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	<title>SwamplandCategory: Religion &#124; Swampland &#124; TIME.com</title>
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	<description>Political insight from the Beltway and beyond</description>
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		<title>SwamplandCategory: Religion &#124; Swampland &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>Evangelicos: A Way Back for the GOP</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/08/evangelicos-a-way-back-for-the-gop/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/08/evangelicos-a-way-back-for-the-gop/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 08 Apr 2013 09:45:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Elizabeth Dias</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=92229</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Can Latino evangelicals help Republicans take a bite out of the Democratic advantage with Hispanic voters? Maybe. As my cover story &#8220;The Latino Reformation&#8220; this week suggests, Latino evangelicals are a group that has strong conservative social values—meaning the Republican Party should find them very attractive. They prize the nuclear family. They are largely against abortion and gay marriage.  They also tend to be wealthier than Latino Catholics, and they are more likely to have been born in the United States. It is a point that Michael Warren of The Weekly Standard explored a couple weeks ago. Republicans have lost a net 30 points among evangélicos since the 2004 presidential campaign. George W. Bush got 69% of the Latino evangelical vote in 2004, and Mitt Romney only had support of 39% of Latino evangelicals in 2012. Warren argues that Republicans should see this as an opening: Somewhere in the party’s long tradition, there are principles and policies that can attract a group that values family, community, and the church. A party that can win Hispanic evangelicals might be one that can combine pro-family tax policies, pro-growth economic policies, traditionalism on social issues, and a realistic immigration policy. What I learned after spending time in Iglesias in Chicago and the far suburbs of Washington is a little more complicated than that. But Warren is on to something. But before Republicans can win them over, they have to know who the evangélicos really are. That is what we explore in the magazine this week.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=92229&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Religion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/religion/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/20130415_400.jpg?w=150</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">The Latino Reformation</media:title>
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		<title>Elizabeth Dias on the Latino Reformation</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/04/elizabeth-dias-on-the-latino-reformation/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/04/elizabeth-dias-on-the-latino-reformation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Apr 2013 20:10:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>TIME Staff</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=92132</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[TIME&#8217;s Elizabeth Dias stopped by the NewsNation set to discuss her new cover story &#8220;Evangélicos!&#8220; &#160;<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=92132&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Religion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/religion/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/screen-shot-2013-04-04-at-4-05-54-pm.png?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Elizabeth Dias Latino Reformation</media:title>
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		<title>U.S. Hispanics Are Becoming Less Catholic</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/03/01/us-hispanics-are-becoming-less-catholic/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/03/01/us-hispanics-are-becoming-less-catholic/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Mar 2013 10:45:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Elizabeth Dias</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=89395</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Catholicism has a famed strong grip on Hispanic communities—and it is loosening. A Gallup poll released earlier this week found that the number of Hispanics who identify as Catholic in the US dropped from 58% to 54% between 2008 and 2012. Over the same four-year period, Hispanics who identify as Protestant rose slightly, from 27% to 28%. This demographic shift reflects a trend happening in Latin America. According to the polling service Latinobarómetro, the number of Catholic Hispanics in Latin America dropped 11% from 1996 to 2010, while the number of evangelicals, often a synonym for Protestants in Latin America, rose 9%. (MORE: What You Need to Know About the New Census Numbers on Hispanic Births) Gallup also found that Hispanic Protestants are far more religious than both their Catholic and non-Latino church brothers and sisters. Nearly two-thirds of Protestant Hispanics say they are “very religious.” Just 43% of Catholic Hispanics identify that strongly, a few points higher that the national average of 40% for all religious Americans. That gap is consistent across age groups. It would be too simple to call the trend the Hispanic flight from Catholicism. Many Latino Catholics, especially in Latin America, also identify with evangelical-like and Pentecostal-like practices and incorporate them into the Catholic mass. In the United States, Latino Catholics often attend evangelical services because they are conducted in Spanish and incorporate cultural elements—like food and dance—from their home countries. “Most Latinos are becoming Protestants within their ethnic identity and not as part of an assimilation process,” explains Juan Francisco Martínez, professor of Hispanic studies and pastoral leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary, in his book Los Protestantes. (MORE: Why We’re Still Catholics) Latinos still represent a vibrant future for the Catholic Church. Nearly half of all Catholics under 40 in the United States are Hispanic. The top two Catholic countries in the world are Hispanic ones—Brazil has 127 million Catholics, and Mexico, 96 million. As the cardinals prepare to choose the Pope Emeritus&#8217; successor, the argument for a Latino pope only grows stronger.  <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=89395&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Religion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/religion/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/hispanic-catholic.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Hispanic Christian</media:title>
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		<title>Cardinal Dolan Reacts to the Pope&#8217;s Resignation</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/11/cardinal-dolan-reacts-to-the-popes-resignation/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/11/cardinal-dolan-reacts-to-the-popes-resignation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:56:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Elizabeth Dias</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=87687</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Pope Benedict XVI stepped down today in an announcement that surprised the Catholic world. There is no modern precedent for a papal resignation&#8211;the last pope to resign was Gregory XII in 1415. Pope &#8220;B16,&#8221; as he is affectionately called, cited his advanced age and health concerns as reason for his departure. &#8220;[T]he new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is,&#8221; Benedict said in his resignation statement. But because he is still living, it remains to be seen whether or not he will have any influence in who his successor will be. Reaction to the Pope&#8217;s announcement in the United States is only just beginning. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, leader of the United States Council of Catholic Bishops, issued this initial statement moments after learning of His Holiness&#8217;s resignation: Statement of Cardinal Timothy Dolan The Holy Father brought the tender heart of a pastor, the incisive mind of a scholar and the confidence of a soul united with His God in all he did. His resignation is but another sign of his great care for the Church. We are sad that he will be resigning but grateful for his eight years of selfless leadership as successor of St. Peter. Though 78 when he elected pope in 2005, he set out to meet his people – and they were of all faiths – all over the world. He visited the religiously threatened – Jews, Muslims and Christians in the war-torn Middle East, the desperately poor in Africa, and the world’s youth gathered to meet him in Australia, Germany, Spain and Brazil. He delighted our beloved United States of America when he visited Washington and New York in 2008. As a favored statesman he greeted notables at the White House. As a spiritual leader he led the Catholic community in prayer at Nationals Park, Yankee Stadium and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. As a pastor feeling pain in a stirring, private meeting at the Vatican nunciature in Washington, he brought a listening heart to victims of sexual abuse by clerics.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=87687&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Religion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/religion/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/154501654.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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		<title>At Inaugural Prayer Service, a Glimpse of the Pastor-in-Chief&#8217;s Vision</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/01/22/at-inaugural-prayer-service-a-glimpse-of-the-pastor-in-chiefs-vision/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/01/22/at-inaugural-prayer-service-a-glimpse-of-the-pastor-in-chiefs-vision/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 22 Jan 2013 19:44:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Elizabeth Dias</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=85911</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today at the Washington National Cathedral’s Inaugural Prayer Service, United Methodist minister Adam Hamilton told President Obama that perhaps he had missed his calling. “Unlike any other President that we&#8217;ve had, you have the ability to cast vision and inspire people,” he said. “You should have been a preacher.” It was a modest joke, but it had resonance after an inaugural speech when Obama sounded, at times, very much like a preacher. The President, whom Atlanta reverend Andy Stanley on Monday called &#8220;America&#8217;s Pastor-in-Chief,&#8221; linked the greatness of the U.S. to its credo of equality. He called for Americans to accept “our gay brothers and sisters,” fully welcome “the striving, hopeful immigrants,” and equally respect “our wives, our mothers, and daughters.” Those three priorities were reflected in Tuesday&#8217;s prayer service, which featured gays, Latinos, and women in key liturgical roles. The very first words of the service&#8211;the welcoming of honored guests to the Lord’s house&#8211;were delivered in Spanish. This opening was then translated into English, a subtle theological move to put the Spanish-speaking church on an equal plane with America’s Anglo churches. It was not a one-off inclusion. Later on in the service, Rev. Gabriel Salguero of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition included the liturgical refrain, “La palabra de dios” (the word of the Lord). Then Rev. Nancy Wilson, the moderator of the inclusive and affirming Metropolitan Community Churches, read the morning’s first scripture passage, from the prophet Isaiah. It was the first time that an openly gay minister addressed a president at an Inaugural Prayer Service. The choice was noteworthy. Rev. Luis Léon replaced the less-than-affirming Louie Giglio as the giver of yesterday’s inaugural benediction after anti-gay remarks Giglio made in 1990s recently surfaced, and the Washington National Cathedral, the site of the Inaugural Prayer Service since Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency, announced two weeks ago that it would begin marrying same-sex couples. A man preached the main sermon, but women had significant roles in the service. In addition to Wilson, participants included Serene Jones, president of Union Theological Seminary;<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=85911&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Religion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/religion/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/obama-national-cathedral-inauguration-prayer-service.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Obama Prayer Service</media:title>
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		<title>Where President Romney Would Go to Church</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2012/09/27/where-president-romney-would-go-to-church/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2012/09/27/where-president-romney-would-go-to-church/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 27 Sep 2012 15:03:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Elizabeth Dias</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=79028</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Bishop Robert Nelson of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ in Chevy Chase, MD, isn&#8217;t exactly sure how to handle the casserole question. You see, the Mormon church is run by volunteers, and every member has a job: teaching Sunday school, managing church finances, organizing community food drives, or serving in the tutoring program. So when I asked Bishop Nelson who in his congregation would bring a casserole to Ann Romney if she were to get the flu while her husband was President of the United States, he paused and chuckled. “I can imagine wanting to bring the casserole, but then you have to go through security, and at some point you go, the casserole just isn’t worth it. Call for carry out.” The casserole question is one of many puzzlers Mitt Romney’s presidential run poses for Nelson’s congregation on the northern border of the District of Columbia. Mormons attend church based on their addresses—and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is assigned to Nelson’s parish, or ward. “When we get new members in from any walk of life and I sit down and talk with them: where are you at, what are your needs, how can this church help you, how can you help the church,” explains Nelson. “It is that same discussion—it’s just with somebody who is the President of the free world, so I am sure there are nuances that will be unique.” New faces are by no means rare to the Third Ward&#8211;the church averages 25 new converts a year, making it the Mormon church’ s highest baptizing ward in the area. Some 250 people attend gatherings every Sunday, and a total of 650 people from nearly two dozen countries are on the membership roll. Services are warm and people are friendly. When I visited on a recent Sunday, a suited young elder performed a rendition of “I Have been Changed for Good” from the hit musical Wicked to honor the service of departing missionaries. Congregants piled hundreds of cans of food in the foyer for an<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=79028&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<title>Conservatives Say Obama to Blame for Mideast Protests, Not Anti-Islam Film</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2012/09/14/conservatives-say-obama-to-blame-for-mideast-protests-not-anti-islam-film/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2012/09/14/conservatives-say-obama-to-blame-for-mideast-protests-not-anti-islam-film/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 14 Sep 2012 18:16:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Elizabeth Dias</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=78409</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As protests set off by an American anti-Islam film continued across the Mideast on Friday, several thousand conservatives gathered for the annual Values Voter Summit in Washington, where the global events have not escaped notice. “We should not be held hostage by a radical Islamic contingent that reacts violently to anything that would question the activities of the Islamic faith,” says Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a conservative advocacy group that sponsors the summit. “The events in the Middle East have nothing to do with the movie,&#8221; says American Values president Gary Bauer, who called any suggestion to the contrary &#8220;obscene.&#8221; “If one buys in to that, then the only solution would be to voluntary accept sharia law, which says you can’t criticize the Prophet.” (PHOTOS: Political Pictures of the Week, Sept. 7-14) Politicians speaking at the conference echoed some of those sentiments, but mostly blamed President Obama for the protests. Rep. Michele Bachmann called Obama “the most dangerous American president we have ever had on foreign policy,&#8221; and said, “We are witnessing the direct consequences of this administration&#8217;s policy of apology and appeasement across the globe.” Republican vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan critiqued the President’s response to the Libyan crisis. “Amid all these threats and dangers, what we do not see is steady consistent American leadership,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Only by the confident exercise of American influence are evil and violence overcome.” White House spokesman Jay Carney said protests across the mideast were caused by the “reprehensible, offensive and disgusting” film and not &#8220;directed at the United States writ large.&#8221;<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=78409&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2012/09/14/conservatives-say-obama-to-blame-for-mideast-protests-not-anti-islam-film/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Religion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/religion/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">elizabethdias</media:title>
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		<title>The Story Behind Lawrence O&#8217;Donnell&#8217;s Apology to Mormons</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2012/04/12/the-story-behind-lawrence-odonnells-apology-to-mormons/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2012/04/12/the-story-behind-lawrence-odonnells-apology-to-mormons/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:18:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Scherer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[2012 Election]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mitt Romney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lawrence o'donnell]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=69443</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell apologized Wednesday night for inaccurate comments he made a week earlier about the origins of the Mormon church. “I am truly sorry if I said something inaccurate about Joseph Smith, and I am happy to provide time on this show to a Church of Latter Day Saints spokesman to correct any inaccuracy,” he said on The Last Word, before adding “I just wish I could take those words back.” The words in question were spoken on April 3, in the middle of a monologue about Mitt Romney’s claim that President Barack Obama was trying to “establish a religion in America known as secularism.” O&#8217;Donnell brought up the Mormon religion&#8217;s origins to make the point that Romney, while attacking the beliefs of Obama, was vulnerable on the same score. &#8220;Religiously, Mitt Romney lives in the glass house of American politics,&#8221; he said. O&#8217;Donnell also said the following: Mormonism was created by a guy in upstate New York in 1830 when he got caught having sex with the maid and explained to his wife that God told him to do it. Forty-eight wives later, Joseph Smith&#8217;s lifestyle was completely sanctified in the religion he invented to go with it, which Mitt Romney says he believes. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is traditionally averse to litigating its history and beliefs in the national media, so it is unlikely to take O’Donnell up on his offer. But the history of Joseph Smith and the origins of Mormonism are well documented. And there is little doubt that O’Donnell misrepresented them, by repeating a claim that has long been used by Mormon opponents to tar its followers as a sort of cult created to justify the sexual license of its founders. “O’Donnell has got the causation reversed,” says Richard Lyman Bushman, an emeritus professor of history at Columbia University who wrote a recent biography of Smith called Rough Stone Rolling. Here is what is known to have happened: Smith was first married in 1827, and over the next three<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=69443&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2012/04/12/the-story-behind-lawrence-odonnells-apology-to-mormons/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Religion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/religion/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/sl_mormons_0412_blog.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">sl_mormons_0412_blog</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">michaelscherer</media:title>
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		<title>How Religious Expression Is Splitting the U.S. Electorate&#8211;Including Republicans</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2012/03/22/how-religious-expression-is-splitting-the-u-s-electorate-including-republicans/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2012/03/22/how-religious-expression-is-splitting-the-u-s-electorate-including-republicans/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:07:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Adam Sorensen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[catholics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[evangelicals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gop]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[polls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[primaries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Romney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[santorum]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=68034</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Americans may be more religious than their peers in other Western countries, but they have their limits when it comes to mixing religion and public life. According to a new survey conducted by Pew, a 38% plurality of Americans for the first time say there&#8217;s too much expression of faith in politics. That figure has increased dramatically in the last decade, especially in the last two years, and currently includes almost half of Democrats and independents. Even roughly a quarter of Republicans, up from 8% in 2001, feel the same way. Part of this can be explained by the rise of the &#8220;nones&#8221;&#8211;Americans who do not identify with any particular faith or who consider themselves atheists and agnostics&#8211;a bloc that has grown considerably in recent years, from 12% of the population in the 1990s to 19% last year. Fully a third of young people now count themselves as unaffiliated, and young &#8220;nones&#8221; nearly doubled between 2006 and 2011, according to political scientists Robert Putnam and David Campbell. In an article appearing in the March-April 2012 issue of Foreign Affairs adapted from their upcoming book, American Grace: How Religion Unites and Divides Us, Putnam and Campbell argue that the growth in the unaffiliateds has been fueled by a backlash against the religious right. There&#8217;s some debate whether the &#8220;nones&#8221; are really abandoning spirituality&#8211;most still believe in God but don&#8217;t claim ties to any organized religion&#8211;and whether culture warriors, secular indoctrination at elite institutions (as some conservatives dubiously argue) or pop evangelists (see Ross Douthat) are to blame. But whatever the cause, the political implications of this bloc are plain: Unaffiliateds don&#8217;t like religious sermonizing in the public square. According to Pew, 66% of &#8220;nones&#8221; think the government is too involved in dictating morality; 70% think abortion should be legal in all or most cases; and 71% think homosexuality should be accepted by society. (PHOTOS: How Mississippi’s Proposal Could Affect Everything from Abortion to the Drinking Age) As you might suspect, a majority of the &#8220;nones&#8221; lean Democratic. But this story is<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=68034&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2012/03/22/how-religious-expression-is-splitting-the-u-s-electorate-including-republicans/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Religion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/religion/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/sl_religion_0322_blog.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">sl_religion_0322_blog</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/7666b70a5b0305bd59953f5bca02cce5?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Adam Sorensen</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://www.pewforum.org/uploadedImages/Topics/Issues/Politics_and_Elections/too-much-5.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">pew</media:title>
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		<title>Birth Control Debate: Why Catholic Bishops Have Lost Their Grip on U.S. Politics—and Their Flock</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2012/02/13/birth-control-debate-why-catholic-bishops-have-lost-their-grip-on-u-s-politics-and-their-flock/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2012/02/13/birth-control-debate-why-catholic-bishops-have-lost-their-grip-on-u-s-politics-and-their-flock/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:00:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tim Padgett</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birth control]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Catholic Bishops]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[contraception]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[White House]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=65791</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The clash with the White House over birth control is a reminder of just how much influence the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has lost in the 10 years since the child sex abuse crisis erupted in America.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=65791&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2012/02/13/birth-control-debate-why-catholic-bishops-have-lost-their-grip-on-u-s-politics-and-their-flock/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Religion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/religion/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/sl_rcbishops_0210_blog.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">sl_rcbishops_0210_blog</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/44310a1af940f994952d1e4db73096cd?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">TIME.com</media:title>
		</media:content>
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		<title>Social Conservatives Splinter as Gingrich Backers Dispute Claims of Santorum Consensus</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2012/01/16/social-conservatives-splinter-as-gingrich-backers-dispute-claims-of-santorum-consensus/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2012/01/16/social-conservatives-splinter-as-gingrich-backers-dispute-claims-of-santorum-consensus/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:27:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Elizabeth Dias</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[2012 Election]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Newt Gingrich]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=63622</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Despite Saturday&#8217;s announcement that prominent Evangelical leaders would support Rick Santorum for President, the battle for social conservative votes is far from over. On Monday, backers of Newt Gingrich disputed reports that Evangelical leaders had reached a consensus to support a single candidate, as Family Research Council president Tony Perkins had announced following the Texas powwow on Saturday. Five evangelical leaders who attended the meeting at former Texas Appeals Court Judge Paul Pressler&#8217;s ranch issued a statement via the Gingrich campaign stating that &#8221;there was no consensus regarding a candidate, and those of us that came supporting Newt Gingrich left still supporting Newt Gingrich whole-heartedly.&#8221; Among the statement&#8217;s signatories were Christian pollster George Barna, Former Oklahoma congressman J.C. Watts, Jim Garlow, the pastor who championed an anti-gay marriage ballot initiative in California, Baptist pastor Richard Lee and Evangelical activist David Lane. Their statement continued: Rick Santorum won the majority of the votes (by 9 votes in the first ballot), and he is to be congratulated for that. However, while we truly respect Rick Santorum and Rick Perry, we believe Newt Gingrich to be the only candidate that has the intellectual strength and the capacity to stop the Left&#8217;s attack on morality, the economy, basic freedoms and our religious liberty. In addition, Mr. Gingrich is the social conservative that has the capacity to raise funds and produce a national organization that would allow him to compete with and defeat Barack Obama. For the sake of the nation, we remain steadfastly committed to Newt Gingrich. Earlier this week, Tim LaHaye, the author of apocalyptic Christian fiction series Left Behind, also endorsed Gingrich. The signals of support for Gingrich illustrate how fragmented social conservative leaders continue to be less than a week before South Carolina&#8217;s pivotal primary. Author and political adviser Doug Wead spoke in support of Ron Paul at the weekend gathering in Texas. &#8220;When the meeting was over, I had people swarming me asking me for my card,&#8221; Wead says. &#8220;They said, &#8216;My kids and grandkids support Ron Paul. As a born-again Christian,<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=63622&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2012/01/16/social-conservatives-splinter-as-gingrich-backers-dispute-claims-of-santorum-consensus/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Religion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/religion/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/sl_bh_34_0103.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/sl_bh_34_0103.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/sl_bh_34_0103.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Newt Gingrich</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/ebdda166ab21d2396926cb26f59c1ac2?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">elizabethdias</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
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		<title>Mormon Perspective and 2012</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2012/01/12/mormon-perspective-and-2012/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2012/01/12/mormon-perspective-and-2012/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:30:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Elizabeth Dias</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[2012 Election]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mitt Romney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jon Huntsman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2012]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jon huntsman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mitt romney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mormon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pew forum]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[South Carolina]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=63391</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[With Mitt Romney leading the GOP presidential race and traditional Evangelical influence appearing to wane, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is playing an increasingly significant role in the American political conversation. On Thursday the Pew Forum on Religion in Public Life unveiled an in-depth look at public perceptions of American Mormons — the first report of its kind ever published by a non-LDS research group. Here is a survey of some its most interesting findings: A majority of Mormons (56%) say the U.S. is ready for a Mormon President. It’s a sign that Mormons are beginning to feel accepted in American society, although nearly half say they face discrimination. 74% of Mormon voters identify with or lean toward the Republican Party, far more than the 45% of the nation’s registered voters who do the same. This makes Mormons the most conservative group among America&#8217;s largest religions — white Evangelicals come in second at 68%. Only 17% of Mormons are Democrats. Romney is viewed favorably by 86% of Mormon voters — including 94% of Mormon Republicans and even 62% of Mormon Democrats. Jon Huntsman’s rating is lower at 50%, but it is predictably higher at 70% in Utah, where he was governor. Only 25% of Mormon voters view President Obama favorably. That&#8217;s significantly lower than the national average of Obama&#8217;s 46% approval rating, according to this week&#8217;s Gallup poll. 52% of Mormons believe that news coverage of their faith is fair, while 38% think it is not. Religious tensions will be tested in the South Carolina primary and beyond. Christian or Christ-centered were the top phrases Mormons use to describe their faith, but the No. 1 word the general public uses to describe Mormonism is cult. Check out the full report here.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=63391&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2012/01/12/mormon-perspective-and-2012/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Jon Huntsman</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/2012-election/jon-huntsman-2012-election/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/sl_mormons_0112_blog.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/sl_mormons_0112_blog.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/sl_mormons_0112_blog.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">sl_mormons_0112_blog</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/ebdda166ab21d2396926cb26f59c1ac2?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">elizabethdias</media:title>
		</media:content>
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		<title>The Vatican&#8217;s Radical Ideas on Financial Reform</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2011/10/24/the-vaticans-radical-ideas-on-financial-reform/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2011/10/24/the-vaticans-radical-ideas-on-financial-reform/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Oct 2011 21:03:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amy Sullivan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[catholicism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[financial reform]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=58452</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Calling into question the entire foundation of neo-liberal economics and proposing one world financial order? You never know what those radicals over at the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace will come up with next. <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=58452&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Religion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/religion/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/sl_vatican_1024_blog.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/sl_vatican_1024_blog.jpg?w=200" />
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			<media:title type="html">sl_vatican_1024_blog</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/7a12b784929727a6217dbb44b2cc09d6?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Amy Sullivan</media:title>
		</media:content>
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		<title>Santorum Not Familiar with Catholic Teaching About the Poor</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2011/10/12/santorum-not-familiar-with-catholic-teaching-about-the-poor/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2011/10/12/santorum-not-familiar-with-catholic-teaching-about-the-poor/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 12 Oct 2011 20:25:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amy Sullivan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2012]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gop]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rick santorum]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=57946</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I generally think questions sprung on candidates to name such-and-such country&#8217;s leader or to identify a text from their religious scripture are unfair gotchas that don&#8217;t tell us much of substance. But this interchange at the Values Voters Summit between Rick Santorum and a Catholic member of the progressive group Faith in Public Life is different. That&#8217;s because Santorum is such an uber-Catholic that it sometimes seems he could best the Pope in a pop quiz on Catholicism. And yet in this video, he appears to be genuinely unfamiliar with the phrase &#8220;preferential option for the poor.&#8221; The Catholic principle of always considering the needs of the poor first is all over Catholic social teaching. It&#8217;s such a key tenet that it was one of the first concepts I learned in a graduate course on Catholic social thought and teaching. So the folks at Faith in Public Life perked up when they heard Santorum go after Rick Perry on immigration policy in a debate last month: &#8220;Why should they [illegal immigrants] be given preferential treatment?&#8221; In fact, the Catholic bishops make no distinction between legal and illegal immigrants in Faithful Citizenship, the guide for Catholics that they recently reaffirmed and re-released (emphasis mine): &#8220;The preferential option for the poor includes all who are marginalized in our nation and beyond.&#8221; Santorum is just the latest Catholic Republican to find himself on the defensive about whether the policies he embraces conflict with the Catholicism he espouses. If I were Newt Gingrich, I&#8217;d be wary of young Catholics armed with Bibles and video cameras.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=57946&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Religion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/religion/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">Amy Sullivan</media:title>
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		<title>Articles of Faith: Is the Death Penalty in Keeping with Catholic Doctrine (and Should Scalia Resign)?</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2011/09/30/articles-of-faith-will-scalia-step-down-from-the-court/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2011/09/30/articles-of-faith-will-scalia-step-down-from-the-court/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2011 09:00:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amy Sullivan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[antonin scalia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[capital punishment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[catholicism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[death penalty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rick perry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[troy davis]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=56972</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia addressed the morality of capital punishment earlier this week in a speech at a Catholic law school in Pittsburgh. "If I thought that Catholic doctrine held the death penalty to be immoral," said Scalia, "I would resign. I could not be a part of a system that imposes it."<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=56972&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Religion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/religion/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/sullivan_death.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Amy Sullivan</media:title>
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		<title>Articles of Faith: Is Obama Really Losing His Jewish Support?</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2011/09/23/articles-of-faith-is-obama-really-losing-his-jewish-support/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2011/09/23/articles-of-faith-is-obama-really-losing-his-jewish-support/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 23 Sep 2011 11:26:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amy Sullivan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2012]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[israel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jewish support]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[u.n.]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=56613</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Tell me where you&#8217;ve heard this before: Jewish voters are unhappy with Barack Obama. He&#8217;s seen as insufficiently supportive of Israel. There are questions about whether he can win enough Jewish votes to carry key states. If you guessed &#8220;during the 2008 Democratic primaries,&#8221; then ding, ding, ding! A loaf of raisin-studded challah for you! Yes, the same concerns that political observers and commentators are raising now about Obama&#8217;s relationship with the American Jewish community dogged him as well in his race against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. Clinton forged strong ties with Jewish leaders in New York&#8211;who were willing to forgive the whole embracing-Suha-Arafat incident&#8211;during her time in the Senate, and her strong embrace of Israel contrasted with Obama&#8217;s typically measured stance. (At an AIPAC event in 2007, Obama commented that Palestinians suffered more than anyone else in the Middle East.) Overall, 54% of Jewish primary voters backed Clinton while 43% chose Obama. Once Obama captured the nomination, his relationship with Jewish voters was seen as so wobbly that some Republicans even speculated that John McCain could peel off votes to win key states such as Florida and Pennsylvania. Yet on Election Day 2008, 78% of Jewish voters cast their ballots for Obama, just slightly more than voted for Kerry in 2004 and just slightly less than did the same for Gore in 2000. In fact, you have to go back to 1988 to find a presidential election in which the Democratic candidate captured less than three-quarters of the Jewish vote. So why is the political class chattering once again about Obama&#8217;s vulnerability with Jewish voters? For starters, his support among Jewish Americans has indeed dropped this year. According to Gallup polls, Obama&#8217;s approval rating among Jews was 68% in May, 60% in July, and 54% in September. That&#8217;s a significant and steady decline. But the drop has been no steeper or more rapid than the overall decline of Obama&#8217;s approval numbers nationally. Jewish Americans continue to hold much more positive opinions of Obama than the average American&#8211;14<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=56613&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Religion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/religion/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/7a12b784929727a6217dbb44b2cc09d6?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Amy Sullivan</media:title>
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		<title>Articles of Faith: Will a Slew of Overturned State Laws Galvanize the Christian Right?</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2011/09/16/articles-of-faith-will-a-slew-of-overturned-state-laws-galvanize-the-christian-right/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2011/09/16/articles-of-faith-will-a-slew-of-overturned-state-laws-galvanize-the-christian-right/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 16 Sep 2011 09:00:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amy Sullivan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=56132</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Judges on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sounded skeptical this week as they heard arguments about why a ban on sharia law in Oklahoma courts should become part of the state&#8217;s constitution. &#8220;We just have sharia law singled out,&#8221; said Judge Scott Matheson, while one of his colleagues pressed the state&#8217;s solicitor general to confirm that the ban applies to only one religion. Seventy percent of Oklahoma voters supported the ballot initiative&#8211;known as the &#8220;Save Our State&#8221; amendment&#8211;last November, not because sharia often comes up in the Oklahoma court system, but as a preemptive measure against a shadowy, frightening future. Not long after Election Day, a U.S. District Court judge ordered Oklahoma to refrain from certifying the referendum results. Her reasoning was that the ban was likely to be found unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds because it dealt with only one religion&#8217;s legal code. And based on the tenor of this week&#8217;s questioning by the Appeals Court, she was probably right. Anti-abortion activists have run into similar problems with their efforts to enact a variety of abortion restrictions at the state level. Two weeks ago, a U.S. district court judge issued an injunction against parts of a new Texas law that would require women seeking abortions not only to have sonograms, but to listen to detailed descriptions of their fetuses and hear the heartbeat, if audible, as well. As the state&#8217;s appeal now moves to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, opponents of the law feel confident that it will be found to have violated the First Amendment by forcing doctors to engage in government-mandated speech. Around the same time, Kansas officials announced they would comply with a federal judge&#8217;s directive to resume funding Planned Parenthood clinics. The state had passed a law earlier this year essentially stripping Planned Parenthood of federal family planning dollars by requiring Kansas to direct funding to public hospitals and health centers. A U.S. District Court judge blocked enforcement of the new law over the summer and funding to Planned Parenthood clinics was supposed to<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=56132&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Religion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/religion/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/sullivan_abortion.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Amy Sullivan</media:title>
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		<title>Articles of Faith: The Importance of Understanding Religion in a Post-9/11 World</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2011/09/09/articles-of-faith-the-importance-of-understanding-religion-in-a-post-911-world/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2011/09/09/articles-of-faith-the-importance-of-understanding-religion-in-a-post-911-world/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 09 Sep 2011 15:16:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amy Sullivan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[911]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[religion]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=55585</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s hard to remember now, but in the days immediately following the attacks of 9/11, a spirit of religious unity reigned. Shocked political foes gathered together at the Washington National Cathedral for a prayer service that included a Muslim imam who read verses from the Koran. Just a few days later, George W. Bush quoted from the Koran himself at the Islamic Center in Washington, and told the country that &#8220;Islam is peace.&#8221; It didn&#8217;t take long, however, for the tender feelings of togetherness and tolerance to be replaced by division and hostility. Some thought leaders and policymakers embraced Samuel Huntington&#8217;s idea that the West was engaged in a &#8220;clash of civilizations&#8221; with Islam. Meanwhile, neo-atheists led by Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens put forward their own theory of a world split between civilized secularists and dangerous religionists. Secular academics and other thinkers have predicted and hoped for decades that as societies become more advanced, religion and its institutions would become less relevant. To them, 9/11 was further proof that religion is incompatible with modernity. But while the last 10 years have inspired many difficult discussions about the relationship between religious communities and democratic societies, they have also proven that the decline of religion is not inevitable in modern society. Trust in religious institutions and leaders has fallen, as it has for secular institutions as well. But Americans continue to value religion&#8211;85% consistently tell Pew pollsters that religion is an important part of their lives. And the relocation of religious immigrants to the U.S. and parts of Europe has insured that the West is by no means a civilization in which religion is invisible. We read most often about the conflicts that occur in our modern communities over religion: the banning of hijab in France, fights over plans for an Islamic center in lower Manhattan, debates over the teaching of evolution in public schools. But in our focus on these conflicts, we too often miss something fascinating that is going on. Ancient religious traditions are not fading away in the<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=55585&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Religion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/religion/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/religion_beyond_911.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Amy Sullivan</media:title>
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		<title>Articles of Faith: What Journalists Should Be Asking Politicians About Religion</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2011/09/02/articles-of-faith-what-journalists-should-be-asking-politicians-about-religion/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2011/09/02/articles-of-faith-what-journalists-should-be-asking-politicians-about-religion/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Sep 2011 17:00:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amy Sullivan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=55287</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A few weeks ago, I opened up my Twitter feed early in the morning and immediately wondered if I was being punk&#8217;d. Instead of the usual horse race speculation, my colleagues in the political press corps were discussing the writings of evangelical theologian Francis Schaeffer and debating the definition of Dominionism. The same week, a conservative journalist had posed a question about submission theology in a GOP debate, and David Gregory had grilled Michele Bachmann about whether God would guide her decision-making if she became President. The combination of religion and politics is a combustible one. And while I&#8217;m thrilled to see journalists taking on these topics, it seemed to me a few guidelines might be helpful in covering religion on the campaign trail: Ask relevant questions. The New York Times&#8216; Bill Keller published a column last weekend calling for journalists to ask candidates &#8220;tougher questions about faith&#8221; and posing a few of his own. The essay was flawed on its own terms. It read like a parody of an out-of-touch, secular, Manhattan journalist&#8211;comparing religious believers to people who believe in space aliens, and referring to evangelical Christian churches as &#8220;mysterious&#8221; and &#8220;suspect.&#8221; But it also identified the wrong problem. It&#8217;s not necessarily tougher questions that are needed but more relevant questions than journalists normally pose. It&#8217;s tempting to get into whether a Catholic candidate takes communion or if an evangelical politician actually thinks she speaks to God. But if a candidate brings up his faith on the campaign trail, there are two main questions journalists need to ask: 1) Would your religious beliefs have any bearing on the actions you would take in office? and 2) If so, how? Keep the focus on policy. Very few candidates who talk about their faith will be willing to say that it would not influence them as President. But they are also not eager to get into specifics. In general, candidates&#8211;and especially GOP candidates&#8211;talk about faith as a way of connecting with a very specific group of voters. In this pluralistic society,<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=55287&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Religion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/religion/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/bachmann.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">bachmann</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">Amy Sullivan</media:title>
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		<title>Bishops to Supercommittee: Don&#8217;t Think About Touching Programs for the Poor</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2011/09/02/bishops-to-supercommittee-dont-think-about-touching-programs-for-the-poor/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2011/09/02/bishops-to-supercommittee-dont-think-about-touching-programs-for-the-poor/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Sep 2011 14:13:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amy Sullivan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Catholic Bishops]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[poverty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[supercommittee]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=55273</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Oh, those religious people&#8211;always droning on and on about the poor. It&#8217;s like they have nothing else to do. (Other than getting arrested by the hundreds at the White House for protesting a proposed Canadian oil pipeline.) And it&#8217;s like the Bible told them to or something. If they love the poor so much, why don&#8217;t they marry them? Catholic BishopsToday&#8217;s religious reminder about the stock portfolio-challenged comes from the U.S.  via a letter sent to the members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (aka the Supercommittee.) While the Hoover Institution&#8217;s Richard Epstein recently went after the Pope for denouncing those who &#8220;put profits before people,&#8221; the bishops were apparently not cowed, taking up the same cry. Among the moral criteria they lay out to guide the members of the Supercommittee: &#8220;A central moral measure of any budget proposal is how it affects &#8216;the least of these&#8217; (Matthew 25). The needs of those who are hungry and homeless, without work or in poverty should come first.&#8221; If that sounds familiar, it&#8217;s because the bishops have made this same case over and over this year&#8211;first during budget negotiations in the spring, and then again when Congress and the Administration negotiated the debt ceiling compromise. Then as now, they warn against &#8220;cuts to programs that serve families working to make ends meet and escape poverty&#8221;, &#8220;undermining poverty-focused international assistance&#8221;, and &#8220;cuts to funding for refugee admissions and overseas refugee assistance programs.&#8221; There they go again. The poor, the poor, the poor. What happened to &#8220;Blessed are the top two percent&#8221;?<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=55273&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2011/09/02/bishops-to-supercommittee-dont-think-about-touching-programs-for-the-poor/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Religion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/religion/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">Amy Sullivan</media:title>
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