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<div class="title" id="a538980237"><a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2009/04/should_christia.html">Should Christians Participate in the Day of Silence?</a></div>
<div class="deck"></div>
<div class="text2"><b></b> | April 16, 2009</div>

<div style="float: right; padding-left: 10px;"><a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/upload/2009/04/dos.jpg"><img src="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/upload/2009/04/dos-thumb.jpg" width="190" height="163" alt="dos.jpg"/></a></div>

<p>That's the question <a href="http://wthrockmorton.com/2009/04/13/golden-rule-pledge-how-about-something-really-different/">Warren Throckmorton</a> and <a href="http://www.illinoisfamily.org/news/contentview.asp?c=34354">Laurie Higgins</a> are grappling with on their websites. Tomorrow is the <a href="http://www.dayofsilence.org/content/gi_faq.html">Day of Silence</a>, when students in middle schools and high schools are urged to take a vow of silence in support of gay students who experience discrimination. </p>

<p>Throckmorton, who is a psychology professor at Grove City College, <a href="http://wthrockmorton.com/2009/04/13/golden-rule-pledge-how-about-something-really-different/">says yay</a>: </p>

<div style="float: right; padding-left: 10px;"><a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/upload/2009/04/golden-rule.PNG"><img src="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/upload/2009/04/golden-rule-thumb.PNG" width="190" height="151" alt="golden-rule.PNG"/></a></div>

<blockquote>

<p>Without altering convictions about sexuality, I propose that evangelicals should have something more to contribute than a protest toward the elimination of hostility and aggression against gay people and other people who are viewed as different. Indeed, we should be leading the way to make schools safe and build bridges to those who often equate "Christian" with condemnation.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Higgins of the Illinois Family Institute <a href="http://www.illinoisfamily.org/news/contentview.asp?c=34354">says nay</a>:</p>

<div style="float: right; padding-left: 10px;"><a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/upload/2009/04/walkout.jpg"><img src="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/upload/2009/04/walkout-thumb.jpg" width="190" height="91" alt="walkout.jpg"/></a></div>

<blockquote>

<p>If parents leave their children in school on the Day of Silence as Dr. Throckmorton recommends, they become complicit in the exploitation of the classroom for partisan political purposes. Dr. Throckmorton's misguided effort does nothing to restore political neutrality to public education. In fact, his effort will help to further institutionalize GLSEN efforts to use public education to undermine orthodox Christian beliefs on the complex and emotionally charged issue of homosexuality.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Throckmorton wants Christians students to carry cards referencing the <a href="http://www.goldenrulepledge.com/">Golden Rule</a>: "I pledge to treat others the way I want to be treated. 'Do to others as you would have them do to you.'" Higgins wants a <a href="http://www.illinoisfamily.org/news/contentview.asp?c=34332">walkout</a>.</p>

<p>Another group, the Alliance Defense Fund, advocates for the <a href="http://www.dayoftruth.org/main/default.aspx">Day of Truth</a>. On April 20 students are asked to wear T-shirts and pass out cards that tell gay students they can alter their sexual orientation. The cards will say:</p>

<div style="float: right; padding-left: 10px;"><a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/upload/2009/04/dot.jpg"><img src="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/upload/2009/04/dot-thumb.jpg" width="190" height="142" alt="dot.jpg"/></a></div>

<blockquote>

<p>I'm speaking the Truth to break the silence.<br />
True tolerance means that people with differing -- even opposing -- viewpoints can freely exchange ideas and respectfully listen to each other.<br />
It's time for an honest conversation about homosexuality.<br />
There's freedom to change if you want to.<br />
Let's talk.</p>

</blockquote>



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<p class="posted">
Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2009/04/should_christia.html">April 16, 2009</a>
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<div class="title" id="a538979051"><a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/12/newsweeks_relig.html">Newsweek's Religious Case for Gay Marriage</a></div>
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<div class="text2"><b></b> | December  8, 2008</div>

<p><em>Newsweek</em>'s <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/172653">cover story</a> attempts to tackle gay marriage from a biblical perspective.</p>

<p>"In the Old Testament, the concept of family is fundamental, but examples of what social conservatives would call 'the traditional family' are scarcely to be found," Lisa Miller writes. Here's her opening paragraph:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Let's try for a minute to take the religious conservatives at their word and define marriage as the Bible does. Shall we look to Abraham, the great patriarch, who slept with his servant when he discovered his beloved wife Sarah was infertile? Or to Jacob, who fathered children with four different women (two sisters and their servants)? Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon and the kings of Judah and Israel - all these fathers and heroes were polygamists. The New Testament model of marriage is hardly better. Jesus himself was single and preached an indifference to earthly attachments - especially family. The apostle Paul (also single) regarded marriage as an act of last resort for those unable to contain their animal lust. "It is better to marry than to burn with passion," says the apostle, in one of the most lukewarm endorsements of a treasured institution ever uttered. Would any contemporary heterosexual married couple - who likely woke up on their wedding day harboring some optimistic and newfangled ideas about gender equality and romantic love - turn to the Bible as a how-to script?</p>

<p>Of course not, yet the religious opponents of gay marriage would have it be so.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>To those who believe marriage should be between a man and a woman, Miller says there are two obvious responses:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>First, while the Bible and Jesus say many important things about love and family, neither explicitly defines marriage as between one man and one woman. And second, as the examples above illustrate, no sensible modern person wants marriage - theirs or anyone else's  - to look in its particulars anything like what the Bible describes.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Mollie Hemingway has promptly taken the article to task at <a href="http://www.getreligion.org/?p=4204">GetReligion</a>. CT posted a classic today in response: <a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/september/11.36.html">What God Hath Not Joined</a> | Sorry, Newsweek: the Bible is in fact quite clear on why marriage was designed for male and female.</p>



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Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/12/newsweeks_relig.html">December  8, 2008</a>
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<div class="title" id="a538978897"><a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/11/the_states_that.html">The States that Ban Gay Marriage</a></div>
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<div class="text2"><b></b> | November 13, 2008</div>

<p>Protests over Proposition 8 <a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ghGk5Lj6-e5KJOZMpIzs-pBPVnTAD94E1M2O0">continue</a>, and gay-marriage advocates are attempting to <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10966760?source=most_emailed">collect signatures</a> for a ballot initiative to reverse the ban in California, the Associated Press reports.</p>

<p>The <a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/connecticut/ny-bc-ct--gaymarriage1113nov13,0,1952452.story">AP reports</a> that Connecticut issued 58 marriage licenses to same-sex couples yesterday, the first day that gays and lesbians could get married in the state. </p>

<p>Twenty-six states have amended their constitutions to ban gay marriage, and the always-excellent Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has released a <a href="http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=370">helpful graphic</a> that which states banned gay marriage when, starting with Alaska in 1998.</p>



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Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/11/the_states_that.html">November 13, 2008</a>
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<div class="title" id="a538978867"><a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/11/protesters_marc.html">Protesters March in Front of Saddleback</a></div>
<div class="deck"></div>
<div class="text2"><b></b> | November 10, 2008</div>

<p>Several Mormon churches and Rick Warren's Saddleback Church are taking heat for California's decision to ban gay marriage.</p>

<p>About 1,000 people protested in front of Saddleback, according to the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/us/10protest.html?ref=us">Associated Press</a>. Warren <a href="http://saddlebackfamily.com/blogs/newsandviews/index.html?contentid=1502">had endorsed</a> Proposition 8 before it was passed with <a href="http://vote.sos.ca.gov/Returns/props/59.htm">52 percent</a> of the votes cast last week. </p>

<p>The Mormon church has already been <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/11/ah_tolerance.html">targeted</a> after it contributed an estimated 40 percent of the individual donations made to the Yes on 8's $30 million-plus campaign, according to the <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/09/MNU1140AQQ.DTL"><em>San Francisco Chronicle</em></a>. Here are numbers from Matthai Kuruvila:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>-- 84 percent of those who attend church weekly voted yes.</p>

<p>-- 81 percent of white evangelicals voted yes.</p>

<p>-- 65 percent of white Protestants voted yes.</p>

<p>-- 64 percent of Catholics voted yes. Catholics accounted for 30 percent of all voters.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>A poll showed that weekly churchgoers increased their support in the final week from 72 percent to 84 percent, with Catholic support increasing from 44 percent to 64 percent. Kuruvila writes writes that the jump that accounted for 6 percent of the total California electorate, equivalent to the state's entire African American population combined and more than accounted for Prop. 8's 5 percent margin of victory.</p>



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Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/11/protesters_marc.html">November 10, 2008</a>
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<div class="title" id="a538978841"><a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/11/how_obama_helpe.html">How Obama Helped Calif.'s Prop. 8 (Updated)</a></div>
<div class="deck"></div>
<div class="text2"><b>Ted Olsen</b> | November  5, 2008</div>

<p>The folks at National Review <a href="http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MzNlZDkxYWQ0OGM3MmI2YWE4Mjc0ODk3NWIxZjZlNDk=">aren't</a> <a href="http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ODlmOTYzZDQ4ZGFhZmNmYTQ1ODI0N2RhNzgyNTg5N2M=">sure</a> there was a big jump in turnout, though the <a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i34ao3tow5yhj2v7v24HM_wbT8JQD948LJRG0">Associated Press</a> is quite emphatic that voters went to the polls in epic numbers.</p>

<p>In any case, exit poll data says black turnout in California was way up: From <a href="http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/CA/P/00/epolls.0.html">6 percent of the electorate in 2004</a> to <a href="http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls/#CAI01p1">10 percent this year</a>. One imagines that this is in large part due to enthusiasm for Obama.</p>

<p>Obama <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/1051404.html">opposed California's Proposition 8</a> -- though <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15183.html">not very strongly</a>. (An enduring question is why he opposed it: Obama said he opposes same-sex marriage but supports civil unions. Proposition 8 deals only with marriage and would allow for civil unions.)</p>

<p>But African-American Californians <a href="http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls/#CAI01p1">overwhelmingly supported Prop. 8</a>, by a 7-to-3 margin. Black women (who made up 6% of the electorate) were even more supportive, telling exit pollsters they voted for the measure by a 3-to-1 margin.</p>

<p>Update: I've been playing with math and could use some help from some more math-friendly readers out there. Is is true that if black turnout had been 6 percent rather than 10 percent that the measure would have failed? I did one set of calculations that had Prop. 8 losing by 7,000 votes or so without the bump in African-American turnout, but another set of calculations had the measure still winning by 268,000.</p>

<p>Well, the exit polls aren't really exact enough to do this kind of math anyway. </p>

<p>Meanwhile, <i><a href="http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid64925.asp">The Advocate</a>,</i> a gay magazine, offers another reason why Obama's election may have been bad news for Prop. 8: "No on 8 volunteers fear that with the election all but won for Barack Obama, California Democrats who would have otherwise waited in line after polls closed might be inclined to call it a night -- bad news for Prop. 8."</p>

<p><b>Update from a reader</b>:</p>

<p>If ALL of the pro-Prop 8 African-Americans stayed home, then it would not have passed.&nbsp; It would have received 48% of the vote.&nbsp; But if turnout dropped from 10 to 6 percent for this group, the pro and anti group would have lost voters (assuming that preferences for prop 8 were uncorrelated with turnout, i.e., those who turned out for Obama were not more or less inclined to vote for prop 8).</p>

<div>
  
<table class="" id="dncn" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0">
    <tbody>
    
<tr>
      
<td>
        
      <br>
</td>
      
<td>
        Yes Votes
      </td>
      
<td>
        % Yes
      </td>
    </tr>
    
<tr>
      
<td>
        Actual Results
      </td>
      
<td>
         5,163,908
      </td>
      
<td>
        52.0%
      </td>
    </tr>
    
<tr>
      
<td>
        With No pro-8 AA voters
      </td>
      
<td>
         4,469,211
      </td>
      
<td>
         48.4%
      </td>
    </tr>
    
<tr>
      
<td>
        If No AA's voted 
      </td>
      
<td>
        4,469,211
      </td>
      
<td>
        51.0%
      </td>
    </tr>
    
<tr>
      
<td>
        If 6% of AA's voted
      </td>
      
<td>
        4,844,347
      </td>
      
<td>
        51.6%
      </td>
    </tr>
    </tbody>
  </table>
</div>
 <br>



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<p class="posted">
Posted by Ted Olsen at <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/11/how_obama_helpe.html">November  5, 2008</a>
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<div class="title" id="a538978832"><a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/11/as_the_country.html">As the Country Goes, So Goes California</a></div>
<div class="deck"></div>
<div class="text2"><b>Ted Olsen</b> | </div>

<p>California completes the trend nationwide: abortion ballot measures lose, marriage measures win. </p>

<p>Both were tight: with 92 percent of the ballots counted, California's <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-2008election-california-results,0,1293859.htmlstory?view=4&tab=0&fnum=0">parental notification measure</a> failed by less than 500,000 votes (out of nearly 10 million).</p>

<p><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-2008election-california-results,0,1293859.htmlstory?view=8&tab=0&fnum=0">Proposition 8</a>, which revokes same-sex marriage, is even tighter, winning by 363,639 votes (a 3.6 point margin). This is going to be a huge story today, since it's the first time that a state has barred same-sex marriage after allowing it.</p>

<p>Not close at all was California's measure <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-2008election-california-results,0,1293859.htmlstory?view=2&tab=0&fnum=0">regulating livestock confinement</a>, which passed by almost a 2-to-1 margin.</p>



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Posted by Ted Olsen at <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/11/as_the_country.html">November  5, 2008</a>
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<div class="title" id="a538978537"><a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/10/connecticut_cou.html">Connecticut court okays same-sex marriage</a></div>
<div class="deck"></div>
<div class="text2"><b></b> | October 10, 2008</div>

<p>The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled today that same-sex couples have the right to marry, reversing a lower court ruling that civil unions had offered the same rights and benefits as marriage, the <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/wireStory?id=6002798">Associated Press</a> reports.</p>

<p>The <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/nyregion/11marriage.html?hp">court ruled</a> 4-3 that gay and lesbian couples cannot be denied the freedom to marry under the state constitution.</p>

<p>Connecticut joins <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2008/05/california_high.html">California</a> and <a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/january/8.21.html">Massachusetts</a> as the only states that allow same-sex marriage. High courts in New York, New Jersey and Washington have ruled that there is no right to same-sex marriage under their constitutions.</p>

<p>In his majority opinion, Justice Richard N. Palmer wrote that the court found that the "segregation of heterosexual and homosexual couples into separate institutions constitutes a cognizable harm," in light of "the history of pernicious discrimination faced by gay men and lesbians, and because the institution of marriage carries with it a status and significance that the newly created classification of civil unions does not embody."</p>

<p>In his dissent, Justice Peter Zarella said any decision on gay marriage should be left to the legislature</p>

<p>"The ancient definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman has its basis in biology, not bigotry," Zarella wrote. "If the state no longer has an interest in the regulation of procreation, then that is a decision for the legislature or the people of the state and not this court."<br />
<a href="http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hcu-gaymarriage-1010,0,7812756.story?page=2"><em><br />
The Hartford Courant</em></a> writes that eight same-sex couples had brought the case after they were denied marriage licenses in 2004. A Superior Court ruled in July 2006 that civil unions already provide all the rights and protections of marriage. The couples then appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court.</p>

<p>Connecticut joins <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2008/05/california_high.html">California</a> and <a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/january/8.21.html">Massachusetts</a> as the only states that allow same-sex marriage. High courts in New York, New Jersey and Washington have ruled that there is no right to same-sex marriage under their constitutions.</p>



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Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/10/connecticut_cou.html">October 10, 2008</a>
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<div class="title" id="a538978521"><a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/10/whatever_happen.html">Whatever Happened to Gay Marriage as the Ultimate Wedge Issue?</a></div>
<div class="deck"></div>
<div class="text2"><b>Steve Waldman</b> | October  8, 2008</div>

<p>A few years ago it looked like opposition to gay marriage was going to equal or surpass abortion as the ultimate wedge issue - a device capable of defeating Democrats in all but the most-liberal districts.</p>

<p>And yet consider this:</p>

<p>-The topic didn't come up in Tuesday's debate<br />
-There's not been a single McCain-Palin ad on gay marriage.<br />
-John McCain did not mention it in his acceptance speech at the Republican convention.<br />
-Sarah Palin did not mention it in her convention acceptance speech, either.<br />
-Of the 57 speeches listed on McCain's Web site, I couldn't find a single mention of the gay marriage issue.</p>

<p>What happened?</p>

<p><br />
For starters, the topic has less currency because there are fewer referendums on state ballots. While 11 states considered ballot initiatives in 2004, only three are this year. That means fewer campaign dollars and volunteer hours focused on the issue.</p>

<p>More important, public opinion has shifted. Social issues in general have become less important to voters as the economy has worsened. The new Twelve Tribes study by Beliefnet and the University of Akron, showed that percentage of people listing moral issues as most important is now half what it was in 2004.</p>

<p>But that's just part of the explanation. After all, abortion is getting significant attention. The Catholic bishops, for instance, have been far more vocal opposing abortion than gay marriage. It's not like social issues have completely disappeared.</p>

<p>Rather, while the public hasn't much changed its views on abortion, it has on gay rights. For instance, in 2004 48% of "<a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/story/236/story_23639_2.html#convertible">Convertible Catholics</a>" supported civil unions or gay marriage. In 2008, 61% do. Among <a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/story/236/story_23639_1.html#moderateevang">Moderate Evangelicals</a>, the percentage was 33% in 2004, 42% in 2008.</p>

<p>Just as important, young people have starkly different views on gay issues than their parents. Most surveys show this but it's particularly striking among evangelical Christians, who are just as anti-abortion as their parents but significantly more supportive of gay rights. The Barna Group asked "born again Christians" if they believed that "homosexual lifestyles" are a "major problem" The results show a stunning shift by age:</p>

<p>Age<br />
18-41 -- 35%<br />
42-60: -- 52%<br />
61+: -- 71%</p>

<p>With support for gay marriage or civil unions rising, conservative politicians have to be careful where and how they push this issue.</p>

<p>Though McCain approved a Republican platform that called for a constitutional amendment on gay marriage, he routinely contradicts that view by saying he wants it left up to the states. When McCain and Palin do discuss their opposition to gay marriage it's now usually accompanied by a statement of tolerance towards homosexuals.</p>

<p>Political strategists realize there are still large numbers of people who view gay marriage as a major threat. But now, candidates must appeal to them without alienating moderates or younger voters.</p>

<p>Since abortion seems to work just as well as ever among culturally conservative voters like moderate evangelicals, they figure: stick with that.</p>

<p><em>Adapted from <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/politicalperceptions/category/steven-waldman/">Steven Waldman's "Political Perceptions" column</a> at the Wall Street Journal Online.</em><br />
</p>



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Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/10/whatever_happen.html">October  8, 2008</a>
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<div class="title" id="a538978432"><a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/09/battling_in_the.html">Battling in the states</a></div>
<div class="deck"></div>
<div class="text2"><b></b> | September 23, 2008</div>

<p>Supporters of California's same-sex marriage ban have raised $17.8 million, compared to opponents, who have raised $12.4 million, the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-marriage23-2008sep23,0,2835282.story">L.A. Times</a> reports.</p>

<p>Dan Morain and Jessica Garrison write that Proposition 8 could be the most expensive measure focused on a social issue, according to Robert Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies and an expert on initiatives.</p>

<p>A separate state  -- South Dakota -- is <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/20/AR2008092002144.html?hpid=moreheadlines">preparing</a> for another abortion battle when voters will be asked on the ballot to outlaw almost all abortions. <br />
<a href="http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/campaign-2008/2008/09/23/sarah-palin-sparks-revival-of-the-culture-war.html"><em><br />
U.S. News and World Report</em></a> writes that Sarah Palin's candidacy has sparked re-emergence of culture war issues like abortion. </p>

<p>Reporter Jay Tolson writes:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>"The Palin pick was seen by many as McCain's way of reigniting the culture war - a limited culture war - while not getting too directly involved in it. In fact, says James Davison Hunter, a sociologist at the University of Virginia and the first scholar to apply the culture-war concept to the American scene, that war had never really gone away but had only moved into the background. The Palin pick, he says, returned it to the foreground, where it now shares the limelight (and headlines) with the economy and the war. But it's not, he believes, the same old battle. 'The lines of the culture war are changing,' he says. 'The gender views, for one, were so much sharper, traditional versus modern. So much has changed in the last 28 years.'"</p>

<p>"Although there is now more enthusiasm for the Republican ticket among religious conservatives, Pew Forum researcher Masci says that evangelicals 'are still up for grabs.'"</p>

</blockquote>



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Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/09/battling_in_the.html">September 23, 2008</a>
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<div class="title" id="a538978209"><a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/08/the_traditional.html">The 'Traditional Values' Part of Obama's Speech</a></div>
<div class="deck"></div>
<div class="text2"><b>Ted Olsen</b> | August 28, 2008</div>

<p>Not a lot of God talk in <a href="http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000002942202">Obama's speech</a> tonight, but there will be talk about abortion, same-sex marriage, and traditional values (as well as a promise to "end our dependence on oil from the Middle East" in ten years). From the prepared remarks:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past. For part of what has been lost these past eight years can’t just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose - our sense of higher purpose. And that’s what we have to restore.</p>

<p>We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don’t tell me we can’t uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don’t know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America’s promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.</p>

<p>I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that’s to be expected. Because if you don’t have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.</p>

<p>You make a big election about small things.</p>

</blockquote>



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Posted by Ted Olsen at <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/08/the_traditional.html">August 28, 2008</a>
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<div class="title" id="a538978145"><a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/08/donald_miller_t.html">Donald Miller to Give DNC Benediction</a></div>
<div class="deck"><p>The author will replace Relevant founder Cameron Strang, who pulled out of the prayer earlier.</p></div>
<div class="text2"><b>Sarah Pulliam</b> | August 22, 2008</div>

<p>Best-selling author Donald Miller will give a benediction Monday night at the Democratic National Convention. He <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/08/cameron_strang.html">replaces</a> Relevant Magazine founder and CEO Cameron Strang, who decided not to give the benediction at the Democratic National Convention as <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2008/08/joel_hunter_and.html">previously planned</a>. </p>

<p><em>Christianity Today</em> featured Miller on its <a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/june/10.28.html">cover</a> in June 2007, and his spirituality book <em>Blue Like Jazz </em>has sold more than one million copies.</p>

<p>"Don is one of the top names among young evangelicals," said Joshua DuBois, director of religious affairs for the Barack Obama campaign. "We didn't think he would do it. We're just ecstatic. I love <em>Blue Like Jazz</em> myself. I think it sends a huge signal that someone who's is helping to lead off the conventions is an evangelical of his calibre."</p>

<p>I spoke to Miller this morning.</p>

<p><strong>Why did you choose to accept the invitation? </strong><br />
Somebody calls you and asks you to pray, you do.</p>

<p><strong>You get three minutes to pray? Have you thought about what you're going to pray? </strong><br />
I've not written the prayer yet, but I really wanted to hone in on the theme of unity, even unity between Republicans and Democrats. In the convention, as we highlight our differences that we wouldn't forget that we're unified, we have more in common than we don't. That's the focus of the prayer.</p>

<p><strong>Cameron Strang was in that slot before and said that people perceived the prayer as showing favoritism. Are you worried you'll receive the same reactions?</strong><br />
I'm not. I'm a registered Democrat. While that's perceived as black or white, or hostile toward the Republican Party, I grew up in the Republican Party. I even attended as a kid the Republican National Convention when it was in Houston when Bush Sr. was running against Clinton. I changed parties about five years ago. I really felt like the Republican Party was taking advantage of the evangelical community by throwing us abortion and gay marriage, really not giving the heart of Christ more thought. I felt like it was the party of the extremely wealthy and they needed this conservative base in order to get a majority and so they pandered to us. </p>

<p>(The rest of the Q & A is posted after the jump.)</p>

<p>I felt used by the Republican Party in that sense. I started looking at the Democratic Party and looking at social issues that are affecting the world, seeing the presidency and Congress from a global perspectives. Even though many Democrats don't identify themselves as evangelicals, many of the precepts of the party, charitable foundation of the party did reflect what evangelicals are about, the sanctity of human life, the importance of really not leaving people behind. I don't think either party is the answer to the world's problems. I lean toward solutions the Democrats seem to favor.</p>

<p><strong>Where do you stand on issues like abortion and gay marriage? </strong><br />
The issue of abortion is a very sensitive one and it's an important issue. I look at from a perspective of, what's the best that we can do. As we elect a Republican House and Senate, and as we elect Republican leadership in the executive branch, we see very little changes on that issue. We're electing someone who agrees with us on abortion, being sort of a tragedy in our country, and yet can't get anything done. It's kind of like saying, I want a pilot on my plane who feels this way about abortion, but he can't fly the plane. The executive branch doesn't have that much power, it has some power, but it doesn't have much power. You look at the reality of that and say, what can I do to defend the sanctity of all human life, including the living, and the marginalized and the oppressed and the poor? What can we do to better social conditions so that less women are put in situations where they feel like they need to have an abortion. What does looking at the issue holistically look like. I hope the Democrats will listen to those of us who lean toward pro-life and those changes can be made.</p>

<p>In terms of gay marriage, I see it as a constitutional issue. Until we become a theocracy, I think that judges should look at it from a constitutional issue. Whether I think homosexuality's wrong, personally? America is not God's country. It's not considered a Christian nation anymore. You have to look at everybody, not just Christians and say, what are the rights of these people based on this constitution. That's another difficult issue as well. I get a bit frustrated when the evangelical position is reduced to two issues. So many other issues are not a concern to us. What happened was, in my opinion, the Christian positions has been reduced in order to manipulate us. If we give them these two issues, we can do whatever we want. </p>

<p><strong>I assume that means you support Barack Obama? What do you think he will do as president that would appeal to evangelicals?</strong><br />
This is one of the reasons I was attracted to obama and read his book and wanted to take him seriously as a candidate. If you look in the last eight years, we have lost our reputable standing among most nations. Certainly among many poor nations and Muslim nations, we're not very respected. There's a great deal of hostility against us. As we travel the world, America represents Christianity to the rest of the world. What we have is Christianity being represented by what is perceived as arrogance, bullying, an inability to negotiate peace, an inability to listen. People assume that Christianity is that way. You ask yourself, what sort of person might God rise up to heal the wounds that have been created by that kind of positioning in the world. You would think a very intelligent minority, who came not out of wealth, who's not only power position in Washington, D.C., a man who's more thoughtful in his answers and less bullyish, not as simple of a thinker, even as reality is not simple, a man who has spent part of his upbringing overseas and has connections with Kenya, that's the guy. A name like Barack Obama, you just kind of go, that would be the guy that God would choose to heal some of the wounds that we've caused in the world. That's what made me take him seriously. I read his book, listened to his speeches, asked myself some of those hard questions. When all the math was done, he edged out as a favorable as a favorable candidate for me.</p>

<p><strong>Do you see yourself as a person who plans to be more involved in political activism?</strong><br />
I'm a writer. That's my calling. I'm not a pastor. I'm a believer. I write about spirituality. I have political opinions that may not have more worth than anybody else. In this instance, when someone calls and asks you to come and pray, I say yes. I'm a supporter of this candidate, and I think that's great. After I came out on a blog and expressed about the Bush administration, they invited me to the White House and had breakfast with the president's assistant. I enjoyed that and enjoyed them as people. When someone asks you to come, you come, and you have a conversation. I don't see this as an, "I'm against Republicans." That's not that kind of a move. This is about any believer who's called and asked to come and pray. No matter you're called to pray, you go.</p>


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Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/08/donald_miller_t.html">August 22, 2008</a>
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<div class="title" id="a538978113"><a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/08/mccain_on_stemc.html">McCain on stem-cell research, abortion, marriage, and evil</a></div>
<div class="deck"></div>
<div class="text2"><b>Sarah Pulliam</b> | August 16, 2008</div>

<p>Conservative evangelicals have raised John McCain's support of embryonic stem-cell research in opposition to his candidacy. </p>

<p>McCain addressed it briefly in his response to Rick Warren's "worldview questions." "For those of us in the pro-life community, this is a great struggle. … I’ve come down on the side of stem cell research, but I’m wildly optimistic that skin cell research … will make this debate an academic one."</p>

<p>Rick Warren: At what point is baby is entitled to human rights?<br />
John McCain's answer: At the moment of conception. I have a 25 year pro-life record in congress, in the senate. This presidency will have pro-life policies. That’s my commitment to you.<br />
Warren's answer: We won’t go longer on that one.</p>

<p>Warren: Define marriage.<br />
McCain: A union between man and woman, between one man and one woman. The court overturned the definition of marriage. I believe they were wrong.  I’m a federalist. I believe states should make that decision. That doesn’t mean that people can’t enter into legal agreements, that they don’t’ have the rights of all citizens. </p>

<p>When asked a question on evil, McCain said, "If I have to go to gates and hell and back, I will get Osama Bin Laden."</p>

<p>This is cross-posted from <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/">CT's liveblog</a>.</p>



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Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/08/mccain_on_stemc.html">August 16, 2008</a>
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<div class="title" id="a538978111"><a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/08/moral_failure.html">Moral failure</a></div>
<div class="deck"></div>
<div class="text2"><b>Ted Olsen</b> | </div>

<p>Obama has already had a lot of ink spilled on what he told Warren his biggest moral failure was: <a href="http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/10/24/news/dems.php">using drugs</a> and alcohol and selfishness in his youth.</p>

<p>McCain's answer was short: "The failure of my first marriage." Background is <a href="http://www.azcentral.com/news/specials/mccain/articles/0301mccainbio-chapter5.html">here</a> if the answer was a surprise.</p>

<p>This is cross-posted from <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/">CT's liveblog</a>.</p>



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Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/08/moral_failure.html">August 16, 2008</a>
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<div class="title" id="a538978106"><a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/08/what_about_prop.html">What about Proposition 8?</a></div>
<div class="deck"><p>Leaving marriage to the states? Really?</p></div>
<div class="text2"><b>Ted Olsen</b> | </div>

<p>At the Saddleback Civil Forum, Obama just said that he opposes a federal marriage amendment because he thinks it's not something the federal constitution should decide. It's a state issue, he says.</p>

<p>He also says he supports civil unions, but thinks marriage is between a man and a woman.</p>

<p>So why does he <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/1051404.html">oppose California's Proposition 8</a>? It only deals with marriage, but would allow civil unions.</p>

<p>If "leaving the issue to the states" doesn't mean allowing a state to define marriage, what does it mean?</p>

<p>Too bad Warren didn't ask a follow up question on it, considering it's his own state.</p>

<p><b>Update:</b> Warren, who said he'd ask the same questions of both candidates, just asked McCain about the California Supreme Court decision and Proposition 8. McCain says he thinks the states rather than the federal government should define marriage, but does support a federal marriage amendment if necessary. He has also <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/elections/ci_9773612">supported Prop. 8</a>.</p>

<p>This is cross-posted from <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/">CT's liveblog</a>.</p>



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Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/08/what_about_prop.html">August 16, 2008</a>
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					<li><a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2009/04/should_christia.html">Should Christians Participate in the Day of Silence?</a></li>
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					<li><a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/11/how_obama_helpe.html">How Obama Helped Calif.'s Prop. 8 (Updated)</a></li>
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					<li><a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/10/connecticut_cou.html">Connecticut court okays same-sex marriage</a></li>
					<li><a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/10/whatever_happen.html">Whatever Happened to Gay Marriage as the Ultimate Wedge Issue?</a></li>
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					<li><a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/08/the_traditional.html">The 'Traditional Values' Part of Obama's Speech</a></li>
		
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