In advance of his first papal visit to the United States this week, Time this morning examines the clergy sex abuse challenge Pope Benedict will face here. But missing altogether from the analysis of that continuing crisis in the American Catholic Church is any discussion of then Cardinal Ratzinger's essential role in perpetuating it. Time […]

Just when it seemed John McCain had weathered the storm over endorser John Hagee's rabid anti-Catholicism, the Texas pastor announced his latest effort to accelerate Armageddon. In the face of U.S. policy opposing the expansion of Isaeli settlements in the West Bank, Hagee's Christian United for Israel (CUFI) announced a $6 million donation to help […]

In the latest stop on his biographical trip down memory lane, presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain returned to his old high school in Alexandria, Virginia. As it turns out, that may have been an odd choice for a man trying to reintroduce himself to the American people. Years after leaving the august halls of […]

After Barack Obama himself, no politician in America may have had a greater stake in Obama's critical speech on race yesterday than former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. The former Baptist minister, after all, hasn't been shy about his interest in being John McCain's choice for vice president. Like the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Huckabee's closet of […]

For months, Hillary Clinton has been desperately trying to manufacture a defining moment that would crystallize voters' doubts about Barack Obama. That "Where's the Beef" moment may have come on Friday, not from Obama himself, but in the guise of his long-time pastor and spiritual adviser Jeremiah Wright. While Obama was quick to denounce Wright's […]

Few developments provide greater schadenfreude for liberals than division and conflict among the ranks of the American Taliban. So watching the Catholic League's Bill Donahue burst a blood vessel over John McCain's embrace of the endorsement of Pastor John Hagee is must-see entertainment for Democrats. But as I first wrote almost two years ago, when […]

In a single sentence in one story on religion in the United States, CBS Evening News managed to insult the vast majority of the American people. Describing a major new study on Americans' religious faith from the Pew Forum, CBS' Wyatt Andrews suggested that atheism in particular and Americans' widely shared belief in a secular […]

In much the same way that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, conservative culture warriors love to hate the Oscars. Last night's 80th Academy Awards were no exception. Nothing seems to infuriate the family values crowd more than Hollywood award winners on stage thanking their same-sex partners for their support. […]

Heading into Super Tuesday, the faith-based candidacy of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is running on fumes. Falling short in South Carolina in what was his last best chance to turn the GOP nominating process into chaos, Huckabee limped to a distant fourth place showing in Florida. Now out of momentum and out of cash, […]

Over at Slate, Christopher Hitchens asks why the press is ignoring Mike Huckabee's shocking statement about the Confederate flag. While the media were quick to highlight Huckabee's shameless pandering to South Carolina's far right, the press generally preferred to avoid any discussion of Huckabee's blatantly racist appeal to the Palmetto State's antebellum boosters. Sadly, for […]