c/o National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC):

Please sign NJDC's petition to urge CNN, FOX News, NBC, ABC, and CBS to stop inviting Ann Coulter as a guest to comment on politics.

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Full Petition Text:
We are writing to ask you to refrain from inviting Ann Coulter to participate as a guest on your network's news programming.

As you know, it has long been documented that Ms. Coulter takes liberties with the facts. Furthermore, her comments -- be they about Democrats, 9/11 widows, Jews, or others -- often border on hate speech.

While Ms. Coulter has her freedom of speech, you have the freedom to exercise better judgment. You wouldn't put people who claim Martians roam the earth to frequently comment on science. It is time to stop putting Ms. Coulter on the air to comment on politics, thus giving her free publicity and attention.

Signed by:

Also, if you are on Facebook, check out and join the group: Christians Who Think Jews Are Perfect Just the Way They Are

A comprehensive new study establishes what was patently obvious: the way to prevent and reduce abortion is through science-based sex education and contraception, not by criminalizing abortion. Indeed: The wealth of information that comes out of the study provides some striking lessons, the researchers said. In Uganda, where abortion is illegal and sex education programs focus only on abstinence, the estimated abortion rate was 54 per 1,000 women in 2003, more than twice the rate in the United States, 21 per 1,000 in that year. The lowest rate, 12 per 1,000, was in Western Europe, with legal abortion and widely available contraception.

NY Times:Legal or Not, Abortion Rates Compare:

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
Published: October 12, 2007
ROME, Oct. 11 — A comprehensive global study of abortion has concluded that abortion rates are similar in countries where it is legal and those where it is not, suggesting that outlawing the procedure does little to deter women seeking it.

Moreover, the researchers found that abortion was safe in countries where it was legal, but dangerous in countries where it was outlawed and performed clandestinely. Globally, abortion accounts for 13 percent of women’s deaths during pregnancy and childbirth, and there are 31 abortions for every 100 live births, the study said.(snip)

“We now have a global picture of induced abortion in the world, covering both countries where it is legal and countries where laws are very restrictive,” Dr. Paul Van Look, director of the W.H.O. Department of Reproductive Health and Research, said in a telephone interview. “What we see is that the law does not influence a woman’s decision to have an abortion. If there’s an unplanned pregnancy, it does not matter if the law is restrictive or liberal.”

But the legal status of abortion did greatly affect the dangers involved, the researchers said. “Generally, where abortion is legal it will be provided in a safe manner,” Dr. Van Look said. “And the opposite is also true: where it is illegal, it is likely to be unsafe, performed under unsafe conditions by poorly trained providers.”

The data also suggested that the best way to reduce abortion rates was not to make abortion illegal but to make contraception more widely available, said Sharon Camp, chief executive of the Guttmacher Institute.

David Korten, known for his bestseller, "When Corporations Rule the World", also has said some interesting things about Christianity and politics. Korten gave these remarks in 2004 after the election, but they are still relevant today. Some excerpts:

It is good to see a mainstream news outlet publish a thorough story about the emerging environmental conscience in the evangelical movement. Be sure to read this story at ABC News. It begins with this:

Things are getting very serious in the drum beat for an un-winnable and immoral war with Iran. This is something we all have to stay active on. Here are two excellent places to start: StopIran War.com includes many Iraq war Vets and is led by Gen. Wes Clark. Contact the media and tell them to be more skeptical here.

c/o NY Sun:
Fox Is Pushing For Iran War, Senator Says
By JOSH GERSTEIN
Staff Reporter of the Sun
August 23, 2007

Senator Sanders of Vermont is backing a campaign to warn Americans that Fox News is using jingoistic programming to push the nation into a military attack on Iran. Mr. Sanders, a self-described socialist who caucuses with the Democrats, joined with a liberal filmmaker yesterday to denounce the popular cable channel for leading a drumbeat in favor of a military strike against Tehran.

"The leader of that effort is Fox News, which, in many ways, is a propaganda machine," Mr. Sanders said during a conference call with reporters and bloggers. He said the network was echoing "increased rumblings" from President Bush and Vice President Cheney about the prospect of an attack on Iran.

The oppression of Buddhists in Tibet was back in the news today, in this interesting NY Times piece detailing a subtle protest by Tibetans against draconian new restrictions on Buddhist lamas and religious freedom.

But, if I approached this story with all of the nuance of a New Atheist, I would have to conclude as follows: once again, moderate and progressive new atheists are secretly at fault because they assume that the Atheist viewpoint is entitled to automatic respect, when we all know that deep down, all new atheists love to torture Buddhist monks and nuns-- and to wear endangered tiger skins into the bargain. (That's right, the Chinese Government ordered Tibetans to wear animal skins and fur--because the Dalia Lama, who is sensitive to endangered animal issues, opposes their use in religious and cultural ceremonies.)

Coalition on Human Needs:
YOUR WORK ON CHILDREN'S HEALTH PAID OFF!
LETS KEEP IT UP . . .

Thanks to your calls to Congress & our collective efforts we earned a major victory for children's health. Last week, before going on recess, the House and Senate each passed separate bills to renew the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Both bills commit additional funding for the program over five years and ensure that millions more children will have access to health care.

But our work is not over. The President has threatened to veto these bills and send millions of children to the ranks of the uninsured. We must keep this from happening by securing enough Congressional support to override a veto and by convincing the President that providing children health insurance is the right thing to do.

Build support for SCHIP and send a strong message to our leaders on children's health:
Sign an SEIU petition to Congress requesting full funding for children's health.

Join First Focus' letter writing campaign directed to the First Lady Laura Bush

How should progressive Christians get involved with politics? The Christian Century magazine has published an interesting debate between Jan Linn and Jim Wallis.

The evidence is mounting that a growing percentage of younger evangelicals are beginning to distance themselves from the political agenda of the Christian Right. A recent Religion News Service article captures well this shift:

Atheists have a problem, the leaders of their New Atheism movement (with the exception of evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, who is just dull and intellectually dishonest) are themselves morally repugnant people. Christopher Hitchens, their current poster boy, supported all of the lies and distortions which led us into the disastrous war in Iraq. He still finds it A War to Be Proud Of! He even rationalizes the moral and strategic tragedy of Abu Ghraib: "Prison conditions at Abu Ghraib have improved markedly and dramatically since the arrival of Coalition troops in Baghdad."

This insanity doesn't compare to me, somehow, on the moral scale with all of the religious folks,from all faiths most recently half a million liberal Catholics, who have opposed the War in Iraq. But how is this relevant to Hitchens' new book God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything? He makes similarly repugnant arguments there--including willing away the historical challenge to the moral superiority of atheists presented by mass murderers Pol Pot and Stalin--as this excellent review by associate Atlantic Monthly editor Ross Douthat points out.