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Steven Waldman

Including the two prayers at Barack Obama’s inaugural, 12 prayers will have been delivered at inaugurations since 1989. All of them have been delivered by Protestants. By contrast, in the previous 48 years, of the 41 prayers delivered, 16 — or 39% — were offered by Protestants. Every president prior to George H.W. Bush had…

Rachel Laser of the advocacy group Third Way called it the “official beginning of the ending of the culture war.” Hmmm. This may not be quite “Mission Accomplished” territory but I suspect her prediction is a tad premature. Nonetheless, what was announced — a document called “Come Let Us Reason Together” — was genuinely noteworthy…

Just getting around to this remarkable Christianity Today interview with Franklin Graham, son of Billy. “The people on the far left hate God, they hate his standards, and hate the name of his son. The people on the left are not going to support any relationship with people on the other side.” The controversy over…

Have you noticed how marketers have appropriated Obama’s “change” and “yes we can!” rhetoric for less-than-lofty goals? Pepsi has added “Yes We Can” language to its already Obama-ish red-white-and-blue logo. My favorite so far is this Vogue cover. Change! it urges its readers. But note the “change” that Vogue is calling us to: “DRESS CHEAP…

From today’s New York Times article about popular young Christian leader Mark Driscoll: The mainstream church, Driscoll has written, has transformed Jesus into “a Richard Simmons, hippie, queer Christ,” a “neutered and limp-wristed popular Sky Fairy of pop culture that . . . would never talk about sin or send anyone to hell.” I get…

Beth Hahn, historical editor for the U.S. Senate Historical Office, once made a video describing how George Washington began the tradition of saying “So help me God” during a presidential swearing in. Then she did some research — and changed her mind. “When I made the video, it was common wisdom that he said it,…

At Beliefnet, we have a special pride in the reported appointment of Julius Genachowski to be chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, a hugely important government agency that oversees regulation of TV, radio and the internet. You see, Julius served on Beliefnet’s board for several years and was instrumental in helping Beliefnet survive through bankruptcy…

The inaugural commitee has now announced that the inaugural festivities will also feature prayers from Rev. Gene Robinson, the episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, who is openly gay — and whose selection prompted a worldwide global schism within the Anglican church. In addition, Rev. Sharon Watkins, the first woman to head a major denominational body,…

Here are the texts of invocations and benedictions at presidential inaugurals since 1937 when the practice began. I’m still searching for the full texts for some of the earlier ones, and will update this space as I get them. 2005 INAUGURAL OF GEORGE W. BUSH Invocation Delivered By The Rev. Dr. Luis León, Rector Of…

Michael Wolfe writes on the Huffington Post that it is a “shibboleth” that The New York Times is important for the good of journalism and notes that an evolving piece of conventional wisdom is that “the Huffington Post is the new New York Times.” I know Huffington Post. Huffington Post is a friend of mine.…
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