October 8, 2008 | 12:00 pm

Younger religious voters have different, more liberal values

I missed the conference call with reporters 30 minutes ago, but I’ve still got the summarized findings from a new poll by Faith in Public Life. The survey focused on the politics of youngish—18 to 34—religious folks.

“Younger believers—including Catholics and white evangelicals—are significantly more supportive of bigger government and expanding diplomatic efforts abroad.  It’s not surprising, therefore, that they are supporting some of the ideas put forward by the Democrats in 2008. It may very well be that in this election, the conventional wisdom about the ‘values voters’—who they are and what they want—gets turned on its head,” D. Michael Lindsay, author of “Faith In The Halls of Power,” who provided analysis on the call, said.

You’ll recognize a lot of common themes in these bullet points:

Monthly worship attenders swing to Obama in 2008. The greatest shift in candidate preference between 2004 and 2008 has occurred among all voters who attend religious services once or twice a month, moving from 49% support for Kerry in 2004 to 60% support for Obama in 2008.

More Americans think Obama is friendly to religion than McCain. Forty-nine percent of Americans say Obama is friendly to religion, while 45% say McCain is friendly to religion. More than seven-in-ten (71%) say it is important for public officials to be comfortable talking about religious values.

Younger white evangelicals strongly oppose abortion rights but are less conservative and more supportive of same-sex marriage than older evangelicals.  Young white evangelicals are strongly opposed to abortion rights, with two-thirds saying abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. Yet, less than a majority (49%) of younger evangelicals identify as conservative, compared to nearly two-thirds (65%) of older evangelicals.  Among young evangelicals, a majority favor either same-sex marriage (24%) or civil unions (28%), compared to a majority (61%) of older evangelicals who favor no legal recognition of gay couples’ relationships.

Younger white evangelicals are more pluralistic and more supportive of active government at home and of diplomacy abroad. While less than one-third (30%) of older evangelicals say a person can be moral without believing in God, 44% of younger evangelicals affirm this idea, a 14-point gap. A majority (56%) of younger evangelicals believe diplomacy rather than military strength is the best way to ensure peace, compared to only 44% of older white evangelicals. Younger white evangelicals are also more likely than older white evangelicals to favor a bigger government offering more services, by a margin of 21 points (44% and 23% respectively).

Americans say economy, energy and gas prices, and health care are the most important issues in 2008. Americans rank the economy (83%) and energy/gas prices (76%), and health care (71%) as the most important issues in the 2008 election. Economic issues topped the list of most important issues among all religious groups.

Americans rank abortion and same-sex marriage as the least important issues in 2008. Only 43% and 28% respectively say these issues are very important issues to their vote in 2008. White evangelicals do not rank abortion or same-sex marriage in their top five most important voting issues.

Generation gap on same-sex marriage is large and increasing. Nearly half (46%) of young adults say gay couples should be allowed to marry, compared to only 29% of Americans overall. Over the last two years, support for same-sex marriage among young adults has jumped 9 points (from 37% to 46%), and the generation gap has nearly doubled.

Support for same-sex marriage is significant among young religious Americans. Among young white mainline Protestants and Catholics, close to half (48% and 44% respectively) support same-sex marriage. Young white evangelicals are 2.5 times as likely as older evangelicals to say that gay couples should be allowed to marry (25% to 9%).

You can scan the entire report here.

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg in 1 Comments — Leave your comment

Tags: politics, religion

Share this post: del.icio.us Digg Facebook Google Bookmarks Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati YahooMyWeb

October 8, 2008 | 11:36 am

Catholic priest comes out, supports gay marriage

The Rev. Geoffrey Farrow, a Fresno priest, used the pulpit Sunday to speak out against the Catholic Church’s support of Proposition 8, the California ballot measure that would amend the state constitution to forbid gay marriage.

“Farrow said during the Mass that parishioners had asked him for direction and advice about Prop 8. He said he came to the realization that he had to go against the church,” The Bee reported. “Before the Mass, he also told Channel 30 that he is gay.”

Fresno Bishop John Steinbock said the church is not opposing full legal rights for same-sex couples but is fighting for the sanctity of marriage. (I don’t agree with this argument, which I think is a strawman, or Prop. 8, but that’s another discussion.) As you can imagine, Farrow has cleaned out his office and moved out of the parish.

The text of Farrow’s homily, courtesy of Pam’s House Blend, is after the jump:

Read more of this post

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg in 2 Comments — Leave your comment

Tags: california, catholicism, homosexuality

Share this post: del.icio.us Digg Facebook Google Bookmarks Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati YahooMyWeb

October 8, 2008 | 11:12 am

Anti-Semites piling on as global economy plummets

Here we go. The holy trinity of Jewish journalism—JTA, Rob Eshman and The God Blog, naturally—have all drawn attention to the blame being launched at The Jews for the economic crisis, which, congruent with beliefs about Jewish domination of global finances, has now spread across the world..

Last week, the Anti-Defamation League noted a spike on anti-Semitic activity online since Lehman Brothers, which was started by three Jewish immigrants, went bankrupt. Over the weekend, “Saturday Night Live” ran a sketch that identified Herb and Marion Sandler as “People who should be shot,” and JTA sought a connection between “SNL’s” joke and comments on the oh-so-white supremacist Vanguard News Network. (You might remember VNN from my article about Cal State Long Beach’s Kevin MacDonald).

“It’s really more like vampires sucking a corpse dry,” wrote the commenter, identified on the site as Sgruber. “Jews are destroyers. They aren’t after their own long-range advantage. Long-range they want the earth plunged into a Dark Ages of endless poverty. This is why the jews must be killed. They are rats eating the grain and the brain of the world.”

And then Rob penned this column: “Wall Street, Main Street and Jew Street.” History is at play here, and it’s not a pretty one. Times of financial difficult have historically been times of persecution and scapegoating of Jews who, yes, have historically been bankers and money changers and, yes, were among some of the leaders of the U.S. financial market.

Rob writes:

It is open season on the big city. In their bid for those elusive independent, middle-class voters, McCain and Obama and their seconds, Sen. Joe Biden and Palin, are fanning the myth that the real America resides in some shining Mayberry on a hill. If only those nasty money changers and culture vultures in the seething cities below would just let them sow their wheat and do their books and raise their children up good.

These tropes are not new to America; they are older than Shylock. The Jews make up the city: corrupt, scheming, complicated; while the common folk, the good people, occupy the farms and villages. The Jews lord over the metropolises, making easy money off the hard labor of others.

There’s an overlooked and ultimately sympathetic 1934 movie, “The House of Rothschild,” which perfectly captures the previous centuries of anti-Semitic caricature.

The film opens in 1750 on Frankfort’s “Jew Street,” as Mayer Amschel, founder of the Rothschild line, scurries to hide his precious guilden from the cruel tax collector.

“They keep us in chains!” he tells his boys. “They won’t let us learn a trade! They won’t let us own land. So make money. Money is the only weapon the Jew has to defend himself with.”

This stereotype and its accompanying rhetoric only ramps up in times of economic crisis. During the Great Depression, anti-Semitism was most virulent not in the cities where Jews lived but in the Farm Belt and Far West, where the image of “the Jew” lived.

Now the Anti-Defamation League reports “a dramatic upsurge in the number of anti-Semitic statements being posted to Internet discussion boards devoted to finance and the economy.”

Scan those Web sites and you quickly see what the candidates themselves likely don’t even realize: For the bigots and haters, Wall Street is code, the city is code, Hollywood—a staple enemy in the culture wars—is code. They’re code for “Jew.”

We shouldn’t be surprised. After all, when Palin said, “We grow good people in small towns,” she was quoting the late Westbrook Pegler, a notorious anti-Semitic columnist who called Jews “geese,” because “they hiss when they talk, gulp down everything before them and foul everything in their wake.”

Our candidates and our talking heads should be ashamed or, at least, careful. Because not only are such black-and-white dichotomies dangerous, they’re dumb.

Read the rest of the column here.

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg in 3 Comments — Leave your comment

Tags: america, anti-semitism, economy, jewish journal

Share this post: del.icio.us Digg Facebook Google Bookmarks Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati YahooMyWeb

October 8, 2008 | 8:43 am

Scalping tickets for Yom Kippur

The above video, “Bad Karma on the Kippur,” was sent to me by Rachel Axelbank, and it reminds me of another great “Curb Your Enthusiasm” episode. You can see a clip from ”The Larry David Sandwich,” in which Larry David buys High Holy Day tickets from a scalper, after the jump.

For those who can’t even scalp tickets, or are too lazy to get off the couch, tonight there is an online alternative for Kol Nidre. It’s part of Jay Sanderson’s vision to make Judaism more easily available to the unaffiliated. And it features the wisdom of my boss’ wife, who, I just learned, is Oprah’s rabbi:

Rabbi Naomi Levy, who has spoken with Oprah about spirituality, is allowing her Kol Nidre service, which marks the beginning of Yom Kippur, to be broadcast online at JewishTVnetwork.com. The service starts at 8 p.m. in Chicago.

There is real value to what she is doing. Not every Jew is affiliated with a synagogue or temple. Some are between cities, between jobs, disabled, cannot afford a membership to a congregation or have simply walked away from the faith.

And some are like me: not willing to leave the faith but no longer an active participant. It has probably been a decade since I last attended services for Yom Kippur.

Yet I believe in the notion of Yom Kippur. Not to atone for my sins, but rather as a day spent reflecting about my family, my career, my departed but beloved parents and where this life may be heading.

It’s a good day, actually, spiritual in its own sense and one I’ve come to embrace. It’s my current reflection of religion.

But I like to keep every door open, even it’s virtual, and I’m intrigued by Rabbi Levy’s approach to Judaism. She’s started a movement called Nashuva, which translates to ‘we will return.’

“The mission of Nashuva is reach unaffiliated Jews and those that have become disconnected from the religion, for whatever reason,” she told me, adding that surveys show about half of American Jews—more in urban areas—no longer feel affiliated with the faith.

Her services, which are held in a church in Brentwood, Calif., take a non-traditional approach to traditional prayers. She uses a band stocked with studio musicians, not all of them Jewish, and they bring country, gospel and African rhythms to the service.

“We’ve had services on a beach and in a meadow at a state park,” Rabbi Levy said. “We try all different approaches to reach Jews.”

Being online is an obvious extension of Neshuva. But is it for me? It certainly appeals to my techie persona, but will it appeal to my religious beliefs, even if they are somewhat nebulous?

As I previously mentioned, I’ll be spending Kol Nidre at IKAR. It’s my first time. Should be interesting.

Read more of this post

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg in 0 Comments — Leave your comment

Tags: holidays, judaism, satire

Share this post: del.icio.us Digg Facebook Google Bookmarks Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati YahooMyWeb

October 7, 2008 | 5:24 pm

Open thread: Presidential debate

Unlike with the veeps debate last week, tonight I’ll be watching but not liveblogging the potential presidentials brouhaha. Sites that will be dissecting the every words of Barack Obama and John McCain include The Caucus, Top of the Ticket and probably Christianity Today’s politics blog.

Any predictions?

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg in 1 Comments — Leave your comment

Tags: barack obama, debates, john mccain, president 08

Share this post: del.icio.us Digg Facebook Google Bookmarks Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati YahooMyWeb

October 7, 2008 | 5:16 pm

Oregon judge rules against 13-year-old’s circumcision

TimeOut NY

A legal case playing out now in Oregon is steeped in questions of family law, religious freedom and foreskin. The AP reports:

PORTLAND — The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an Oregon dispute between a father who wants to circumcise his 13-year-old son against the wishes of the boy’s mother.

The case now goes back to an Oregon trial judge to determine whether the boy wants to undergo the procedure.

James Boldt converted to Judaism and says his son wants to be circumcised for religious reasons.

But his ex-wife, Lia Boldt, claims that her son is afraid to tell his father that he does not want to undergo the procedure.

Circumcision, constantly under attack from reformers as barbaric, is a perennially hot topic, and this is not the first time we’ve broach adult, or at least young adult, circumcision on the blog. It doesn’t take a First Amendment expert to recognize how significant a case this could end up being.

“It is not going too far out on a limb to come to the conclusion that this case prevents freedom of religion, and is an invasion of privacy,” Rabbi Yonah writes.

Man, high school is bad enough. Imagine how embarrassing it would be if the lawsuit your father filed to remove your foreskin—SFW—made it all the way to the Supreme Court and was talked about in major papers and on NPR, maybe even someday referenced in other cases like Cartman v. Broflovski, a clip of which is after the jump.

Read more of this post

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg in 9 Comments — Leave your comment

Tags: circumcision, family, judaism, the law

Share this post: del.icio.us Digg Facebook Google Bookmarks Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati YahooMyWeb

October 7, 2008 | 4:02 pm

Has Mike Huckabee lost his way?

I just came across two blog posts that suggest Church Norris Mike Huckabee is no longer the populist proponent of a new evangelical dialogue.

When campaigning in the Republican primary, Huck definitely went overboard in promoting himself as Jesus’ pick for president and in saying that we need to ”change the Constitution” for God. But he also added poverty, education and the environment to his agenda. There was hope this was joining the chorus of diversity on the evangelical political spectrum.

Now, though, Mark Silk writes that now Huckabee, who got a show on Fox News (I wouldn’t know), is rallying soldiers in war against the bailout, and Dan Gilgoff of God-o-Meter reports that Huck has returned to the red-meat Republican issues:

That big-tent Huck seems to be in much shorter supply now. An email the Arkansas governor just sent out soliciting donations for his political action committee--whose beneficiaries include John McCain and Sarah Palin--asks fors $5 for each of these five red meat issues:

1. Protection of Human Life 2. Traditional Marriage 3. Tax policy that doesn’t punish people for working, but rewards them 4. 2nd amendment rights 5. Supreme Court and Federal Court judge selection

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg in 11 Comments — Leave your comment

Tags: evangelicals, mike huckabee, politics

Share this post: del.icio.us Digg Facebook Google Bookmarks Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati YahooMyWeb

October 7, 2008 | 2:52 pm

Christian pre-fall-fundamentalists celebrate naked mass

Seriously, sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. This installment from the pre-fall-fundamentalist Christians of the Netherlands.

Naked celebrants abandoned plans to hold a second service after media coverage of their first mass, held in a nudist park during the summer, led to a flood of threatening phone calls and emails from more orthodox Christians.

“We are just a group of Christians and we want to hold a church service.”

OK, seriously, what is wrong with that first sentence? More orthodox Christians ... You mean, everybody beside the wacky Christian naturists.

I hope these naturists aren’t Catholic. It would be really awkward having to genuflect.

(Hat tip: Friendly Atheist)

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg in 5 Comments — Leave your comment

Tags: christianity, europe, pornography, unusual

Share this post: del.icio.us Digg Facebook Google Bookmarks Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati YahooMyWeb

October 7, 2008 | 11:06 am

Faith + 1 first album goes myrrh

South Park Studios has expanded their video offerings, and last night I found the clip from “Christian Rock Hard” that I said was one of my favorites. Disclaimer: Cartman takes the Lord’s name in vain and causes at least one fan’s ears to bleed.

Previously, I wrote about the world of Christian pop culture and about what happens when a Christian musician loses their faith.

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg in 0 Comments — Leave your comment

Tags: music, south park

Share this post: del.icio.us Digg Facebook Google Bookmarks Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati YahooMyWeb

October 7, 2008 | 8:42 am

Poll: Palestinians prefer McCain

All these months the Republican Jewish apparatchik have been telling me that Palestinians favor Barack Obama over John McCain in the U.S. presidential election. Al-Jazeera reported that Palestinians were phone-banking for Obama, and at one point the Democratic nominee was given the Hamas stamp of approval, though that was withdrawn after Obama’s speech to AIPAC. And then there was that poll that showed Israelis preferred McCain.

Israeli support reversed in July to Obama and now, surprisingly, it appears Palestinians prefer McCain too. Look at this info from the Palestinian Center for Publican Opinion and its director Nabil Kukali:

the most significant finding the poll results unveiled is that a substantial rate of the Palestinian public (33.5 %) are at present in favor of Mr. John McCain, the candidate of the US Republicans, as the coming President of the United States of America, whilst Mr. Barack Obama, the candidate of the Democratic Party, scored (27.7 %). (30.4 %) of the Palestinians said they “favor neither of them” and (8.3 %) declined to answer.

Dr. Kukali indicated in his comments on these results that the modest support for Mr. Barack Obama could be attributed to his previous declarations about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that agitated among the Palestinians a feeling of discontent as he said that “the City of Jerusalem should remain the capital of Israel and must be kept unified. And the right of the Palestinians to re-claim Jerusalem should be left to the negotiations between the two conflict parties”. “Mr. Obama emphasized thereby the legitimate right of Israel to annex the whole city”, Dr. Kukali said.

I don’t buy that explanation. McCain has been portrayed from day one as a career defender of Israel and a leader whose foreign policy would remain deeply committed to protecting her. I can’t imagine that lingering sentiments over what Obama said at AIPAC, which he retreated from the next day, could really have overshadowed that. Something else is at play here, but I don’t know what.

(Hat tip: Jewlicious)

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg in 3 Comments — Leave your comment

Tags: barack obama, israel, john mccain, palestinians, president 08

Share this post: del.icio.us Digg Facebook Google Bookmarks Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati YahooMyWeb

October 6, 2008 | 4:16 pm

Worshipping Allah at the Jesus Christ Mosque

In Israel, Jesus Christ had his tomb. On Broadway, his play. And now in Jordan, God’s son has his own mosque:

A mosque named after the central figure of Christianity is the latest milestone of interfaith coexistence in Jordan.

Both Muslim and Christian leaders expressed delight when the Jesus Christ Mosque opened a few months ago in the tranquil town of Madaba, 30 km south of the capital, Amman.

‘This is a message to the world that Muslims consider Jesus Christ their own messenger because he informed humanity beforehand that the Prophet Mohamed was coming,’ the mosque’s prayer leader, Belal Hanini, told DPA.

‘It also proves that Islam is a religion of tolerance and has nothing to do with extremism,’ he said.

Not really sure how naming a mosque after a figure whom Muslims consider their own prophet “proves” anything. But it’s still kind of interesting.

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg in 3 Comments — Leave your comment

Tags: islam, jesus, middle east

Share this post: del.icio.us Digg Facebook Google Bookmarks Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati YahooMyWeb

October 6, 2008 | 2:00 pm

Sarah Palin and me

The highlight of my eventful weekend was definitely meeting Sarah Palin on her visit to the Southland. This beat my meeting with Israel’s Ehud Olmert by a long shot.

And you thought I was a Palin hater.

Here we are at the Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair. You wouldn’t believe how enlightening our conversation was. She’s not nearly as shallow as Tina Fey would have you think.

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg in 7 Comments — Leave your comment

Tags: personal, sarah palin

Share this post: del.icio.us Digg Facebook Google Bookmarks