Franklin Graham, the son of famed evangelist Billy Graham, took aim at both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney yesterday, claiming that Obama has ties to Islam, and questioning whether the Mormon faith is a Christian religion. Graham, however, added that Romney would be a “good president” if he got the nomination. Graham may simply be fanning the flames for both Obama and Romney: only 4-in-10 (38%) Americans know that Obama is a Christian, while 36% of registered voters do not believe the Mormon faith is a Christian religion.

Gone are the days when Mitt Romney referred to his rivals as “honorable.” In case you needed proof that this is, in fact, one of the most negative campaigns in U.S. political history, take a look at this new study from the Washington Post.

The influence of SuperPACs, which have contributed in no small part to this historic negativity, riled up the ice cream company Ben and Jerry’s and inspired them to start a campaign against the Citizens United decision. Relatedly, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson who also opposes the decision reported that he may give up to $100 million in support of the eventual GOP nominee.

Meanwhile, everyone’s talking about Santorum, who’s been going after President Obama for his lack of adherence to the Bible on environmental issues. He’s also reaching out to white working-class voters, some of whom see him as more “down-to-earth” than Romney (for more on what Santorum’s appeal to this demographic means for the general election, check out this Huffington Post piece by Dr. Robert P. Jones). Even if Santorum keeps up his winning streak, however, there are certainly difficulties for him on the horizon. NPR suggests that female voters may turn out to be Santorum’s glass ceiling.

To cap it off, a new USA Today/Gallup poll shows that Republicans are overwhelmingly opposed to a brokered convention. With the way this election season is going, though, who knows what will happen. For example: here’s a headline I never thought I’d see: “Romney’s Money Problems.“

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When you have a worldview that elevates the Earth above man and says that we can’t take those resources because we’re going to harm the Earth; by things that frankly are just not scientifically proven, for example, the politicization of the whole global warming debate — this is all an attempt to, you know, to centralize power and to give more power to the government.

Climate change skepticism is not new to this season’s GOP race and it’s an issue with a strong partisan divide, but Santorum’s theological approach certainly stands apart (and with gas prices spiking, it’s probably not a coincidence).  Santorum has been taking a hard line on the economic consequences of environmental reform as well as the theological implications, blaming the president for frustrating energy development in coal country.

Santorum’s views on climate change, however, don’t exactly jive with those of his coreligionists. Seven-in-ten Catholics believe that the there is solid evidence that the average temperature on earth is getting warmer. And half of Catholics believe that climate change is being caused by human activity.

Although the Catholic hierarchy has not talked about the issue much recently, the issue of climate change is one in which Santorum also differs from leaders of his own faith. Last November, Pope Benedict XVI called on delegates to a U.N. climate change conference to agree on a “responsible and credible response to this worrisome and complex phenomenon.

Santorum’s theological views on environmental stewardship may not resonate with most Catholics. However, among Republican voters, many of who believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible, and who strongly doubt the existence of climate change, his views may find a more receptive audience.

Based on polling from the Public Religion Research Institute, which was widely cited last week in the media, I’ve compiled the four most important insights from the contraceptive debate, which shed light how conflicting interests hung in the balance and what implications the final compromise may have for the election.

1)Americans support the general principle behind the White House’s regulation. A majority (55 percent) of Americans agree that employers should be required to provide their employees with health care plans that cover contraception and birth control at no cost. Predictably, however, some demographic groups are more enthusiastic about the mandate than others. Roughly 6-in-10 Catholics (58 percent) agree with the requirement, broadly writ, although support is lower among Catholic voters (52 percent) and white Catholics (50 percent). Religiously unaffiliated Americans strongly support requiring employers to provide no-cost birth control (61 percent), while white mainline Protestants (50 percent) are divided. Notably, white evangelical Protestants, not Catholics, are the religious group most opposed to the general principle. Fewer than four-in-ten (38 percent) white evangelicals agree with the principle that employers should be required to provide their employees with health care plans that cover birth control at no cost.

To check out the rest of the piece, go to Dr. Jones’ Washington Post blog, “Figuring Faith.”

Rick Santorum made a splash over the weekend when he declared that President Obama’s agenda was a “phony theology,” one that is not “based on the Bible.” He walked his comments back a little after an uproar from the White House, acknowledging that Obama is a Christian. Ironically, Santorum’s affirmation of Obama’s Christian faith may help the president among the 4-in-10 Americans who say they can’t identify Obama’s religion.

The Virginia Senate will begin debating a controversial new abortion bill this week, one that would define a person as beginning at conception. Virginia has also been at the center of a heated debate over a bill that would require women seeking an abortion to undergo an ultrasound, an invasive procedure for women in early pregnancy.

At the New Republic, Ed Kilgore walks his readers through the complexities of the “Catholic vote,” using PRRI’s data.

Meanwhile, Glenn Beck (a Mormon) joined a growing chorus of conservative voices supporting the Catholic bishops’ opposition to the White House’s updated birth control mandate. At Bloomberg, Jonathan Alter argues that the bishops’ closest allies on the contraception issue are actually white evangelical Protestants – who share some of the same political views as Mormons. Our February survey found that evangelicals were far more likely to oppose the birth control mandate (with or without exemptions) than almost any religious group.

It was just a matter of time before someone referred to the wealthy backers of some the SuperPACs as “sugar daddies.” Rick Santorum may be trying to distance himself from Foster Freiss in the wake of Freiss’ offhand remarks about past forms of “contraception,” but it’s undeniable that SuperPACs have shaped the way the 2012 contest is being fought.

Find a story you’d like to see in Monday’s Buzz? I’d love to take a look – just reply to this email and send me your discovery! Also, don’t forget to share the Buzz with your friends. Send them this link to sign up. For updates and coverage throughout the day, follow us on Facebook or Twitter. Also a reminder that our CEO as well as yours truly are on Twitter: we’re @robertpjones and @PRRIAmelia.

The Obama administration’s compromise on contraception – namely that women who work for religiously affiliated institutions can obtain their birth control directly from insurers – has run into a rather large hiccup: namely, self-insurance. It turns out that many of these religiously affiliated institutions choose to insure themselves, and they’re not so keen on dispensing birth control even through their role as insurers. Meanwhile, Rick Santorum’s super-PAC funder, Foster Freiss, has a few choice words about how contraception used to work back in the good ol’ days.

Speaking of Mr. Santorum, he’s going meta with an amusing new ad which attacks Romney for using negative attack ads. The ad is very popular, but some commentators are calling Santorum the “Tim Tebow” of politics (a title that Rick Perry once sought to claim), predicting that although he may be beating the odds, he won’t make it to the end zone. For more on how negative ads could reshape this year’s election campaign, check out our blog.

In a piece for the Examiner, AEI scholar Michael Barone explains how Santorum has been appealing to blue-collar voters, and what that means for the GOP campaign. For more on the politics of the white working class in the 2012 election, check out this Huffington Post piece by our CEO, Dr. Robert P. Jones.

At the New Republic, William Galston assesses whether Obama can keep his momentum going until November (the short answer: it’s all about the economy).

A new Pew Research Center survey shows that nearly 1-in-10 (8.4%) of marriages in the U.S. are between interracial couples. An interesting finding: black men were more than twice as likely as black women to marry someone outside their race (24% to 9%). Check out this NPR piece for more.

In politics, fate is fickle. Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine says that he did not endorse Santorum, per se.

Find a story you’d like to see in Monday’s Buzz? I’d love to take a look – just reply to this email and send me your discovery! Also, don’t forget to share the Buzz with your friends. Send them this link to sign up. For updates and coverage throughout the day, follow us on Facebook or Twitter. Also a reminder that our CEO as well as yours truly are on Twitter: we’re @robertpjones and @PRRIAmelia.

In all seriousness, everything’s coming up Santorum – except for the fact that Romney is still getting more media coverage. Santorum’s advisers are busily talking up their candidate’s conservative cred on social issues, which is likely to play well among white evangelical Protestants.

Do people actually get more liberal as they age? A new study explains that changes in attitudes as people grow older “is most often toward increased tolerance rather than increased conservatism.”

As the American Catholic bishops ramp up their fight against the birth control mandate, liberal Catholics are challenging the bishops’ line. Meanwhile, if you wondered where Jewish groups were in all of this, take a look at this article.

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire wrote a letter to her colleague, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, appealing to him as a fellow Catholic on same-sex marriage. The different positions taken by these two Catholic governors is emblematic of the current state of the debate on this issue: religious Americans are on both sides of same-sex marriage. For more, check out this piece by our CEO, Dr. Robert P. Jones.

And at CPAC, Tea Party activists and Occupy Wall Street activists stopped yelling at each other and decided they had more in common than they thought.

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A new survey from Gallup shows that Catholics’ views of Obama didn’t shift during last week’s high-profile battle over contraceptives. And according to Pew, only 32% of Catholics who attend church weekly heard about the contraceptive debate in church, despite the American Catholic bishops’ attempts to encourage priests to preach about it. At Faith in Public Life, John Gehring points out that the bishops aren’t the only influential Catholic institution in the U.S.

A few weeks ago, our CEO, Dr. Robert P. Jones spoke on a panel about religion and the 2012 election. Now the panelists’ observations and insights have been consolidated into “10 Things You Should Know About Religion and the 2012 Election.” Check it out here.

Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich says that he’s going to stick it out at least until Super Tuesday. You’ve got to commend the guy for persistence, although the current picture is looking less rosy for whichever GOP hopeful eventually faces up against Obama. Analysis of a new Pew survey which asked about a head-to-head match-up between Romney and Obama reveals that the president is strong among many of the demographics that carried him to victory in 2008.

More hand-wringing in the wake of Pew’s new survey on Millennials and the recession fails to acknowledge the fact that even though many young adults are moving home because of financial limitations, they’re optimistic overall.

And, because Wednesday is the best day for bizarre news, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer was robbed by a machete-wielding intruder at his home in the West Indies last week. Thankfully, none of his family members or house guests were harmed. If you were surprised by the fact that the justice owns a Caribbean vacation house, so were the folk at the Washingtonian’s blog. Read more about Justice Breyer’s properties (as well as his reputation around the island where he vacations) here.

Find a story you’d like to see in Monday’s Buzz? I’d love to take a look – just reply to this email and send me your discovery! Also, don’t forget to share the Buzz with your friends. Send them this link to sign up. For updates and coverage throughout the day, follow us on Facebook or Twitter. Also a reminder that our CEO as well as yours truly are on Twitter: we’re @robertpjones and @PRRIAmelia.

Washington State joined six states and the District of Columbia yesterday afternoon when Gov. Chris Gregoire signed its same-sex marriage bill into law. For more on the same-sex marriage debate – and how different religious groups view this issue – check out this research note.

In Virginia, a law that was condemned as a thinly veiled attack on Muslim-Americans raised the ire of other religious groups. The bill would have prohibited judges from using any legal code established outside the U.S., and appears to have sprung from concerns about Shari’a law. Jews and Catholics spoke up against the bill, however, saying that it could also infringe on their religious liberty. Only 14% of Americans agree that American Muslims want to establish Shari’a or Islamic law as law of the land, while two-thirds (68%) disagree.

An article in the Washington Post explores a fascinating-sounding new book, which contains 25 “breathtakingly honest accounts of sex and romance” by young American Muslim women. Check it out here.

New numbers from Pew show that Santorum is picking up steam among Tea Party supporters and white evangelical Protestants. The same survey found that Romney is slipping among Independents. In late January, Republican voters perceived electability as Romney’s major strength, but that may not be enough to coax these two key groups into his camp.

And if you can stand to read any more about the debate over the birth control mandate, take a look at this post for the New York Times’ Economix blog. It’s a bit of a different perspective.

Find a story you’d like to see in Monday’s Buzz? I’d love to take a look – just reply to this email and send me your discovery! Also, don’t forget to share the Buzz with your friends. Send them this link to sign up. For updates and coverage throughout the day, follow us on Facebook or Twitter. Also a reminder that our CEO as well as yours truly are on Twitter: we’re @robertpjones and @PRRIAmelia.

Some of the quirkier tributes to Darwin included a “Phylum Feast” at a restaurant in Glasgow, Scotland, where diners could enjoy an “evolutionary menu featuring over 50 flora and fauna species.” [The American Museum of Natural History unveiled a new digital exhibit of Darwin’s papers, including the original pages of The Origin of Species – featuring some bonus drawings by Darwin’s son, including “a soldier on a carrot battling a cavalier on an eggplant.”

It’s worth noting that Americans are divided on the veracity of Darwin’s most famous theory. Last fall, a PRRI/RNS Religion News Survey investigated Americans’ views about evolution, and found that while a majority embrace the basic notion of evolution, many Americans leave room for an unearthly influence in the process.

A majority (57%) of Americans believe that humans and other living things have evolved over time, compared to 38% who say that humans and other living things have existed in their present form since creation. However, among those who believe that humans evolved over time, nearly 4-in-10 agree that “a supreme being guided the evolution,”while 53% believe that humans evolved due to natural processes.

The survey also found large differences between religious groups. For example:

• Among white evangelical Protestants roughly one-third (32%) believe in some type of evolution, compared to 61% of Catholics, nearly two-thirds (66%) of white mainline Protestants and nearly 8-in-10 (77%) of the religiously unaffiliated.
• However, the religiously unaffiliated represent the only group among whom a majority (56%) believe that humans evolved due to natural processes. Only 35% of white mainline Protestants, 27% of Catholics and 10% of white evangelicals affirm this belief.

Despite the disagreement about the particulars of evolutionary theory among many religious groups, some churches participated in celebrations of Darwin’s life, pointing to the fact that many Americans simultaneously believe in evolution and a supreme being. Indeed, according to the Rev. Betsey Monnot, an Episcopal pastor who studied physics in college, “Belief in one enhances the other.”

According to Pew, nearly a quarter (24%) of young adults have moved back in with their parents after living on their own because of financial hardship. Fully half (49%) of these young adults say they have taken a job they didn’t want, just to pay the bills, and 31% have postponed either getting married or having a baby. And only 30% of 18-34 year-old adults consider their current job a “career.”

A plurality (41%) of the general public agrees that young adults are having a tougher time financially than middle-aged or older adults. And large majorities of the public say that it’s harder for young adults to reach the financial goals that their parents took for granted. But in spite of all these gloomy numbers, young adults remain optimistic about their chances overall. Nearly 9-in-10 (88%) young adults say they either have or earn enough money now or expect they will in the future. Only 9% say they don’t think they will ever have enough to live the life they want.

It’s worth checking the whole survey out. The results are somewhat counterintuitive, but young adults’ hopefulness in the face of these tests is undeniable. A recent PRRI survey also found that Millennials are more likely to believe that the American Dream still holds true (48%) than they are to believe that it once held true, but not anymore (39%), so it’s striking that this generation, in spite of these challenges, can hold a sunny outlook about their futures.