At 74, the 5-foot-2 Catholic nun is a powerhouse. She served as one of the peace guides during the big anti-NATO rally and march from downtown to Cermak Road andMichigan Avenue. Her job was to help keep protesters calm and the procession moving.
…
“I like to think I’m the hostess of the protest. Some people want to cause trouble or get arrested, and you can’t stop them. But others are just solid gold people who are working to change things. Sometimes they’re anxious, and one of the jobs of a peace guide is to give them information to help them feel comfortable.”

Sister Kathleen represents her religious congregation, Sisters of Providence of St. Mary-of-the-Woods, on the staff at the Chicago-based 8th Day Center for Justice, a Catholic peace and justice organization whose mission is to shake things up.

“We’re not a social services agency, and we don’t do charity work,” she said. “But we’re called to be an alternative, critical voice.

“The disparity between the rich and poor, we’ve been working on that forever, along with issues surrounding immigration, labor rights, the environment, the prison system, police brutality, women and children, wars around the world. We at 8th Day believe they’re all interconnected.”

Marquette faculty members rebuke Ryan budget
By Annysa Johnson — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Marquette letter calls it “a glaring misuse of Catholic teaching to defend a budget plan that decimates food programs for struggling families, radically weakens protections for the elderly and sick, and gives more tax breaks to the wealthiest few.”

A choice of capitalisms
By E.J. Dionne Jr. — Washington Post, Opinion
In this election, we’re not having an argument that pits capitalism against socialism. We are trying to decide what kind of capitalism we want. It is a debate as American as Alexander Hamilton, Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay — which is to say that we have always done this.

Obama could have a prayer among Ohio’s white evangelicals
By Mitchell Landsberg — Los Angeles Times
White evangelical voters are widely presumed to march in lock step with the right wing of the Republican Party. The reality is more nuanced. Some, like Beard, say their faith has led them to question conservative orthodoxy on issues such as immigration, the environment and racial and economic equity.

Evangelical Leaders Split Over Violence Against Women Act
By Tobin Grant — Christianity Today, Politics Blog
Some faith leaders, including National Association of Evangelicals president Leith Anderson, oppose stripping away provisions that could aid mail-order brides and other immigrants. Other evangelical groups, including Concerned Women for America, want the act scrapped altogether.

Obama and the Two Types of Marriage
By Melissa Rogers — Huffington Post, Opinion
Americans must decide whether they support or oppose recognition of same-sex marriage in our civil laws, but they also must determine how religious objectors will be treated where same-sex marriages are recognized and the spirit in which these debates will be conducted.

Romney’s Faith, Silent but Deep
By Jodi Kantor — New York Times
Now, as the presumptive Republican nominee for president, Mr. Romney speaks so sparingly about his faith — he and his aides frequently stipulate that he does not impose his beliefs on others — that its influence on him can be difficult to detect.

Florida-style ‘Stand Your Ground’ gun laws sub impulse for intelligent thinking
By Walter Rodgers — Christian Science Monitor, Opinion
Even as George Zimmerman stands trial for fatally shooting Trayvon Martin, many Americans argue these laws make us safe. I’ve had pistols held to my head from Bosnia to Beirut. Your best self-defense is your tongue.

At NATO protest, it’s clear Catholic nun is a powerhouse in the peace movement
By Dawn Turner Trice — Chicago Tribune
At 74, the 5-foot-2 Catholic nun is a powerhouse. She served as one of the peace guides during the big anti-NATO rally and march from downtown to Cermak Road and Michigan Avenue. Her job was to help keep protesters calm and the procession moving.

Health secretary addresses health care, religious freedom in protested graduation speech
By Dan Merica — CNN
In an anticipated and controversial address Friday, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius delivered a speech that blended inspirational messages to graduates with a discussion of public policy’s tough decisions…

Catholic college drops health plan over contraception mandate
By Stephanie Simon — Reuters
A small Catholic college in Ohio said Tuesday it was dropping health insurance coverage for students rather than comply with a federal mandate that the plan provide free birth control.

Sebelius is at the center of a controversy over an Obama administration policy that requires birth control to be covered at no cost under preventative care provisions of the health care reform law.

The Cardinal Newman Society, which acts as a self-appointed watchdog for Catholic orthodoxy on college campuses, CatholicVote.org and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty are all circulating petitions urging Georgetown President John DeGioia to withdraw the invitation to Secretary Sebelius.

Since these groups seem more intent on building walls around Catholic campuses and insulating students from the supposed dangers of diverse perspectives, it’s clearly too much to expect them to applaud a Catholic university for inviting two high-profile Catholics from different political parties and ideological perspectives within a few weeks.

Instead of a “scandal,” I think many Catholics who take their faith seriously and believe strongly in the importance of Catholic identity view it as a healthy sign that Georgetown recognizes the real world is about engaging with people who hold different perspectives – not creating a fortress where we hide from them.

A few important facts to help temper the Catholic right tempest. Sec. Sebelius is not the commencement speaker. She will not receive an honorary degree. As Georgetown President John J. DeGoia explained, she was chosen by students and will offer some reflections and encouraging remarks during an awards ceremony. She has not been invited to pontificate about Catholic teaching, abortion or contraception.

Unlike Rep. Paul Ryan, Sec. Sebelius has not been making the rounds defending her policy positions in specifically Catholic terms. Nor does she claim that her views on contraception and abortion are shared by Catholic bishops. In contrast, Ryan argues that cutting food stamps, health care for the poor and an array of safety net programs that Catholic bishops are warning him to protect are policy positions explicitly inspired by his Catholic faith.

Despite this, the Georgetown professors who chided Ryan over his Catholic defense of Darwinian economic policies did not call on the university president to pull the invitation. In fact, unlike the Newman Society and Catholic right activists they welcomed him to campus and used a civil tone that should be a model for how to disagree without descending to personal attacks.

Criticism of Sec. Sebelius’s pro-choice views is certainly legitimate from a Catholic perspective. I understand why some Catholics might disagree with Georgetown’s decision. But elevating the worst of McCarthy-era witch hunts and censorship into a virtue is a poor lesson for students about to enter a world where every bit of their faith and reason will be needed. Defending Catholic identity should not have to mean that intellectual engagement and civil discourse are viewed as signs of weakness that erode our faith.

Photo credit: Eric Bridiers, Fotopedia

Unfortunately, that list has not so far included the Christian social relief agency The Salvation Army whose advertisements for a local service center have been running during Limbaugh’s show on St. Louis station KMOX over the last few months.

Thankfully, after learning of the situation, both the national Salvation Army and the St. Louis area affiliate issued statements making clear the timing was not intentional and they do not want their ads running on Limbaugh’s show.

Major George Hood, National Community Relations and Development Secretary for The Salvation Army said:

Nationally, The Salvation Army does not advertise on the Rush Limbaugh Show. We have a limited advertising budget and the program does not fit into our media mix. All local advertising decisions are made at the local level.

And Will Becker, Communications Director of The Salvation Army St. Louis confirmed:

The Salvation Army Midland Division stands by the national Salvation Army’s statement. The ads that ran on local KMOX were not intentionally placed on The Rush Limbaugh Show and we have instructed the station to keep any of our future ads off of that program.

Caring for Poor People: Should the Church Do It Alone?
By David Beckmann — Huffington Post, Opinion
In fact, all of the food churches and charities provide to hungry and poor people in the United States amounts to only about 6 percent of what the federal government spends on programs such as SNAP and school meals for students.

The Deadliness of Income Inequality
By Brian Fung — Atlantic
Growing income inequality in the United States has Americans talking about justice and economic fairness, but a new study suggests the burgeoning wealth gap is threatening more than just our pocketbooks. It might be raising our risk for an early death.

I’m not quitting the church
By E.J. Dionne Jr. — Washington Post, Opinion
[The Freedom from Religion Foundation] may not see the Gospel as a liberating document, but I do, and I can’t ignore the good done in the name of Christ by the sisters, priests, brothers and lay people who have devoted their lives to the poor and the marginalized.

On Second Thought, GOP Will Just Repeal Obamacare
By Jonathan Chait — New York Magazine
But, in a development that received almost no attention at all, Republicans quietly conceded last week that they aren’t going to replace Obamacare at all.

Source: Obama campaign hires faith outreach director
By Dan Gilgoff — CNN, Belief Blog
Michael Wear, who currently serves as executive assistant to the executive director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, will join the Obama campaign in Chicago as Faith Vote Director…

Pat Robertson: Romney’s faith not an issue
By Catalina Camia — USA Today, Opinion
Televangelist Pat Robertson said today Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith is becoming less of an issue with voters.

Immigration crackdown has some Alabama farmers cutting back crops
By Jay Reeves — Associated Press
Keith Dickie said he and other growers in the heart of Alabama’s tomato country didn’t have any choice but to reduce acreage amid fears there won’t be enough workers to pick the delicate fruit.

Colorado kills civil unions bill
By Tim Mak — Politico
Just days after President Barack Obama endorsed same-sex marriage, Republicans in the Colorado state Legislature on Monday defeated a bill recognizing same-sex civil unions.

While the conference (under the leadership of Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development Chairman Bishop Stephen Blaire) has been clear that Ryan’s budget fails a “basic moral test,“ Bishop Morlino appears to let Ryan off the hook. Deferring to Ryan’s own excuse that he is exercising “prudential judgment,” Morlino describes him as someone “who makes his judgment in accord with all the teachings of the Church.”

Watch it:

Unfortunately, if Bishop Morlino actually means to say the Ryan budget is in accord with Cathoilc teaching, it would put him at odds with his fellow bishops who — as the USCCB made clear to Rep. Ryan – are represented by Bishop Blaire’s letters.

Their critique focuses not only on the specific cuts Ryan makes, but also his abandonment of the larger principle of shared sacrifice by the wealthy and the military.

It’s that imbalance — an imbalance that will do real harm to vulnerable families — that violates the bishops’ principles and puts the House GOP budget outside the range of acceptable options.

Obama’s case for gay marriage shows that invoking faith isn’t just for conservatives anymore
By Amy Sullivan — Washington Post, Opinion
This new bipartisan politics of religion is a good thing — both for religion and for politics. For several decades, the right has held a monopoly over what it means to be religious in the United States, not to mention Christian or evangelical.

Unions That Divide: Churches Split Over Gay Marriage
By Laurie Goodstein — New York Times
Mr. Obama’s declaration last week that he supports same-sex marriage prompted ministers around the country to take to their pulpits on Sunday and preach on the issue.

Mitt Romney Makes Appeal To Evangelicals At Liberty University
By Evan McMorris-Santoro — Talking Points Memo
…speaking before a staunchly conservative audience placed him back in politically volatile territory, forcing him to focus on both same-sex marriage and “religious freedom”.

DNC makes appeal to evangelical community ahead of Romney’s Liberty speech
By Dan Merica — CNN Belief Blog
According to Harkins, issues like poverty, immigration and health care are important to evangelical voters, and he believes the president’s stance on these issues will win him votes.

Ryan budget still an issue in congressional races
By Ed O’Keefe — Washington Post
…the Ryan plan has been embraced by the GOP establishment as an article of faith, and it is likely to be a key issue in this fall’s congressional elections.

Obama Versus Romney Offers a Clash of Capitalisms
By Jonathan Alter — Bloomberg View, Opinion
…discerning voters need to understand the deep philosophical distinctions between Mitt Romney and Barack Obamaeven if they don’t lend themselves to campaign slogans or barbs.

7 Religion Stories to Watch in the 2012 Battleground States
By Joanna Brooks — Religion Dispatches
While more than a few reporters are heading to Utah these days to chase the Romney-Mormon angle (never mind that the state is definitely Not In Play), religion also promises to play a role in the battleground states this November. Here is a first look at potential stories to watch.

Injustices of Stop and Frisk
By New York Times, Editorial
The data also show that the police are significantly more likely to use force when they stop blacks and Hispanics than when they stop whites. This means minority targets are more likely to be slammed against walls or spread-eagled while officers go through their belongings. Even when victims are unhurt, they are likely to develop a deep and abiding distrust of law enforcement.

Student loan debt may prevent many U.S. Catholics from entering religious orders
By Jerry Filteau — National Catholic Reporter
“In essence, they’re too poor to take the vow of poverty,” commented the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, which conducted the study.

Like these other laws, the Michigan legislation (HB 4769 and SB 701) are misguided responses to the imagined threat of “Islamic lawfare” — a conspiracy theory that Muslims are attempting to overthrow the U.S. Constitution by subversively introducing sharia law in the United States.

With the House bill currently stuck in committee, the sponsor of the legislation, Grandville Republican Dave Agema, used the rally to urge the legislature to move the proposal forward.

The legislation is being pushed by the right-wing American Public Policy Alliance, who provided the language for the law based on their “American Laws for American Courts” (ALAC) model legislation — the same model behind similar laws passed in Tennessee, Louisiana and Arizona.

As the Center for American Progress’s Fear Inc. report identified, the ALAC legislation was designed by David Yerushalmi, one of the key “misinformation experts” behind the entire anti-Islam industry who has said that ” the Muslim peoples, those committed to Islam as we know it today, are our enemies.”

The Michigan bill is opposed by a diverse group of religious and community organizations concerned about its impact on private contract law often used by various religious groups. Six organizations signed onto a statement directly responding to Thursday’s rally, which said:

All who reside in Michigan have the fundamental right to practice their sincerely held, bona fide religious beliefs, as long as those do not violate the U.S. and Michigan constitutions and laws. Agema’s bill could not only adversely affect Michigan Muslims, but also followers of other religions, including Judaism and Christianity, for whom courts routinely order reasonable accommodations for the observance of religious laws.

The signers were The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee – Michigan, The Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services, The Council on American-Islamic Relations – Michigan, The Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, Jewish Voice for Peace – Detroit and National Action Network – Detroit.

The Michigan Catholic Conference is also opposing the bill for the same reasons, framing it as “an attack on religious liberty itself.”

Yesterday, local Catholics in Peoria delivered the petition with 23,000 signatures to Bishop Jenky’s diocesan offices expressing their disappointment with their bishop’s extreme rhetoric.

Watch this report on the delivery from local Fox affiliate WYZZ:

Unfortunately, Bishop Jenky’s office continues to refuse to apologize, insisting instead that his remarks have been “ misconstrued, distorted and misunderstood.” Here are Bishop Jenky’s remarks so you can judge for yourself:

Remember that in past history other governments have tried to force Christians to huddle and hide only within the confines of their churches like those first disciples before the Resurrection locked together in the Upper Room.

In the late 19th century, Bismark waged his “Kulturkamf,” a culture war against the Roman Catholic Church, closing down every Catholic school and hospital, convent and monastery in Imperial Germany. Clemenceau, nicknamed “the priest eater,” tried the same thing in France in the first decade of the 20th Century.

Hitler and Stalin, at their better moments, would just barely tolerate some churches remaining open, but would not tolerate any competition with the state in education, social services, and health care.

In clear violation of our First Amendment rights, President Obama – with his radical, pro-abortion and extreme secularist agenda, now seems intent on following a similar path.

The Poor Should Not Bear the Burden of a Deficit They Didn’t Cause
By John Gehring — US News and World Report, Debate Club
We should not pit national security against economic security. An effective military and a responsive government that doesn’t turn its back on vulnerable families are both achievable if we move beyond false choices.

Group collects 23,000 signatures calling for Jenky to apologize
By Pam Adams — Peoria Journal-Star
Faithful America, an online religious community focused on social justice issues, is the latest group to ask Peoria Bishop Daniel Jenky to apologize for remarks…connecting President Barack Obama’s policies to some of the world’s most nefarious dictators.

President Obama Cites ‘Winds of Change’ in Same-Sex Marriage Shift
By Robin Roberts, Devin Dwyer and Rick Klein — ABC News, Good Morning America
As for his personal evolution on the issue, Obama cited New York state, which approved gay marriage in June 2011, as an example of how compromise could be reached with religious groups, many of which oppose same-sex unions.

Will gay marriage force Romney on to culture war footing?
By Greg Sargent — Washington Post, The Plum Line
The papers are filled with articles gaming out whether Obama’s big announcement yesterday puts him at political risk, but the other question is this: Will it force Mitt Romney on to a culture war footing when he’d rather be talking about the economy?

CNN Hosts Hate Group Leader To Explain Obama’s Gay Marriage Support
By David Badash — The New Civil Rights Movement
CNN has again tapped Tony Perkins, the head of the Family Research Council, to explain to the public President Barack Obama‘s evolution on same-sex marriage. CNN is available in over 100 million U.S. homes. The Family Research Council is a certified anti-gay hate group.

Mourdock Republicans, embracing dangerous austerity
By E.J. Dionne Jr. — Washington Post, Opinion
Lugar was regularly described in the course of his reelection campaign as a “moderate.” But he is not a moderate, and never has been. He is a conservative who happens to be civil. Lugar earned a lifetime rating of 77 percent from the American Conservative Union. If being more than three-quarters to the right puts you in the “middle” of the political spectrum, it’s a very skewed measure.

One in six voters still think Obama’s a Muslim: Why?
By Lauren Markoe — Religion News Service
While Americans across the board get the president’s religion wrong, the religious group that most often thinks Obama is Muslim is white evangelical Protestants (24 percent). American unaffiliated with a religious group make the error least often: just 7 percent identify Obama as Muslim.

Anti-Sharia rally set in Lansing
By Oralandar Brand-Williams — Detroit News
Its sponsor, Michigan Rep. Dave Agema (R-Grandville), said the bill is aimed at barring the implementation of foreign laws. While the law does not mention Sharia or Islamic law, local Muslim activists and others say the bill is aimed at Muslims.

Kansas protestors rally against ‘Religious Freedom Act’
By Adam Strunk — Wichita Eagle
Those gathered in front of the Capitol, however, cited language within the bill that would allow renters, business owners and citizens to deny services to those who violate their religious tenets.