Delta political leaders thrash three Ark. politicians for expressing racial and religious prejudice

A group of political leaders in the eight-state federal Delta region, stretching from southern Illinois to the mouth of the Mississippi, has condemned three Arkansas politicians for derogatory statements they made about Muslims and African Americans. The Mississippi Delta Grassroots Caucus, which supports and works with the federal Delta Regional Authority, said the statements "are the prejudiced views of a tiny minority and do not reflect the point of view of the vast majority of people in Arkansas." About 30 to 40 percent of the MDGC is African American, and the group says it has strong ties to the Muslim community.

The statements in question came from three state Republicans: Rep. Jon Hubbard, who said African Americans benefitted from slavery and criticized those who chastised him by saying "this reeks of Nazi-style political intimidation;" state House candidate Charlie Fuqua, who wrote in the book God's Law that all Muslims should be expelled from the U.S.; and state Rep. Loy Mauch, who said in a 2001 editorial that Abraham Lincoln was a terrorist. (Read more)

Did a pastor in your area endorse a candidate from the pulpit Sunday? It's a national story

In a move that could put their tax-exempt status at risk and result in fines, an estimated 1,500 pastors nationwide endorsed presidential candidates Sunday. The move was a challenge to the law prohibiting political endorsements by religious and other tax-exempt organizations, policed by the Internal Revenue Service. (Bloomberg News photo)

The goal of "Pulpit Freedom Sunday" was "to defy this rule and prompt the IRS to take action against a church that could become the basis for a court case to test whether the amendment infringes on constitutional rights to free religious and political speech," reported Jennifer Hawes of The Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C. The event was first organized four years ago by the Christian group Alliance Defending Freedom. All participants pledged to film their sermons and send them to the IRS.

Rev. Steven Baines, religious outreach director for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, told Hawes the political action "opens the door to politicizing our pulpits." The risk is that churches and pastors could become political fronts, he said. "They have freedom of speech. They can preach about their values, and we encourage pastors to preach about their values. But they cannot relate those to a particular candidate or party."

Participating pastors said they were taking part because their messages shouldn't be filtered through the IRS. But the average voter doesn't want pastors politicizing their sermons, according to a decade's worth of Pew Research Center polls, Hawes reported. In a July survey, 66 percent of people polled said churches and other places of worship should not endorse candidates. Even 90 percent of Protestant pastors polled in a May LifeWay survey said they shouldn't endorse from the pulpit. (Read more)

Survey data on party ID show rural and small-town voters make up 40% of GOP, 30% of Democrats

Recent survey data collected by Frank N. Magid and Associates clearly display the sharp differences between today’s party coalitions. The data, gathered in August from nearly 3,300 Americans between 18 and 85, indicate that a majority of voters who identify with or lean to the Republican Party "are males and members of America’s two oldest generations -- baby boomers, those in their 50s to mid-60s; and silents or seniors who together make up 53 percent of Republicans," write Morley Winograd and Michael D. Hais, fellows at the New Policy Institute.

"The GOP coalition is 81 percent white. It is disproportionately Southern (38 percent of all Republicans and 41 percent of strong Republican identifiers) and 40 percent reside in small towns and rural areas. Two-thirds of Republicans are married, and three-quarters are Christian; only 7 percent are unaffiliated with any faith. A third of all GOP identifiers and 42 percent of strong Republicans attend religious services at least weekly. And, not surprisingly, 56 percent of all Republicans and 68 percent of strong Republican identifiers are self-professed conservatives."

By contrast, note the study coauthors, "A majority of Democratic identifiers (from that same data) are women and from the country’s two youngest generations — Millennials, voters in their 20s; and Generation X, people in their 30s and 40s, who in total make up 57 percent of Democrats. Forty-one percent of all Democrats and 45 percent of strong Democrats are nonwhite, with about equal numbers of African-Americans and Hispanics.

Nearly half of Democrats live in the Northeast and West, and a disproportionately large number, 70 percent, live in big cities or suburbs. Just half are married. Only 57 percent are Christian, and about one in five are either of non-Christian denominations or unaffiliated with any faith. Just 21 percent of Democrats attend a religious service weekly. Slightly more, 24 percent, never do. The Democratic coalition is, however, more diverse ideologically than the Republican: While a plurality, 42 percent, are either self-identified liberals or progressives, nearly as many, 35 percent, say they are politically moderate."

Both President Obama and Mitt Romney, Winograd and Hais explain, recognize the emergence of Millennials and have tried to enunciate a "new civic ethos" that will enable their respective parties to build a majority electoral and governing coalition if they wish to dominate U.S. politics in the future. (Read more)

Founder of Christian Appalachian Project has died

Monsignor Ralph Beiting, the Roman Catholic priest who founded the Christian Appalachian Project and served the people of Eastern Kentucky since World War II, has died. He was 89.

Beiting was introduced to Appalachia when he traveled to the region on a mission trip in 1946. He had lived through the Great Depression and was familiar with living in poverty, but in Appalachia, he said during an interview with Story Corps, he had found "that there was another America ... the America of Appalachia." He said the poverty there at the time was the worst he had ever witnessed.

Charles Compton of WEKU, the public station at Eastern Kentucky University, reports that Beiting was called in 1950 to start a Catholic church in Berea, just outside the Appalachian coalfield, and though his reception was not warm, he continued to "spread the faith and raise money" to build more churches throughout Eastern Kentucky. In the 1950s, Beiting launched a summer camp, Cliffview Lodge, that offered recreation and fellowship to boys from poor families. In 1964, the camp became the Christian Appalachian Project, which Beiting declared would "be a group that would roll up our sleeves and get the job done." It expanded its work to a variety of projects to help the Appalachian poor.

Beiting served as pastor of parishes in the Berea region until 1981, when he transferred to Eastern Kentucky, where he founded and/or constructed 20 churches. He served as CAP's president until 1986 and was chairman until 1999. Here are links to three videos of Beiting and Father Terry Hoppenjans talking about their work.

Amish one of U.S.'s fastest-growing religious groups

A new Amish community is established about every three and a half weeks in the U.S. and more than 60 percent of all existing Amish communities have been founded since 1990, according to a new census of the Amish population by Ohio State University researchers. They say this suggests that the Amish are growing more rapidly than most other religions in the U.S. The growth can be linked to large families and high baptism rates, while growth in other religions would more likely be linked to conversion. The study restricted its count to "Old Order" Amish and others who limit their use of most modern technologies. (Fotosearch image)

There are now 456 Amish settlements, compared to just 179 in 1990, according to the census, Science Daily reports. If the growth continues at its current rate, there could be more than 1 million Amish people living in more than 1,000 settlements across the U.S. by 2050, which would "bring economic, cultural, social and religious change to the rural areas that attract Amish settlement." Researchers predict Amish will buy land vacated by farmers, but "the availability of farmland might not keep pace with population growth," forcing many Amish men to seek non-farm work, including woodworking and construction, which could increase land prices and enhance local economies.

The Amish should not be confused with Mennonites, who are similar and share common backgrounds, but are more "assimilated into mainstream culture and are more likely to live in urban and suburban settings," according to the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania, whose senior fellow is Amish scholar and expert Donald Kraybill. The Ohio State census found that Amish live in 29 states, mostly in the Midwest and Great Lakes region, but as far south as Florida and Texas, as far northeast as Maine and as far west as Montana. Ohio contains the most Amish, Pennsylvania is second and Indiana is third. New York has seen the most recent growth in settlements, with 15 founded since 2010. (Read more)

Reporter finds Chick-fil-A debate very complex in South, where food is cultural

Chick-fil-A has recently found itself in the middle of a national debate about gay rights after the chain's CEO Dan Cathey Jr. made public statements opposing same-sex marriage. Perhaps, not since the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s has a restaurant been so embroiled in controversy. Kim Severson of The New York Times explores the complexities surrounding this issue in the South, where Chick-fil-A began in Atlanta in 1946.

Choosing to eat at Chick-fil-A "is not as simple as choosing sides in a national cultural war" for Southerners, Severson reports. Southerner Justin Breen told Severson the chain is "tradition," something she writes is "laced throughout daily life in the South." Locals tend to "be emotional about their food, which is a great defining aspect of the region."

"One of the most controversial stories I wrote was about tomato sandwiches," The Charlotte Observer's food editor Kathleen Purvis told Severson. Southerners are very "proud and fiercely protective of homegrown brands," she writes. University of North Carolina's Marcie Cohen Ferris said Southerners have strong associations with Southern-founded fast food chains because "they speak of industrialization and becoming a part of modern America, but still holding on to identity." (Read more)

Howard Dorgan, researcher of Central Appalachian religion and its radio shows, dies at 80

UPDATE, July 27: A memorial service with tributes and Appalachian music will be held Saturday, Aug. 25 from 2 to 3 p.m. in the Calloway Peak room in the student union at Appalachian State.

Howard Dorgan, whose studies of religion in Appalachia brought him many honors, died on July 5, his 80th birthday, at his home in Boone, N.C. Born in Ruston, La., he earned a Ph.D. in speech communication from Louisiana State University and in 1971 joined the Appalachian State University Department of Communication, where he remained until he retired in 2000. His work on Central Appalachian Baptist communities resulted in numerous books and awards, including the 1993 Thomas Wolfe Literary Award for Airwaves of Zion, his book about religious radio programming in the region. He edited the religious section of the Encyclopedia of Appalachia. Dorgan is survived by his wife, Kathleen, and two children. A memorial service will be held later at Appalachian State, where his papers are housed.

School board, ACLU compromise on Commandments display by using history book page

In what could become a model for other rural school districts, a compromise has been made in Virginia concerning display of the Ten Commandments. Richard Simon of the Los Angeles Times reports a page from a history textbook which shows the commandment tablets and credits the religious text as playing a role in the "roots of democracy" will replace a framed copy of the commandments in a high school in Giles County (Wikipedia map).

The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia sued the school board, alleging violation of the separation of church and state, but applauded the compromise. The textbook page is titled "Roots of Democracy," shows the tablets and states: "The values found in the Bible, including the Ten Commandments and the teachings of Jesus, inspired American ideas about government and morality." It also lists other influences on America, including Greek democracy and the Magna Carta.

Though the Liberty Counsel, which represented the school board, was also happy with the compromise, it must be approved by a federal judge. (Read more)

Southern Baptists enthusiastically elect first African-American president

Fred Luter Jr., left, and outgoing SBC
President Bryant Wright (AP photo)

Rev. Fred Luter Jr. has been chosen to lead the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest Protestant denomination, the first time that an African-American pastor has been so honored. Travis Loller of the Associated Press writes that it is "an important step for a denomination that was formed on the wrong side of slavery before the Civil War and had a reputation for supporting segregation and racism during much of the last century. In a news conference after the vote, Luter said he doesn't think his election is some kind of token gesture. 'If we stop appointing African-Americans, Asians, Hispanics to leadership positions after this, we've failed ... I promise you I'm going to do all that I can to make sure this is not just a one-and-done deal.' " Luter was unopposed when he was elected by thousands of enthusiastic delegates at the SBC annual meeting in his hometown of New Orleans.

At that meeting, a controversial proposal was also put forth for the organization to adopt the alternative name of Great Commission Baptists, a move that was made in hopes of bringing in more believers. The organization, acknowledging a recent decline in membership,  its desire for greater diversity and the belief that some may have a negative associations with the current name, has put the optional name to vote. The result was set to be announced Wednesday.

Luter did speak Tuesday about the decline in SBC membership and his own efforts to grow his church, reports AP's Loller, "which included intensive outreach to men, and his concern that men in his inner-city neighborhood were not taking responsibility for their children."  (Read more)