Steven Waldman

Reprinted from the Wall Street Journal Online Superdelegates and pundits have spent much of the last week assessing whether Barack Obama’s skin color makes him unelectable. Well, here’s another awkward question: Why hasn’t Hillary Clinton been able to win men? Consider this stunning fact: Sen. Obama has beaten Sen. Clinton among men in 23 of…

Deal, you raise an interesting point about Catholics and the war. It could indeed be a wild card. But here’s the thing: in 2004, Catholics supported the Iraq war (along with the rest of the public) despite opposition from the Vatican. If the Vatican didn’t seem to influence Catholics views on the war, why would…

Deal, Thank you for your thoughtful unpacking of the Catholic question. The most persuasive explanation of why Hillary would be doing better than Obama among Catholics is that she “inherits much of the Catholic goodwill bestowed upon her husband.” What I’m still confused about is this: all of the issues cited by Ray Flynn and…

REVEREND WRIGHT: Over the next few days, prominent scholars of the African-American religious tradition from several different disciplines — theologians, church historians, ethicists, professors of the Hebrew bible, homiletics, hermeneutics, and historians of religions — those scholars will join in with sociologists, political analysts, local church pastors, and denominational officials to examine the African-American religious…

Deal, thank you for participating in Casting Stones this week. I wanted to respond to your post about the Catholic vote. Clearly, Hillary is doing much better among Catholics than Obama is, but I’m afraid that I don’t buy the notion that it’s because of her “clearly outlined social justice message.” What about her social…

Reprinted from Christianity Today Online Much attention has been paid to the idea that evangelical Christians are, politically, in motion. Only 29 percent of “born-again” Christians now say they support Republicans, compared to 62 percent in 2004, according to Barna Research. Among those who participated in the Republican primaries, many went for John McCain, who…

Reprinted from The Wall Street Journal Online: Debates will rage for days about whether Hillary Clinton won by enough in Pennsylvania’s Democratic primary to truly threaten Barack Obama’s candidacy, but one thing is clear already: Sen. Obama continues to struggle among Catholics. Sen. Clinton trounced Sen. Obama 69% to 31% among Catholic voters, according to…

I’ve written in the past about how some of America’s founders not only discriminated against Catholics but actively stoked anti-Catholic sentiment to advance the American cause. Yet somehow, Catholics ended up being gradually included in the American religious compact. As Pope Benedict XI said, now, “Respect for freedom of religion is deeply ingrained in the…

Since Pope Benedict XI has long decried the grave threat of secularism, I always wondered whether he understood the subtle way that the Founders hoped secularism and religion would interplay. In his speech to the Bishops Wednesday, he showed that he understands the interplay better than many American religious conservatives. “It strikes me as significant…

Out of context, this line can be seen as an invitation for constant judgment on the faith of others. Compare this to the words of George Washington who wrote in 1795, “In politics, as in religion, my tenets are few and simple the leading one of which, and indeed that which embraces most others, is…

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