Category: News/Politics

The article on HuffPo on the decrease of women attendance in church is quite a revelation. Whereas in most parts of the world–especially Asia–churches are mostly populated by women, in the US it appears women are fleeing from church. According to Barna, “Since 1991, the percentage of women attending church during a typical week has decreased by 11 percentage points to 44 percent, the Barna Group reported Monday (Aug. 1). They also write  “that the percentage of women who strongly believe the Bible is accurate in all it teaches declined by 7 percentage points to 42 percent. And those who view God as “the all-knowing, all-powerful and perfect Creator of the universe who still rules the world today” dropped from 80 percent to 70 percent.” Barna concludes:

“Women used to put men to shame in terms of their orthodoxy of belief and the breadth and consistency of their religious behavior,” wrote Barna. “No more; the religious gender gap has substantially closed.”

For those who have been keeping up with the rescue of the 33 Chileans miners, the New York Times summarizes quiet well the triumph of the story. My favorite part of the story is a quote from one of the rescued miners:

“I’ve been near God, but I’ve also been near the devil,” Mr. Sepúlveda said through a translator. “God won.”

Maureen Dowd’s op-ed piece on the New York Times is brutal on former senator John Edwards. She details some of the main features of a new book. The man who betrayed his dying wife is the main character of Andrew Young’s revealing memoir entitled “The Politician.” The book deals with the scandal that brought down a man who was near to the presidency or who could have been in Joe Biden’s office at this point. Dowd’s conclusion is a perfect summary of John Edward’s political career:

The man who preached about two Americas will be remembered for doing it with two faces.

The more than 12,000 pages of documents relating to lawsuits alleging decades of sexual abuse of children by its priests have now been released. Cardinal Egan, who defended the secrecy of these documents concludes his op-ed in the New York Times  by stating:

It’s marvelous when you think of the hundreds and hundreds of priests and how very few have even been accused, and how very few have even come close to having anyone prove anything.

Responses to Egan’s remarks took various sides, but mainly in opposition to this stunning statement. One responder who was sexually abused writes that “Priests, after all, were next to God.” Priest received an incredible amount of protection. Their superior status and the enormous fear, including the guilt and manipulation suffered by priests, hindered many from ever being known. As one responder observed:

The question, then, for Cardinal Egan is not how many priests actually do not abuse children, but how many abusing priests have gotten away with it.

We tend to see trends in society on the basis of what books are selling the most. At this point, Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged is flying off the shelves. I heard Andrew Breitbart say recently that there is a growing sense of dissatisfaction with the Republican Party and a growing interest in Libertarian theory.  Viva Ron Paul!

Times Online reports:

Missiles fired from suspected US drones killed at least 15 people inside Pakistan today, the first such strikes since Barack Obama became president and a clear sign that the controversial military policy begun by George W Bush has not changed.

Security officials said the strikes, which saw up to five missiles slam into houses in separate villages, killed seven “foreigners” – a term that usually means al-Qaeda – but locals also said that three children lost their lives.

One of the more sane voices in the neo-con radio waves is Glenn Beck. His contributions to CNN often brought a more libertarianesque voice amidst the mostly liberal and few neo-conservative voices at CNN. I am inclined to think that Ron Paul has deeply influenced Glenn at many levels, particularly when it comes to the Federal Reserve and fiat printing of dollars. It is even possible that his hawkish ideas may be softening a bit. He has also been critical of the bailout (s) and the stimulus/government welfare checks. It is a shame that his voice will no longer be considered as relevant after he moves over to Fox. He will be lumped in with all the other big government neo-cons. On the bright side, he may have Ron Paul pay Fox a visit more often. Fox could use a good dose of sanity these days. After all, Andrew Napolitano needs a few more constitutional friends.