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Steven Waldman

KirbyJon Caldwell, who delivered a prayer at one of President Bush’s inauguration, predicts that Rick Warren will have to pray “in Jesus’s name” when he gives the invocation in a few weeks. (Hat tip: GetReligion) “If Rick Warren does not pray in Jesus’ name, some folks are going to be very disappointed,” [Rev. Kirbyjon] Caldwell…

Based on a survey of religion reporters, the Religion Newswriters Association reports that the top ten faith-related stories of 2008: 1. Controversial sermons delivered in recent years by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright surface, resulting in pressure on Barack Obama, who eventually withdraws his membership in his church, Trinity UCC, Chicago. Meanwhile, John McCain rejects the…

More from David Bookbinder here.

Roughly 127,977, babies are killed each year through the process of in vitro fertilization — at least if one accepts the definition that discarding a fertilized embryo amounts to abortion and murder. Pro-choice groups obviously don’t see it that way. More interesting, pro life groups do see it that way but rarely discuss in vitro…

Rabbi Marc Gellman writes in Newsweek an “open letter” to Bernard Madoff: You are responsible for reviving the “Jew game.” I heard of the Jew game from a boy who became a man last Saturday. I asked him once if he had ever experienced anti-Semitism in school. That is when he looked at the floor…

Beliefnet’s bloggers have been describing their favorite spiritual books of the year. Here are bottom line picks. Click through to read their explanations: Scot McKnight (a.k.a Jesus Creed) Klyne Snodgrass’ complete study of the parables: Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus . Tom Wright’s wondrous and suggestive book on the…

Prayers for Kim: Please pray for Kim with all of your heart and ask God to help her in these extremely trying times. Kim is a truly generous and giving person who has fallen on hard times. She suffers from depression and has some health issues which have flared up due to the stress of…

Paul Raushenbush at Progressive Revival has put together an excelent list of the “worst religious stories” — meaning the ones that made us groan or roll our eyes. Two samples: 7. Prosperity Gospelers add to the foreclosure crisis by preaching that Jesus had provided poor congregants with a house they could not afford. 6. Elizabeth…

A new study from Psychological Bulletin indicates that church attendance does promote self control. (Hat tip: New York Times) The traditional explanation might be that fear of divine retribution scares youngsters into behaving. But the scientists who did this study suspect a more positive effect: religious ritual stimulates our self-control muscles. Michael McCullough explains: “Brain-scan…

Our gallery of spiritual leaders includes many great men and women. I wanted to ponder for a moment Warith Deen Mohammed, who did more than any other American to bring Islam into the mainstream here. He was the son of Elijah Muhammad, who had founded the Nation of Islam. But after Elijah died, Warith drew…
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