Reverend Jonathan Falwell, son of the late Jerry Falwell and pastor of Lynchburg, VA's Thomas Road Baptist Church, delivered the prayer opening the House of Representatives Wednesday. As AU's Sandhya Bathija noted though, Falwell's actual invocation – which invoked Jesus – does not match the published text (which does not), and does not meet the Chaplain's standards of inclusion. Subsequently, the Reverend stoked the controversy with an op-ed.
The White House's Faith-Based initiative is (sort of) 10 years old. Dan Gilgoff points out a key structural difference between President Bush's approach and President Obama's. It's not just the name that has changed.
PBS will air a multi-part documentary in 2010 on "God in America."
White House Faith-Based Office Director Josh Dubois reiterates the Obama policy – in an interview with CBN's David Brody – that hiring discrimination concerns for religious organizations that accept government funds will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, rather than with a broad pronouncement.
Remember the Church of Universal Love and Music? The founder, William Pritts, had achieved a settlement with Fayette County (PA) officials after suing under RLUIPA for the right to continue holding music festivals. Over the weekend, a police drug raid during the religious observance known as "funkfest" is being called malicious and retribution by Pritts.
