Friday, October 1, 2010

Atlanta Pastor Blasts Eddie Long

An Atlanta pastor is urging Eddie Long to "tell the truth." Dennis Meredith, pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church, says in a YouTube video that he plans to address Long's controversy Sunday. Four young men are suing the Long, accusing him of coercing them into sexual relations. Long says he'll defend himself against the allegations. Most of Meredith's congregation is gay, lesbian and bisexual. Here's the video:

The Vote and the Pulpit

About 100 pastors joined a yearly campaign last Sunday where they endorse political candidates. Sponsored by the Alliance Defense Fund, the pastors hope to start a legal battle that will overturn prohibitions against churches endorsing candidates.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Obama Defends Religious Views

President Barack Obama defended his Christianity today during a stop today in Albuquerque, New Mexico. When asked, "Why are you a Christian" he told the audience:

"I'm a Christian by choice. My family didn't — frankly, they weren't folks who went to church every week. And my mother was one of the most spiritual people I knew, but she didn't raise me in the church. So I came to my Christian faith later in life, and it was because the precepts of Jesus Christ spoke to me in terms of the kind of life that I would want to lead — being my brothers' and sisters' keeper, treating others as they would treat me. And I think also understanding that Jesus Christ dying for my sins spoke to the humility we all have to have as human beings, that we're sinful and we're flawed and we make mistakes, and that we achieve salvation through the grace of God. But what we can do, as flawed as we are, is still see God in other people and do our best to help them find their own grace."

"That's what I strive to do. That's what I pray to do every day. I think my public service is part of that effort to express my Christian faith. One thing I want to emphasize, having spoken about something that obviously relates to me very personally, as president of the United States I'm also somebody who deeply believes that part of the bedrock strength of this country is that it embraces people of many faiths and no faith. That this is a country that is still predominantly Christian, but we have Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists, agnostics, Buddhists, and that their own path to grace is one that we have to revere and respect as much as our own."

Who Knows More about Religion: Atheists or Christians?

A survey about religion finds that atheists and agnostics knew more, on average, than followers of most major faiths. A majority of Protestants, for instance, couldn't identify Martin Luther as the driving force behind the Protestant Reformation. The survey was conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Four in 10 Catholics incorrectly said that the bread and wine used in Holy Communion are merely symbolize the body and blood of Christ as Baptists believe, not actually become them. The question that elicited the most correct responses overall was about whether public school teachers are allowed to lead their classes in prayer.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Atheist Chaplain

Tufts University near Boston is seriously considering hiring an atheist chaplain. The "Humanist chaplain" would serve "non−religious Tufts students." The Tufts Freethought Society made the request of the school, pointing out that when its 2012 class was asked about religious affiliation, nearly a third who responded marked none.