The recent passage of an anti-choice amendment as part of the House health care bill has many asking whether Catholic bishops have been appointed an honorary seat in Congress.  The amendment – proposed by Michigan Democrat  Bart Stupak – severely restricts access to abortion in both the public option and any private plan purchased with the help of government subsidies.  Anti-choicers claim this is simply a restatement of the Hyde amendment which prohibits any federal funds from going towards abortions.  Pro-choicers argue this severely restricts access, particularly for poor women who will be more reliant on the public plan.  In the long run, this could also affect holders of private insurance as more and more private companies jockey to enter the public exchange.   Off little to no debate, however, is the role that the Catholic bishops played in making sure that abortion played a prominent role in health care reform deliberations. The Wall Street Journal reports on the numerous meetings between lobbyists from U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Speaker Pelosi. The bishops also distributed talking points and fliers to individual priests to rally grassroots support.  According to the WSJ, “Democratic leaders had hoped that a narrower compromise prohibiting the use of federal funds for abortions might win over antiabortion lawmakers, whose support was vital to passing the House bill. When the bishops made it clear in the final hours that they wouldn’t support the compromise, and would oppose the entire bill if it were adopted, more Democrats took notice”.   Read the article here.

And in related news, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is out there touting his own Catholic credentials.  Gingrich was never one to spout off about religion, that is, until recently. Dana Milbank at The Washington Post recaps a talk given by Gingerich Monday night at the American Enterprise Institute (entitled The Victory of the Cross: How Spiritual Renewal Helped Topple the Berlin Wall ) in which Gingrich says, “There is a secular-left model of reality which cannot tolerate the thought that state control fails, that tyranny is evil and that a liberated human being whose rights come from God is the centerpiece of the human future”…This is just the latest effort to shore up the religious right vote by a man who has already kowtowed to James Dobson on his radio program and published a book about the centrality of God in America.  Milbank cuts right to the quick, “Gingrich is calculating that everything will get easier for him politically as a religious conservative.”  And there’s no better word than calculating in this case.

The website Beliefnet reports on how conservative Christian voters are celebrating the results of Tuesday’s election.  The big win in the eyes of the Religious Right is of course the defeat of the same-gender marriage bill in Maine, but they also found reason to celebrate the election of governors Bob McDonnell in Virginia and Chris Christie in New Jersey. McDonnell is a Pat Robertson Regent University alum (who called working women a “determent” to American society in his Regent thesis) and he was championed by both Christian Coalition former head, Ralph Reed, and Sarah Palin.  NJ’s Christie got the seal of approval from none other than Tony Perkin’s FRC PAC. The interesting thing is neither Christie nor McDonnell made their anti-choice or anti-marriage equality views central to the campaign.  They talked more about taxes, the economy, and, in McDonnell’s case, transportation.  Tune into State of Belief this weekend, when journalist Sarah Posner will speak with Welton about the election results and offer some insight in why a figure like Bob McDonnell may become the model for Religious Right candidates of the future.

The New York Times offers an in-depth analysis of  how the marriage equality movement will recoop after the crushing defeat in Maine.  Voters in the state overturned a bill legalizing same – gender marriage, making Maine the 31st state to outlaw marriage for gay and lesbian couples.  It was a surprise given Maine’s supposedly liberal leanings and the equality pushed by other surrounding New England states. (Same – gender marriage is legal in Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut)

So, what does this mean for the larger gay rights movement?  The Times points out a handful of appraoches – from an agressive push to reverse Prop 8 in California to a more concentrated effort to repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act.  Others want to work to overturn the constitutional bans  on same – gender marriage still on the books in 30 states. 

Gay rights advocates do seem to agree that community – based conversations are the best grassroots approach, basically talking to members of their communities in an effort to prove that gay and lesbian couples are really no different than their straight neighbors.  Imagine that…
Read the article here.

The Los Angeles Times reports today on the controversy over health insurance for “spiritual healing.”  As the Times points out, two powerful Senators – Hatch and Kerry – are pushing a provision in the health care bill that would require insurance companies to consider covering prayer as a valid medical treatment. The provision would benefit the Christian Science community but has been met with considerable resistance from a variety of groups.  The Freedom From Religion Foundation fears that this would open the gates to other religious groups looking to be reimbursed for spiritual care and a law professor is quoted as saying this violates the First Amendment since one religious group will receive preferential treatment by the government.  And of course, there’s the argument over whether prayer can ever be considered a viable treatment, despite the testimony of one Christian Science Church official who says, “We are making the case for this, believing there is a connection between health care and spirituality.”  Read the article and tell us what you think…Does medical coverage for prayer violate the separation of church and state?

Journalist Sam Freedman has an insightful piece in his column On Religion for the New York Times about the growing acceptance of Paganism.  Pagans around the world celebrated the holiday of Samhain this past weekend.  Samhain – the autumnal new year for pagans – falls on the same night as the secular holiday, Halloween.  As Freedman points out, American society has become both more aware and more accepting of paganism in recent years.  Over the past decade, there’s been a dramatic growth in paganism and followers of this religion can now be found in the ranks of the military chaplaincy and the lecture halls of major universities – even on the air waves.  NPR’s Margot Adler is a best-selling pagan author.   Freedman also credits pop culture icons like Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer for “defanging” the Pagan faith.

Unfortunately – alongside the optimistic tone of Freedman’s piece comes disturbing news of a lawsuit in which a Pagan woman was fired because of her Wiccan faith.  The Connecticut woman lost her job at Bath and Body Works after asking to take vacation time in October to celebrate Samhain.  She was told by her manager, “I will be damned if I have a devil-worshipper on my team.”  Read more about the case here.

Humanist chaplain Greg Epstein is a guest on this week’s State of Belief and his work is also featured in the current Washington Post On Faith section. The title of his book, Good Without God, is the inspiration for a question posed to On Faith panelists – and the answers are telling.  Can you be good without God? The question solicits a variety for answers from atheists who find the question a non-starter to Christian conservatives who offer a line of reasoning that implies one can be good without God but only because God makes it so.  Check out the different viewpoints here.

Blog post courtesy of Arielle Gingold
Interfaith Alliance’s Public Policy Manager

If Mel Brooks were to rewrite the satirical song ”Spring Time for Hitler” from his Broadway musical, The Producers, and incorporate current events, I imagine he’d have some great quips about the countless inappropriate Hitler references being made these days.  Unfortunately, he’d have a lot of material to work with thanks to people like Richard Land, Glen Beck, and Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL).  Troubled by these inappropriate Holocaust analogies specifically, and by the general lack of civility in public discourse more broadly, State of Belief host and Interfaith Alliance president Welton Gaddy encouraged a diverse group of clergy  to speak out today with one voice. 

Read the open letter in which 15 distinguished faith leaders join Welton to call upon elected officials, pundits, commentators, and all those who are engaged in public debate to “restore civility to our national dialogue.”   In addition to Welton, other signers include the Religious Action Center’s Rabbi David Saperstein and the Islamic Society of North America’s Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed.  Let’s all do our part to challenge incivility and intolerance, for “perpetrators of such language harm rather than help both the integrity of the democratic process and the credibility of religious commentary.”

2009 911 Unity Walk: On an overcast day the mood was significantly brightened by the annual 911 Unity walk in Washington, DC on October 18. The goal of this annual walk is reminiscent of Gandhi’s Walks — to build bridges between faiths. In that spirit, every church, synagogue, mosque and temple along Massachusetts Avenue’s Embassy Row in Washington, DC has for the past 5 years opened their doors to each other and symbolically the world. The walk, started after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, continues to work to tear down the walls of suspicion. From the Washington Hebrew Congregation to the Indian Embassy, Churches, the National Gurdwara, the Soka Gakkai Buddhists Center, Vatican Embassy (Great Cookies) welcomed and fed walkers, answered questions and even wrapped volunteers in colorful Sikh Turbans.

Comments along the Unity Walk: I wanted to see some of the presentations from different faith
Mohe and Shavana (Muslim)

“I got involved when it first started 5 years ago. I would like to see racial prejudice go away. The exciting part of this year is lots of new faces Volunteer- Nick

Came with a friend who is a regular Unity walker I believe in all religions and enjoyed seeing different places of worship. (Unity)
New walker Leslie and veteran Stephanie

Two days later we hosted a group of 11 international guests from Mali, West Africa in our office for a discussion of faith and society in the US. The group included Imams, Doctors, and a protestant Pastor touring the US (Michigan, Washington, DC.) They have an Interfaith Alliance of Mali, formed in 1980 to bring Muslim and Christians together to build better relations. The group wanted to know how we work. How does the Interfaith Alliance bring people together? Who are your members? What are your greatest challenge? In many ways they face the same issues of misperception and fear of “the other” and religion used as a weapon instead of a healing force that is the basis of our work. Good people!

Host Welton Gaddy is featured once again in the Washington Post blog On Faith. This week’s question is about hate crimes. The site’s editors ask panelists whether it is necessary for Congress to expand hate crimes legislation to include individuals targeted for their sexual orientation. (This would add sexual orientation to  already protected classes like “race, color, religion and national origin”)  

Welton answers the question with a resounding, “Yes!”.  He writes, “”The sacred scriptures of many different religious traditions speak with dramatic unanimity against intolerance. Every person in America should enjoy the strongest possible guarantee of freedom from attacks motivated by bigotry. If we aspire to be true to the prophetic core of our religions, we cannot condemn hate and then sit idly by while acts of hatred destroy our communities.” Read the rest of his post here.

As much as we regret when other radio programs beat us to the punch on great religion and culture stories, we have to give credit where credit is due and local New York NPR show host Brian Lehrer had a fascinating interview today with journalist and screenwriter Suketu Mehta. Mehta joined Brian Lehrer to talk about his contribution to the new film, “New York, I Love You,” a series of shorts about the city. Mehta wrote a vignette that stars Natalie Portman as a Hasidic woman who falls in love with a Jain man who sells gems in the Diamond District of Manhattan. And although New Yorkers might be particularly interested in the interview about their hometown, Mehta also provides  some fascinating insight into inter religious relationships. We were particularly intrigued by the part of the interview when Lehrer and Mehta talk about how a lot of the hair that is used to make wigs for Hasidic women actually comes from Hindu temples in India whose members offer their hair as sacrifices. Through the wonder that is the global village, the hair is then sold to wig makers whose customers include Hasidic women in the States. Listen to the interview to learn more.

News outlets like JTA, The Daily Beast and Huffington Post  have all picked up on a letter that two South Carolina chairman – Edwin Merwin and James Ulmer – recently published in a local South Carolina paper in which they claim to be “defending” Senator Jim DeMint.  In response to allegations that DeMint has not brought enough money into his state, his two fellow Republicans write, “There is a saying that the Jews who are wealthy got that way not by watching dollars, but instead by taking care of the pennies and the dollars taking care of themselves…By not using earmarks to fund projects for South Carolina and instead using actual bills, DeMint is watching our nation’s pennies and trying to preserve our country’s wealth and our economy’s viability to give all an opportunity to succeed.”
 
And they really thought they were defending him?! Maybe they didn’t mean this a veiled insult of Judaism, but do these two GOPers really have such a warped and narrow view of the Jewish faith that they think they are actaully  complimenting DeMint and his religious background by writing that?  After condemnation from the Republican Jewish Coaltion and others, Merwin and Ulmer have issued apologies for the remarks.

Earlier we posted about Daniel Burke’s Religion News Service article on the new “New Atheists”, and now NPR’s Barbara Bradley Hagerty adds another perspective to this debate.   Hagerty interviews a spectrum of guests about the future of the “New Atheist” movement, including Christopher Hitchens, PZ Myers, and Paul Kurtz founder of the Center for Inquiry.   Take a listen to her report on today’s Morning Edition.

Daniel Burke of Religion News Service just released an interesting article about what he calls Atheism 3.0 or the new “New Atheists”.   Although best-selling writers like Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins paint the divide between believers and non-believers as black and white, Burke says there’s actually a grey area, too.  He points to a crop of writers and thinkers who are non-believers but who also don’t think religion is all bad.  Basically, faith might not be right for them, but it’s not necessarily wrong for all of society.  Greg Epstein, an up coming guest on the program for his new book, Good Without God, tells Burke, “The work that we need to do, we atheists, humanists and non-believers, is to build a better world and not try to tear down those with whom we disagree.”  Perhaps this approach will help usher in a new type of conversation between believers and non-believers…or at least a different tone than the screaming match we have witnessed thus far between the “new Atheists” and fundamentalists.

News out of California late yesterday had us dusting off an intersection award for the state’s governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Religion News Service reports that Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill intended to promote understanding of the Sikh religion.  Known informally as the “kirpan bill,” the legislation would have required all state police officers to receive training in the kirpan, a small dagger which Sikhs carry on their body.  The kirpan is one of 5 articles of faith worn by followers of this religion. Despite the fact that the bill passed both houses of legislation, Schwarzenegger still deemed it “unecessary”.  It’s an unfortunate lack of religious understanding on the governor’s part – especially in a state that boasts the country’s largest Sikh population.

Want to learn more? Listen back to Welton’s conversation with Rajbir Singh Datta, the National Director of SALDEF – Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Steven Colbert had a great riff Wednesday night on the recent Supreme Court case about the Mojave Cross.  The case involves a large white cross that was erected on federal land as a memorial to fallen soldiers. In a rather odd line of reasoning, Justice Scalia argued the cross isn’t necessarily a Christian symbol, saying: “It’s the — the cross is the — is the most common symbol of — of — of the resting place of the dead, and it doesn’t seem to me — what would you have them erect? A cross — some conglomerate of a cross, a Star of David, and you know, a Moslem half moon and star?”

During the proceedings, ACLU lawyer Peter Eliasberg pointed out that the cross is not a universal symbol of death since one is hard-pressed to find a cross in a Jewish cemetery. 

And now, Steven Colbert jokes that maybe the cross is actually a symbol of gratitude – a big “T” for “Thanks, Jews”. Take  a look:

And on a more serious note, Paul Waldman has a great piece over at The American Prospect in which he argues that Scalia’s convoluted comments do not show the lack of a brain. No, what the Justice  lacks is heart! Waldman says this case is really about empathy and the lack of empathy that some in the Christian majority (Scalia included) have for religious minorities or non-religious Americans. Read his piece here.