Hi friends, I'm writing to let you know that I'm stepping down from the Religion and Politics News Roundup, which I've been writing on Thursdays. It's been a great experience; I've enjoyed searching for and writing about the stories, and reading your responses. Thanks for all the encouraging and thoughtful comments. Have a wonderful summer!

This is the main reason President Bush led our country to war. I'm guessing it's also a major reason that John McCain wants American troops to stay there indefinitely.

From the New York Times:

Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power.

Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP — the original partners in the Iraq Petroleum Company — along with Chevron and a number of smaller oil companies, are in talks with Iraq’s Oil Ministry for no-bid contracts to service Iraq’s largest fields, according to ministry officials, oil company officials and an American diplomat...

(Continued below the fold)

Today's topics:

The Washington Post and the New York Times ran articles contrasting America's approach to the regulation of hazardous chemicals and to free speech respectively, with other countries.

McCain says it's "not too important" when American troops come home from Iraq, so long as casualties are reduced.

Barack Obama is dominating the news coverage of the presidential election. He also met earlier this week with T.D. Jakes, Franklin Graham and other religious figures.

The Christian Science Monitor has a video and article based on their meeting with Howard Dean this week (in case you're wondering what the DNC talking points are these days); he says it's better that Democrats be nervous about the election than complacent.

Today's topics...

I'll make it short and (bitter)sweet: Obama's win is celebrated around the world, and Clinton's team has announced that she will suspend her campaign and endorse Obama on Saturday. But the road ahead is rocky -- polls show the race between Obama and McCain is surprisingly close. In other news, after failing to effectively disguise creationism as "intelligent design," creationists are trying on a new cloak (the language of evolution's "strengths and weaknesses"), but will any amount of "reframing" disguise the movement's true nature? (haha, get it?)

Clinton Ready to Step Down, Endorse Obama

From CNN:

Sen. Hillary Clinton on Saturday will officially suspend her campaign for the presidency and "express her support for Senator Obama and party unity," her campaign said Wednesday.

Hi friends,

I will be taking a break from blogging over the next few weeks, so I won't be covering the Thursday religion and politics news roundup during that time. But I'll return in June, rested and renewed!

Update: Hmmm. The content management system will not let me say my goodbyes briefly. (There's a 300 word minimum). So I'm adding a heads up about this story:

"Joel Osteen meets with Jay Bakker!" from Rev. Matt Tittle's "Keep the Faith."

Have a safe and happy rest of the month.

Today's topics: Impact of Indiana and North Carolina Primaries, McGovern changes endorsement from Clinton to Obama, Update on teacher John Freshwater and the movement against separation of church and state, and lawyer blames school (not shooter) in death of Lawrence King.

Is This the Song that Never Ends?

Following her defeat in North Carolina and her very narrow win in Indiana, Senator Hillary Clinton remains in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, even as insiders declare that a Clinton win has become all but impossible.

But Josh Marshall, at Talking Points Memo, suggests that maybe the continuing two-way race for the nomination is not such a bad thing for the Democratic party.

[editor's note, by PoliSigh] Bumped while I work on the Prayer Closet!

Today's Topics: online HIV education, investigation of Army barrack conditions, and other stories

GoodIdeaOrNot?

Reuters points out a new website, PosorNot.com, in which site visitors are shown photos of different individuals and asked to guess if they are HIV-positive or negative:

The site, www.PosorNot.com, was unveiled on Wednesday by mtvU, the Kaiser Family Foundation and POZ Magazine and presents viewers with photos of people of different ages, colors and genders, challenging them to guess whether the person has tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS.

Having visited the site, I think it resembles "Hot or Not," a site that was popular when I was in college and asked visitors to rate the appearance of various male and female young adults. While I'm strongly in favor of comprehensive sexuality education, I'm feeling a little conflicted about this site because it invites visitors to actively stereotype people based on appearance (albeit with the purpose of then challenging those stereotypes). What do you think?

Today's topics: Separation of Church and State in Public Schools, National Day of (Evangelical Rightwing Christian) Prayer, Democratic Primaries: Enough Already!, and Send Me Stories for the Next Roundup

Did you know that the human body is 90% Lego?

The Columbus Dispatch reports that Christian students are protesting in favor of a John Freshwater, a middle school teacher in Mount Vernon, Ohio. The protests were sparked by a confrontation between Freshwater and the school principle, in which Freshwater insisted on keeping his Bible on his desk. However, this goes beyond an isolated incident; Freshwater may have an egregious record of violating the separation between church and state.

In one class, Freshwater used Lego pieces to describe the beginning of the world. He dumped the pieces, then asked students if the Legos could assemble by themselves, said Joe Stuart, 18, assistant editor of the high-school newspaper.

When Freshwater taught students about electrical current, he used a device to leave a red mark in the shape of a cross on the forearms of some students, Stuart said.

[editor's note, by PoliSigh]No worries Shelby!  Thanks.


Hi friends, sorry this is late today!

Today's topics: Jeers for presidential debate moderators, why not everyone on the Religious Left is happy with the Compassion Forum, New Farm Bill needed to alleviate hunger in America, and other stories...

I haven't watched last night's debate yet, and Tom Shales at the Washington Post isn't exactly whetting my appetite. He calls the debate:

another step downward for network news -- in particular ABC News, which hosted the debate from Philadelphia and whose usually dependable anchors, Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, turned in shoddy, despicable performances.

Was it that bad?!

Today's topics: Pope Bobblehead is not funny afterall, Sesame Street welcomes a Hindu character, the Compassion Forum coming up this weekend...

Hi friends, I've had a very hectic week; please excuse (or enjoy!) the levity in today's post.

Goodbye Benedict Bobblehead

The D.C. Metro released (and later pulled) an ad depicting a Pope Benedict XVI bobblehead doll (really, what were they thinking?!) Here's a quite educational response from the Vatican, in the Washington Post:

"Our concern is that this was a bad bobblehead," said Susan Gibbs, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Washington. "You had unauthorized merchandise, and you had a misdressed pope."

The bobblehead in the Metro video wears a red skull cap, known as a zucchetto, and a red cape. "Popes don't wear red skull caps," and they don't wear red capes, only white ones, Gibbs said.

Hat tip to Dallas Morning News.

Today's Topics: The Religious Right hesitates on McCain, while Lieberman can't say enough nice things about him. T.D. Jakes reacts to Obama's "A More Perfect Union" speech. Supreme Court will hear case on public religious displays.

Hellooo? McCain Supporters? Anyone, anyone?

On last night's Countdown, Keith Olbermann highlights conservative criticisms of John McCain, particularly from Focus on the Family leader James Dobson. But commentator Rachel Maddox cautions against assuming the Religious Right will break with the Republican Party. (Video below the fold...)

Promoted by PD.

Today's topics: Underground religious movements, Obama/Clinton polls, McCain campaign finance violation, and Harvard gym controversy (Doh! I forgot this part when I first posted).

Interested in Underground Religious Movements?

Jeffrey Weiss at Dallas Morning News's Religion Blog provides links to several articles about "The Fellowship" (a.k.a. "The Family.") The Fellowship is a very low-profile, conservative Christian group with significant power among Washington elites. Hillary Clinton has been a participant in the Fellowship since she was First Lady. Dallas Morning News links to some fascinating pieces on "The Fellowship" in Mother Jones, Harpers and the LATimes.

Faith in Public Life's Alex Carpenter highlights a new video on the Institute on Religion and Democracy. The video is being circulated by the IRD Info Project.