The Boston Globe has a an article on the campaign. The article cites a poll that suggests that initiative to overturn the draconian ban is will pass. However, Talk To Action's CynCooper is concerned that the poll may be painting a rosy and even deceptive picture, given the enormous amount of covert cash flowing into the state, and the mobilizaiton of the religious right and the Catholic Church.

On Sunday, November 5, 2006, the Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Flowery Branch, Georgia, left copies of the Wyoming Catholic Register Voters Guide on a rack for their parishioners. The copied article was titled Moral Principles for Catholic Voters: A message from the bishops of Kansas, Colorado, and Wyoming.

The board of New Life Church, has fired Ted Haggerd as senior pastor.  

The blog Colorado Confidential has posted the letter, which reads in part:

We, the Overseer Board of New Life Church, have concluded our deliberations concerning the moral failings of Pastor Ted Haggard.  Our investigation and Pastor Haggard's public statements have proven without a doubt that he has committed sexually immoral conduct.

The language of our church bylaws state that as Overseers we must decide in cases where the Senior Pastor has "demonstrated immoral conduct" whether we must "remove the pastor from his position or to discipline him in any way they deem necessary."

In consultation with leading evangelicals and experts familiar with the type of behavior Pastor Haggard has demonstrated, we have decided that the most positive and productive direction for our church is his dismissal and removal.

One of the four pastors tasked with investigating accusations against Ted Haggard raged against Pokemon in 1999

UPDATE: Holy Cow! That didn't take long. Ted Haggard has already resigned. He still protests his innocence but I can't believe he would have stepped down if there was no substance to the story.

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A sleazy story certainly, and, for now, we only have the word of the accuser that it is true, so we should not rush to judgement.

The accuser does claim to have evidence (taped conversations and a letter) but it's still too early to know if this actually happened or is just someone acting out of spite or frustration at Haggard's virulent anti-gay polemics.

We shall have to wait and see...

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_1 5_5112770,00.html

For too long now, the religious right has hijacked politics and pushed an agenda of devisive wedge issues that he created an antagonistic atmosphere in this country.  This election cycle is different.  Dobson and Co's influence is waining.  At the same time, other, more mainstream groups are stepping in to broaden the scope of what issues matter to Catholics.  

Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good has distributed 1 million voter guides

The Texas Freedom network issued a press release recently, noting that many of the charges made by former White House Faith Based Initiative staffer David Kuo, about diverting social program funds for political purposes, are true at the state level.

A lot of Christian conservatives feel mightily betrayed by president Bush and by the GOP.  They are pleased with Bush's Supreme Court appointees, (Alito and Roberts), bu they are displeased that little progress has been made against abortion and that Bush and the GOP generally have been insufficiently anti-gay marriage. Many conservatives too, are unhappy about the expanding federal budget; taxes; and the war in Iraq.  Still others are listening to former White House Faith Based Initiative insider David Kuo speak out about how senior White House staff refer to conservative evangelical leaders as "nuts" and how Bush failed to deliver promised increases in funding.  

And pioneering conservative movement leader Richard Viguerie has urged conservatives to pull back from the GOP this year.

The New York Times reports that Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has filed complaints with the IRS against two Kansas churches regarding alleged violations of federal rules proscribing electioneering by tax-exempt organizations.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonpartisan legal watchdog organization, cited a memorandum from the attorney general, Phill Kline, a Republican, directing members of his campaign staff to recruit churches to distribute campaign literature and serve as the sites for events.

"This is the top law enforcement official in the state who is encouraging everyone to break the law," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of the watchdog group. "He's either abysmally unfamiliar with the law, or he's deliberately violating it."...   In his memorandum, Mr. Kline identified two Topeka churches, the Light of the World Christian Center and the Wanamaker Woods Church of the Nazarene, which he said had participated in "lit drops" by handing out campaign literature...

The readers of this diary all know by now that--to put it very mildly--I am not one to sympathise with dominionists, and in fact could be described politely as being Mad As Hell about dominionists targeting kids in particular.

This does not mean we should descend to their level, though--an important thing we need to realise in order to prevent feeding a preexisting paranoia.

As the old yarn goes, "When you wrestle a pig on their own terms...you both get dirty, you get bruised as heck, and the pig likes it."

More below...

Today's Christian Post featured an Associated Press story about the latest developments in the Kids on Fire/Jesus Camp saga. I'm torn between satisfaction that the publicity attracted by this twisted "ministry" has led to its downfall and sorrow at the violence that tipped the balance:

"When you choose to work with the National Christian Foundation, you get a partner that shares your Biblical perspective on giving...We teach [donors] valuable ways to invest dollars into God's Kingdom, rather than surrender those dollars to the federal government"--The National Christian Foundation

Tucked between two large hospital complexes on the northern perimeter of Atlanta's vast sprawl is the largest and least known single financial delivery system to the Christian Right. Since its founding nearly twenty-five years ago, the National Christian Charitable Foundation--AKA The National Christian Foundation-- has become the leading financial delivery system to the Religious Right, having channeled nearly $1 billion to ministries, conservative think tanks and political activists around the country and overseas. NCF operates so far under the public radar that even its hometown newspaper, the Atlanta Constitution, has never featured them in an article.