deconsecrated All Souls Unitarian Church,1874-1875, #30, Grove & Main, Brattleboro

the good and not-so-good news

linked here are news stories on politics and religion

in the beginning, words--rhetoric in religion and politics

• on orthodoxy: "The audacity of claiming the last word on this word" NY Times 13 Sep 08

US

• religion in the 2008 elections
  • "Party faithful," Peter Boyer on Republicans, Democrats and the religious vote in 2008, New Yorker 8 Sep 08
  • divisions in the Catholic church: NY Times 4 Oct 08
• Religion and the Tea Party in the 2010 election from the Public Religion Research Institute
• Love Their Neightbor? Pew on "How Americans feel about Religious Groups" (July 2014)
• starting in October 2006, The New York Times has been running a series of articles by Diana B. Henriques and others on changing relations between religious institutions and government:
  • special dispensation: "Religion trumps regulation as legal exceptions grow" NY Times 8 Oct 06
  • working for the Lord:("Where faith abides, employees have few rights," NY Times 9 Oct 06
  • atax on religion: "As religious programs expand, disputes rise over tax breaks" NY Times 10 Oct 06
  • more atax on religion:"Religious-based tax breaks: Housing to paychecks to books" NY Times 11 Oct 06
  • faith healing: "Ministry's medical program is not regulated" NY Times 20 Oct 06
  • one way to keep them in the pews--lockdown: "Religion for captive audience, with taxpayers footing the bill," NY Times 10 Dec 06
  • pray for pork: "Religious groups reap federal aid for pet projects," NY Times 13 May 07
  • more faith healing: "Federal grant for a medical mission goes awry" NY Times 13 Jul 07
• after the fallwell:
  • "Emphasis shifts for new breed of evangelicals" NY Times 21 May 07
  • Frances Fitzgerald on the "new evangelicals," New Yorker 30 Jun 08
• more after the fallwell: "Young evangelicals seek broader political agenda" NY Times 1 Jun 08
• constitutionally kosher?: "Hebrew charter school spurs Flordia church-state dispute" NY Times 24 Aug 07
• for gods & country: "Use of Wiccan Symbol on Veterans' Headstones Is Approved" NY Times 24 Apr 07
• onward Christian soliders?"
  • "Religion and its role are embroiled in dispute at nation's service academies" NY Times 25 Jun 08
  • "Army chaplain boot camp" PBS's Religion & ethics newsweekly
• this is a test: "Pastors to talk politics from the pulpit," All things considered 24 Sep 08
• "Party faithful," Peter Boyer on Republicans, Democrats and the religious vote in 2008, New Yorker 8 Sep 08
• the Roman Catholic Church and health care, NYT27 Aug 09
• given the Way, the fans have the fill: "Barred From field, religious signs Move to Stands," NYT 27 Oct 09
• honoring mother & father, protecting child welfare
  • " Wisconsin couple sentence in death of their sick child" NY Times8 Oct 09
• O ye of great faith: knowledge about religion in the US from the Pew Forum on Religion and Life 2010
• religious courts in the US (it's not just Shari'a) from Pew

IIslam & politics

Most Muslim publics not so easily moved; Confidence in Obama lifts U.S. image around the world (23 July 2009, Pew Research Center)

Middle East & Asia

• religious authorities rise as government fails (Myanmar): "In cyclone relief, monks succeed where generals falter" NY Times 31 May 08
• secret agents & sacred agents: "Militants escape control of Pakistan, officials say" NY Times 15 Jan 08
• a New York Times series on religion and youth in the Middle East: Algeria; two on Saudia Arabia (1, 2); Iraq; Egypt
• "Inshallah" instead of "have a nice day" (the sacred as commonplace in Egypt) NY Times 20 Jun 08
• Turkey--religion in a constitutionally secular state
  • "In Turkey, bitter feud has roots in history" NY Times 22 Jun 08
  • "Bid to allow head scarves fails in top Turkish court" NY Times 6 Jun 08
• Iran
  • hierarchy of power in Iran: who's who & what's what as of 28 June 2009
  • Mahdi about you: "Iranian clerics tell the president to leave the theology to them" NY Times 20 May 08
• Indonesia
  • Muslim revival in a secular state?

Mahdi about you: "Iranian clerics tell the president to leave the theology to them" NY Times 20 May 08

• China
  • rice bowl, collection plate: "Religious surge in once-atheist China surprises leaders" NY Times 4 Mar 07
  • one less cross to bear: "Church-State Clash in China Coalesces Around a Toppled Spire" NYT 30 May 30

Muslims in Europe

• Hymenoplasty?: "Muslim women and virginity" NY Times 11 June 08

Politics within and between faith organizations

• Conflict in the Anglican Church
  • "As schism lurks, the Church of England endorses women as bishops" NY Times 8 Jul 08
  • "Anglican conservatives, rebelling on gays, will form new power bloc" NY Times 30 Jun 08
  • "Conservative Anglicans plan rival conference as split over homosexuality grows" NT Times 20 Jun 08
• The Catholic Church woos Anglicans
  • Can married peices be far behind?: "Offer raises idea for Catholic priests" NYT 21 Oct 09
• Catholic Church politics
  • Papal leadership: "U.S. Bishops Seek to Match Vatican in Shifting Tone" NYT 12 Jun 14

Religion as a force for reform

• "The enforcer: A Christain lawyer's global crusade," The New Yorker, 19 January 2009

Religion without all that politics

• "The right way to pray?" NYT 16 Sep 09