ReligionDispatches.org

RD contributor Frances Kissling weighed in recently on federal-funding of abortions and the high-profile attempts by self-proclaimed "religious progressives" like Jim Wallis "to use healthcare reform to push for further restrictions on abortion."

Curiously, despite the pro-choice community's attempts to reach common ground and compromise by keeping the status quo on the federal funding of abortions, some vocal "pro-life progressive" leaders now demand more.

Here's how it begins. Go to Salon to see where it ends:

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Although daily existence has been satire for some time now, deliberate satire has the power to make the point more succinctly than all the exposition in the world. There's not much to say about this, but watch (hat tip to AmericaBlog):

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On the 4th of March, 1966 John Lennon told the London Evening Standard's Maureen Cleave that, "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I do not know what will go first, rock 'n' roll or Christianity... We're more popular than Jesus now."

Several months down the line [blogs were called "zines" back then and took way too long to spread inflammatory soundbites...] the "more popular than Jesus" crack made it back to the states, sparking torch and pitchfork retribution from American Bible Thumpers who subsequently exported their outrage back over the pond. Even the Vatican had critical words for the young man.

Who'd a thought that all the heartache and apologetic press conferences could have been avoided with some simple data?

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There are numerous reasons why Pat Robertson (who, incidentally, hasn’t been a “Reverend” for 20 years now) might embrace an Obama Administration. He may have an actual affinity for his early choices or maybe he’s caught a whiff of the money he may receive from Obama’s extension of Bush’s Faith-Based Initiatives, which proved a windfall for the “right” religious orgs.

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The problem with cynicism is that it's lazy. Has no room to consider degree of infraction, no patience for the sweep of a spectrum. How are to know whether Jane Doe voted against Free Halloween Candy for Kids because she's a cold-hearted child-hater or because the sponsor of the bill owns a share in Nabisco? How are we to distinguish those stretching the truth from those obliterating it when most of the media's unbreakable First Commandment is Thou Shalt Present Both Sides of a Given Issue as Equal—Whether One Side is Objectively More True or Not?

In the week leading up to Election Day, with John McCain's campaign disintegrating and receiving appropriate opprobrium from across the political spectrum—not to mention the media—a number of races around the country turned ugly.

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The American News Project, recently launched by former Washington Monthly publisher Nick Penniman and populated by veteran news professionals, produced the following video news segment. It asks a very simple question about Sarah Palin's eschatological leanings...

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