religion that inspires brutality by its followers.
“Twice as many Democrats—along with a majority of Republicans—say they view the world’s second largest religion as inherently peaceful.”
Jindal Stages Prayer Rally Ahead of 2016 Decision
The New Orleans Times Picayune has an interesting piece on Gov. Bobby Jindal’s controversial prayer rally over the weekend.
“Jindal’s national strategy, should he run for president in 2016, clearly involves wooing conservative Christian voters. The governor has gone out of his way to speak on topics in recent weeks — Islam is an example — that he doesn’t have control over as governor of Louisiana, but that matter greatly to that constituency.”
Said Jindal: “On the last page, our God wins.”
What Pelosi Knows More About Than The Pope
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) recalled for the Washington Post that when she was new to Congress and opposed a bill restricting abortion, “one of the Republican members got up and said, ‘Nancy Pelosi thinks she knows more about having babies than the Pope.'”
Responded Pelosi, who has five children: “Yeah. Yeah. That would be true.”
Santorum Confused by Pope’s Comments
Rick Santorum is baffled by recent remarks by Pope Francis suggesting that faithful Catholics need not “procreate like rabbits,” TPM reports.
Said Santorum: “Sometimes very difficult to listen to the Pope and some of the things he says off the cuff, and this is one of them. When he speaks as the leader of the Catholic Church, I’ll certainly pay attention. But when he speaks in interviews, he’s giving his own opinions, which I certainly will listen to, but from my perspective, that doesn’t reflect the idea that people shouldn’t be fruitful and multiply, and that people should be open to life as something that is a core value of the faith and of the Catholic Church.”
He added: “I don’t know what the Pope was referring to here.”
Pope Francis Might Address Congress
“Expectations are growing that Pope Francis will be ascending the House rostrum this fall, becoming the first pontiff ever to visit the Capitol and the most important voice of worldwide moral authority to address lawmakers in person since Nelson Mandela two decades ago,” Roll Call reports.
“If the congressional appearance comes off, the pope would be guaranteed more than an enormous American television audience — likely surpassing the numbers that tuned in for this year’s State of the Union address. More importantly, Francis would gain a unique opportunity to present his ideas for a more socially just society while making direct eye contact with one of the world’s most influential groups. For all its partisan dysfunction, Congress has an unequaled capacity to either impede or manifest the papal vision with the legislative proposals it chooses to rebuff or enact.”
Quote of the Day
“A group wanted to put up a Christian Nativity scene at the Capitol. But the rules are that it must be put up in the morning and taken down at night. No one volunteered. I cannot stand by and allow Satan to win this one. I have volunteered to put up and take down the Christian Nativity scene everyday.”
— Michigan Rep. Rick Jones (R), quoted by the Huffington Post.
A Constant in Midterm and Presidential Elections
Nathan Gonzales: “There’s plenty of discussion about the difference between midterm and presidential electorates, but there is one emerging constant: the white evangelical vote.”
“In the recent midterm elections, white evangelicals or born-again Christians made up 26 percent of the electorate and voted for Republican candidates 78 percent to 20 percent, according to the National Exit Poll. Two years before in the 2012 presidential election, white evangelicals made up 26 percent of the electorate and voted for Republican Mitt Romney 78 percent to 21 percent over President Barack Obama. And in 2010, white evangelicals made up 25 percent of the electorate and voted for Republican candidates 77 percent to 19 percent.”
Alabama Lawmaker Wants Ten Commandments Displayed
A GOP lawmaker in Alabama “wants to erect a monument at the courthouse that would feature the Ten Commandments alongside other historical documents,” the Birmingham News reports.
Said Tim Guffey (R): “What I’m trying to do is erect a monument of historical documents. It’s the Constitution, the Ten Commandments and the Declaration of Independence. I feel like that’s what this country was founded on. These documents helped America become the greatest country in history.”
GOP Official Urges Threats to Muslims
Kansas GOP official Gavin Ellzey said last month that “offending Muslims is the duty of any civilized person,” the Kansas City Star reports.
He added: “Especially with a .45.”
How Religion Determines Your Politics
Wonk Wire: Strong connection between religion and political identity
Megachurches Still Prove Influential in GOP
“The influence of religious conservatives might be waning nationwide, but the movement only stands to grow in Congress,” Roll Call reports.
“Already this year, three candidates with close ties to massive churches won decisive Republican primaries. A fourth — Pastor Jody Hice — could win a Tuesday GOP primary runoff in Georgia and come to Congress in November.”
“Their victories come as public opinion has shifted dramatically on some social issues, notably same-sex marriage, denounced by most religious conservatives. The rise of the tea party and libertarian factions in the Republican Party has also diluted the influence of social conservative activists in the GOP.”
Jewish Republicans Worry About Void in Leadership
New York Times: “Jewish Republicans know they are not many in number. But at a recent gathering at the St. Regis Hotel in downtown Washington, they pondered the meaning of an especially alarming figure: zilch. As in zip, bupkis, zero.”
“The stinging defeat last month of Eric Cantor, the House majority leader and the highest-ranking Jewish politician in American history, has created the possibility of Republicans having no Jewish representation in the House or Senate for the first time in more than a half-century.”
Muslims Most Approving of Obama
A new Gallup poll finds 72% of U.S. Muslims approved of the job President Obama was doing as president during the first six months of 2014, higher than any other U.S. religious group Gallup tracks. Mormons were least approving, at 18%.
In general, majorities of those in non-Christian religions — including those who do not affiliate with any religion — approved of Obama, while less than a majority of those in the three major Christian religious groups did.
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