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Links of Interest from Utah
Pro-voucher candidates pack races
Sexpelled: No Intercourse Allowed
New Mexico police remove 4 children from church compound
Church of Oprah, Mormons, Republicans
Who is the Deluded One? - A Christian Point of View (video) ->
Who is the Deluded One? - A Nonbeliever Point of View (video) ->
Religion and Societal Dysfunction
"There is evidence that within the U.S. strong disparities in religious belief versus acceptance of evolution are correlated with similarly varying rates of societal dysfunction, the strongly theistic, anti-evolution south and mid-west having markedly worse homicide, mortality, STD, youth pregnancy, marital and related problems than the northeast where societal conditions, secularization, and acceptance of evolution approach European norms (Aral and Holmes; Beeghley, Doyle, 2002)." ->
Letting Go of God by Julia Sweeney (excerpt). Very entertaining! ->
Romney speech needs follow-up ->
Rebecca Walsh: Romney propped up bigots ->
Vouchers Vanquished. Utah Voters Overwhelmingly Reject Scheme To Aid Religious And Other Private Schools ->
Theologian-in-chief? Romney's speech spurs questions about faith. The first time religion was an issue in a presidential campaign, Church says, was in 1800, when Thomas Jefferson ran against incumbent John Adams. Jefferson was considered an "infidel" because he questioned the creation narrative in Genesis, didn't believe in the Trinity and defended church-state separation. If Jefferson wins, predicted the editor of the "Connecticut Current," "murder, robbery, rape, adultery, and incest will be openly taught and practiced, the air will be rent with the cries of distress, the soil will be soaked with blood, the nation black with crimes."
Religion was again an issue in 1908, when candidate William Howard Taft was criticized because he was a Unitarian. Although there had been three other Unitarian presidents (both Adamses and Millard Fillmore), by this time the Unitarians - who, as their name spells out, don't believe in the Trinity - had become an "outsider church" and thus suspect, Church says.
At that point, outgoing president Theodore Roosevelt wrote a letter to the country arguing that a person's religious beliefs have no place in electoral politics. "His letter served the same purpose as Kennedy's speech in Houston served: it neutralized the issue," Church says. Taft won in a landslide. ->
David Brooks: Faith versus the faithless ->
Romney Spokesman Won't Say If Atheists Have Place In America ->
The Golden Compass. Saving free will with an armored bear. ->
Revised 1/20/ 2007
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