Christian Right

Even as it talks about inclusion and admits nonbelievers into the ranks of upstanding citizenry, the new administration, like the last one, has a plan to use religion to further its political goals.

World-known theologian Hans Kung, ever a sharp thorn in the side of the Vatican, imagines what it would be like if Obama were in the Vatican instead of the White House.

Even as they invite progressive religious groups to the table the leaders of the Democratic party shun religious feminism.

Recent efforts to reach a compromise between evangelicals and liberals have managed to avoid the discussion of abortion altogether. The fact remains: according to many clergy representing millions of Americans of all faiths and denominations, the moral reality of women’s lives is that sometimes abortion is the best moral choice.

Plus: Anti-abortion groups march on; Tony Perkins’ advice to Obama; Focus on the Family sets Newsweek straight; CPAC rides again; a boom in Christian films; and Training against the death penalty.

The company whose founders helped finance the modern conservative movement is returning home to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary.

Former pastor Ted Haggard is desperate for redemption, but he can’t do the one thing that might make it possible—admit and accept that he’s gay.

There’s something about American evangelical life that tends toward the production of these sex sagas and tonight’s HBO documentary on Haggard airs just as new dimensions of the sex scandal emerge.

Prayers For Bobby, a new Lifetime TV movie, portrays the tragic struggle of a gay teen in a conservative Christian family and the family’s attempt to “heal” him. Predictably, the film was heavily criticized by the religious right.

Benedict’s ecclesial acceptance of someone most thoughtful people wouldn’t invite to a cocktail party showed a disregard of the sensibilities of his own flock.