Obama at Church

As shown in various polls, it is apparent that religion is tied directly to votes in presidential elections. The Obama administration has generally not been as religiously minded as the Bush administration has. It was reported that 37% of Americans view Obama as religion-friendly. Meanwhile, only 29% view the Democratic party as a whole being religion-friendly. During the election, Obama quoted from the Gospel of Matthew during a forum at evangelical Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. After that, 43% of voters who attended the church said they chose Obama over John McCain. This indicates that religion is very important in politics.

Obama at church

Christian group discriminates

The Christian Legal Society, a student group at the University of California's Hastings College of Law, has been denied recognition on the school bulletin board. The reason being, this orthodox Christian school forbids students who do not believe in the "sanctity" of marriage to join their group. The school does not want to allow discrimintary groups to be recognized and endorsed. The school will not post or recognize school groups if they discriminate on grounds of religion or sexual orientation. The Supreme Court agreed with the schools ruling on the case.

Supreme Court case

Kidnapping for God?

Brian David Mitchell, the man who kidnapped Elizabeth Smart, is using religion to justify his actions. Instead of answering questions about the kidnapping and his motives, Mitchell spoke about his relationship with God. Formally, Mitchell was a street preacher and self proclaimed soldier of God. Lawyers are now stepping in and saying that Mitchell is incompetent and can not participate in his own defense.

Suspect uses religion to justify kidnapping

http://www.rexburgstandardjournal.com/articles/2009/12/02/news/24.txt

Swiss

The Swiss government has passed a bill that bans mosques from building minarets, a traditional symbol in Muslim architecture. 57.5% of the population voted to ban the building of minarets, illustrating the deep sense of fear and hate towards Muslims. The freedom of religion should be followed and all religions should be tolerated. It is not fair for the government to control the type of architecture set in place on private land unless it serves as a hazard to its people.



No Minarets

New Religion?

The United Nations and Al Gore- the poster boy for global warming- agree that climate change is not a political issue, but a moral issue moreso related with religion. This article illustrates how science should be applied to the issue of climate change rather than blind faith. The scientists at University of East Anglia apparently have no data to prove their theories behind climate change and many people still continue to believe their word about data that does not exist.


Climate Change as new religion

News With a Christian Perspective

The New York state Senate debated about religion in bill 38-24. The senate defeated the same-sex marriage bill. This article in the Baptist Press, clearly expresses the bias by the authors. The article talks about how New York only passed the bill because of how liberal of a state it is.


Baptist Press

Family Talk

Rifqa Bary, the runaway Christian teen, has been ordered to go back home to her parents in Ohio. The judge in her case has ruled that the family must discuss religion. Rifqa has been ordered to discuss her beliefs with her parents so that they can better understand her reason for running away with a Christian group in Florida. Rifqa must also listen to her parents discuss their religion to understand that her father did not mean any harm towards her. Rifqa initially ran away because she believed her father would kill her for converting to Christianity.

Plan Calls for Teen Christian Convert to talk religion