Two weeks ago the American Religious Identification Survey [ARIS] released its findings and announced that “secular” Americans now account for 15 percent of the population. That is up from 8 percent in 1990 and just 2 percent in 1962. Among the young the trend is even higher. Only 25 percent of people between 21 and 45 years old regularly attend church. Who is responsible for this dramatic downturn in commitment to church attendance? According to Al Mohler there are two culprits: the government and single adults.

In a blog post from March 19, Al Mohler discusses a column in The Wall Street Journal by W. Bradford Wilcox who believes “the expansion of the government sector to offer cradle-to-grave social services contributes to the secularization of society.”…

It is an honour to be here. A particular honour to be with you Mr. President. The world participated in the celebration of your election. Now the hard work begins. And now, also we should be as steadfast for you in the hard work as in the celebration. You don’t need cheerleaders but partners; not spectators but supporters. The truest friends are those still around when the going is toughest. We offer you our friendship today. We will work with you to make your Presidency one that shapes our destiny to the credit of America and of the world. Mr President, we salute you and wish you well.

And great news about your blackberry. I had the opposite problem. I got my first mobile phone the day after…

‘Tis the season for giving…or not. Contrary to what many believe, it turns out that conservatives and not liberals are the most charitable givers. Nicholas Kristof at The New York Times has a really great op-ed on the subject. Here are a few surprising results from the research.

1. Red states are most likely to give to non-profits, and states in the Northeast are the least likely.

2. European countries give more humanitarian aid per capita than America, but they don’t give as much individually.

3. The least charitable are the French.

4. Gays are one of the most charitable groups in the US.

5. Some of the stingiest in the US are secular conservatives. (I guess they don’t love God or their neighbor.)

6. “If donations to…

Many voters were not content with their choices for President. Thankfully, our democratic systems allow these free thinkers to write in their own choice. The write-in tally from Duval County, Florida reveals who was most popular. There are fictional characters and non-fictional, former candidates and current celebrities, religious figures and sports heroes.  Two surprises: Ron Paul beat out Jesus, and Donald Duck ties his long time rival Mickey Mouse. Something odd: four people wrote in Obama but his name was already on the ballot. My personal favorite, Weird Al Yankovic.

The overall write-in winner was Hillary Clinton- not a complete surprise given her strong showing during the primaries and her popularity with older Americans (a significant population in Florida). Joe the Plumber also made a showing…some are speculating he may run…

The exit polls has been analyzed and the evidence is clear. Evangelicals may have tipped it in for Bush in 2004, but Obama made significant gains among them in 2008. Now being called “Obamagelicals,” they are a sign that the Religious Right is eroding and a more moderate Christian voting block is emerging–one that neither party has in its pocket.The Obama campaign made a strong push to appeal to religious voters, and not just Christians. Obama made gains among Jews as well when compared to Kerry in 2004. From The New York Times:

Mr. Obama doubled his support among young white evangelicals (those ages 18 to 29) compared with Mr. Kerry. The increase was almost the same for white evangelicals ages 30 to 44. “There is definitely

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Amazing.

How else can you describe what happened last night when Barack Obama became the first African American elected President of the United States? The internet is saturated with essays documenting the magnitude of this event, but it’s the images of people cheering, crying, and celebrating throughout the world that really capture the emotion of it all.

Amid the reflection there have been numerous references to Martin Luther King Jr.’s pioneering civil rights movement and his “dream.” One commentator on the news last night said the day King delivered his famous speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial he could not have known that a two year old boy in Hawaii would become the fulfillment of his prophecy.

I’ve been fascinated by Martin Luther King since seminary–not just as a…