2009-11-20T17:08:07Z On Faith editor David Waters looks at religion's impact on the news. tag:newsweek.washingtonpost.com,2009:/onfaith/undergod/621 Copyright (c) 2009, WashingtonPost.Newsweek Interactive 2009-11-20T17:08:07Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-20:/onfaith/undergod2009/11/catholic_evangelical_leaders_team_up_to_fight_abortion_same-sex_marriage.html

By Michelle Boorstein A highly influential group of conservative Christian leaders are releasing a document today that they have been working on for more than a year, an attempt to unify disparate religious conservatives. Even as political conservatives in the United States are fractured and the Republican Party in a period of soul-searching, you can see some religious conservatives attempting to coalesce, such as Pope Benedict's recent outreach to conservative Anglicans. The document, called "The...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Michelle Boorstein 2009-11-20T15:39:45Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-20:/onfaith/undergod2009/11/the_end_of_the_church_of_oprah.html

By Elizabeth Tenety The queen is abdicating her throne. The little Baptist girl from Mississippi who became one of the most influential people in America will announce today that her talk show will come to an end in 2011, after 25 years on the air. With millions of viewers worldwide, an XM radio station and a glossy magazine bearing her name, Oprah did so much more than incite audience hysteria over car giveaways. In her...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Elizabeth Tenety 2009-11-19T18:34:51Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-19:/onfaith/undergod2009/11/introducing_under_god_20.html

Starting today, Under God is expanding to include more Post-produced religion content, starting with God in Government -- religion news updates from Post religion reporters Michelle Boorstein and William Wan, who will pay particular attention to religion's impact on politics, policy and government in Washington. We're also going to be adding posts by Elizabeth Tenety, the producer of Divine Impulses and a former blogger for Faithbook. Liz will be keeping us informed about religion's impact...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

David Waters 2009-11-19T19:33:17Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-19:/onfaith/undergod2009/11/by_michelle_boorstein_another_salvo.html

By Michelle Boorstein Another salvo in the battle in mainline Christianity over sexuality and scripture. Some of you may be following the litigation and infighting in many mainline denominations - Episcopal, Methodist and Presbyterian, among them - over the rights of same-gender couples. As advocates for sexual minorities have pushed harder for equality, conservatives have pushed back with a powerful narrative that intertwines sex, race and power. It says that Christianity in the West is...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Michelle Boorstein 2009-11-19T20:11:55Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-19:/onfaith/undergod2009/11/the_bishops_on_marriage.html

By David Waters The 60-page pastoral lecture letter on marriage issued this week by the nation's Roman Catholic bishops defends the sanctity of marriage as a "divine call" while it condemns "fundamental challenges to marriage" such as same-sex unions, contraception, cohabitation and pre-marital sex, and to a lesser degree, divorce. "The document is meant to strengthen Christian marriage, to prepare people who are going to be married before they enter that bond to appreciate what...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

David Waters 2009-11-19T19:54:37Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-18:/onfaith/undergod2009/11/in_the_post_editor_coerced_by_unification_church.html

Post media columnist Howard Kurtz writes about a recently dismissed Washington Times editor, who has filed an EEOC complaint against the paper, "saying he was 'coerced' into attending a Unification Church religious ceremony that culminated in a mass wedding conducted by the church's leader, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. Read the story....Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

David Waters 2009-11-18T17:29:43Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-18:/onfaith/undergod2009/11/in_the_post_hate_crimes_and_misdemeanors.html

Washignton Sketch columnist Dana Milbank observes how a group of conservative Christian pastors, "determined to test the bounds of a new law punishing anti-gay hate crimes, assembled outside the Justice Department on Monday to denounce the sin of homosexuality and see whether they would be charged with lawbreaking . . . They're prayers were not answered." Read the column....Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

David Waters 2009-11-18T17:15:26Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-18:/onfaith/undergod2009/11/in_the_post_bishop_harry_jackson.html

Today in the Post, staff writer Wil Haygood profiles Bishop Harry Jackson of Washington, the controversial Pentecostal pastor, "one of the more vociferous leaders in the anti-gay-marriage movement across the country." Excerpt: "This is how Bishop Harry Jackson spent his summer vacation: He hustled back and forth across the District rallying his faithful flock who oppose gay marriage. He leaned into microphones over at the Board of Elections and Ethics, quoting biblical verse, decrying those...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

David Waters 2009-11-18T14:37:22Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-18:/onfaith/undergod2009/11/retired_military_chaplains_urge_repeal_of_dont_ask_dont_tell.html

By William Wan Three former military chaplains have announced support for a repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy regarding gays in the military. The retired chaplains -- from Army, Navy and Air Force -- say they spoke with several fellow chaplains and veterans, including several returning from Iraq and Afghanistan before crafting their statement. Their statement, released by VoteVets, lays out their argument for the repeal: It would help recruiting and retention;...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

William Wan 2009-11-18T13:38:23Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-18:/onfaith/undergod2009/11/did_health_care_fight_show_catholic_bishops_power_--_or_lack_of_it.html

By Michelle Boorstein In Baltimore this week, where the nation's Catholic bishops are holding their annual meeting, there are two narratives (at least) about the bishops' influence in the recently-passed House health-care bill fight. One holds that the church is on the rise, as evidenced by the House bill winding up passing with the Stupak Amendment, which bars coverage of abortion care in health care plans that are part of government programs. This amendment was...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Michelle Boorstein 2009-11-16T19:15:08Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-16:/onfaith/undergod2009/11/2012_a_theological_disaster.html

By David Waters Theologians began predicting the end of the world long before Hollywood did, so it's not surprising that "2012," the latest disaster blockbuster, contains more than a few religious images and references. But does Roland Emmerich's box-office hit also qualify as a theological disaster? Several faith-based reviewers are raising interesting questions about the movie's religious implications. A review by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was disappointed by the film's "theological glibness ....Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

David Waters 2009-11-12T23:31:31Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-12:/onfaith/undergod2009/11/the_archdioceses_ultimatum.html

By David Waters In a surprisingly bold and seemingly unbiblical move, the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington is threatening to discontinue its social support for nearly 70,000 people -- including a third of Washington's homeless -- because of its opposition to a proposed same-sex marriage bill. Under the proposed bill, according to a story by Post reporters Tim Craig and Michelle Boorstein, religious organizations would not be required to perform same-sex weddings, "but they would have...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

David Waters 2009-11-12T22:22:02Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-10:/onfaith/undergod2009/11/evangelical_overreaction_to_hasan.html

By David Waters A number of news sites are reporting that an influential conservative Christian organization, the American Family Association based in Tupelo, Miss., is calling for Muslims to be barred from serving in the U.S. military, in the aftermath of the Fort Hood shootings. That doesn't seem to be the case. The AFA did publish a piece by Bryan Fischer, director of Issues Analysis, entitled No more Muslims in the U.S. military. Fischer wrote...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

David Waters 2009-11-12T22:22:02Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-10-30:/onfaith/undergod2009/10/stupid_halloween_tricks.html

By David Waters Notes from the National Movement to Politicize Everything: The American Life League is encouraging people who oppose abortion to carve a pro-life pumpkin for Halloween -- er, they're referring to it as the eve of All Saints Day. They even provide an online stencil you can print. "It doesn't have to be anything fancy," ALF's Michael Hirchborn writes on the site. "It could be as intricate as the design here or as...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

David Waters 2009-11-12T22:22:03Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-10-26:/onfaith/undergod2009/10/kennedy_unfair_to_bishops.html

By David Waters Confusion over whether and how government health-care reform will or should deal with abortion has resulted in an equally confusing war of words between Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.) and Rhode Island Catholic Bishop Thomas J. Tobin. In an interview last Friday, Kennedy -- a Roman Catholic and son of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, who spent much of his career pushing for health-care reform -- called U.S. Catholic bishops' concerns about...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

David Waters