The Friday News: Dec. 9, 2011 | Sojourners

The Friday News: Dec. 9, 2011

RNS: Hanukkah Music: Young, Hip Jews Leading a Makeover
A year after a group of Yeshiva University students hit it big with what some called the only really good Hanukkah song to come along in centuries, Lauren Markoe looks at the high-stakes rush to craft new Hanukkah music -- with an eye on audiences that are primarily non-Jews.
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FireDogLake: EPA Finds Fracking Contaminated Drinking Water in Wyoming
For the first time, government scientists concluded that hydraulic fracturing, the process of shooting massive quantities of water and chemicals into rock to release natural gas, contaminates drinking water. The study concerns an incident in Pavillion, Wyoming, and culminates three years of research of the local aquifer.
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Indecision Forever: Dick Durbin May Block Religious Freedom Commission’s Renewal Until Feds Buy His Favorite Prison
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is one of those obscure federal panels that does yeoman's work with little notoriety and an even smaller budget.
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Patheos: Against “Taking Things Back:” Rethinking the OWS Slogan
A funny thing happened on the way to the protest. I was talking with a colleague in the Occupy movement and sharing my ambivalence about a common slogan on our posters: "Take It Back." He asked what bothered me, and I told him I wasn't sure. But he "listened me into free speech," and here's what came out.
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Huffington Post: Rick Perry Anti-Gay Ad Puts Spotlight on GOP Consulting Class
Texas Governor Rick Perry's controversial new ad attacking Obama for repealing the military's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy has infuriated the LGBT community and divided members of the candidate's top staff. And for good reason: the spot leans heavily on outdated cultural norms, and even among some in the GOP tent there is a real reluctance to demonize gay rights.
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CNN OnFaith Blog: Black, atheist and living in the South Benjamin
Burchall first realized how different his experience in the South was going to be while looking for something to watch on television on a Sunday night.
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THE NEW YORK TIMES: The New Evangelicals
Though public support for both major political parties is very low, one group of voters is usually exempted from this malaise: evangelicals. It’s assumed that at least these “values voters” are getting what they want. But we should look more carefully.
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TIME: Why Rick Perry’s New Ads Are Wrong On Religion–And Obama
If I didn’t know better, I’d think that Perry’s life in Texas has been similar to that of the character Truman in “The Truman Show,” surrounded by handlers who warned him not to venture into the outside world where people wouldn’t understand or accept his faith.
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THE HUFFINGTON POST: Latinos Don't Vote On Faith Or Religion But On Economic Issues
Moral issues rank very low in Latino Voter's minds when making a voting decision while issues like the economy, jobs, taxes and minimum wage are far more important, a new poll released today shows.
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THE NEW YORK TIMES: Beliefs: Faith And Family Values At Issue In Republican Contest
For the first time in American history, a major political party may be choosing between two leading presidential candidates neither of whom is Protestant.
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THE HUFFINGTON POST: Children Of Immigrants Ask For Halt To Deportation That Splits Families
Some children didn't write to Santa with their most heartfelt wish this holiday season. Instead, more than 5,000 sent letters to the nation's political leaders, asking them to stop a wave of deportations that is tearing immigrant families apart.
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CNS NEWS: Sesame Street Muppet Pitches Government Dependence: Free Food At School
A “food insecure” Muppet is helping to promote a national “Food for Thought” campaign that teaches poor families to seek out nutritious food and to eat on the taxpayers’ tab.
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TALKING POINTS MEMO: Economic Experts Gather In DC To Explain Why Politics Has Doomed Us
As the U.S. government and governments in Europe respond to the global economic slump with conservative austerity measures, it’s easy to forget that the overwhelming professional economic consensus is that depressed countries that can afford to should be doing the opposite — ramping up government purchases of goods and services and putting off the budget cuts and tax increases for a few years.
Learning more HERE