“I think when we get down into the mud of politics, it doesn’t help our church. We’re going to rise above it, we’re going to call politicians to a higher standard. And I think that’s been the role of the church for a thousand years now — to call politicians to a higher standard.”
White House Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships releases report on ending poverty
By Rick Jones, Presbyterian News Service
After a year of meetings, collaboration and recommendations, the White House Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships has released its final report to end poverty in the U.S.
After Trump, an evangelical examination of conscience?
By Rachel Zoll, Associated Press
His candidacy has put a spotlight on the fractures among Christian conservatives, most prominently the rift between old guard religious right leaders who backed the GOP nominee as an ally on abortion and religious liberty, and a comparatively younger generation who considered his personal conduct and rhetoric morally abhorrent.
Trump Presents Dilemma For Evangelical Women, Once Reliable GOP Voters
By Sarah McCammon, NPR
White evangelicals are reliable Republican voters. They also have a long history of demanding that politicians exemplify character and morality in public life. So for many, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump presents a moral dilemma.
Mississippi church burned, vandalized with ‘Vote Trump’
By Therese Apel, Reuters
A black church in Mississippi was burned and spray-painted with “Vote Trump” and authorities said on Wednesday they were probing the incident as a hate crime committed one week before the U.S. presidential election.
Panel discusses impact of new ‘immigrant church’ on Catholic vote
By Tom Roberts, National Catholic Reporter
The term “immigrant church” has an historic resonance in Catholic circles, shorthand for the waves of white Europeans who fashioned — both in reality and the cultural imagination — what it means to be Catholic in the United States.
Oklahoma voters to consider if religious groups can get state funds
By Catholic News Service
A ballot question in Oklahoma this year asks voters if the state should repeal a section of its constitution that prohibits government funds from going to religious schools or institutions.
Reflecting on Obama’s religious freedom legacy
By Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News
As Obama approaches the end of his presidency, his religious freedom record is mixed — not always the “war on religion” that some conservative critics describe, but sometimes increasing the polarization over conscience rights.
Clergy from across U.S. to stand in solidarity with indigenous ‘water protectors’ at Standing Rock
By Norman Jameson, Baptist News Global
More than 350 clergy from across the nation have said they will stand with the “water protectors” blocking construction of an oil pipeline adjacent to the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota during a “unified action” Nov. 3.
Nature’s wall: the human toll of crossing the US border
By Warren Richey, Christian Science Monitor
During the current presidential campaign, there has been plenty of debate over illegal immigration, including talk of building a wall and deporting some or all of the 11 million unauthorized immigrants living in the US. But there is another side to the immigration issue – a lethal side.
Without a modernized Voting Rights Act, there’s no such thing as an honest election
By Jim Sensenbrenner, Washington Post
On Tuesday, Americans will elect a president without the full protections of the Voting Rights Act. The last time that happened they were deciding between Lyndon Johnson and Barry Goldwater — more than a half-century ago.
Deep Dive of the Week
The New Evangelical Moral Minority
By Kelefa Sanneh, The New Yorker
Russell Moore, head of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, has found himself at odds with his flock over the candidacy of Donald Trump. He has sometimes appeared out of place in his own denomination—a Trump detractor leading a church largely peopled by Trump supporters. But he seemed comfortable in this uncomfortable position, perhaps because he has learned to accept the limits of his ability to change the world, or even to understand it.
