The Puritan war on Christmas

Puritans were not ones for ostentatious displays, especially when it came to the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In fact, even a mention of it would get you a fine or worse in early New England. The early Puritans worried that celebrations led to drunkenness and then wanton sex — or Catholicism, …

Pew: Over half of U.S. Catholics have left the church

Leftover sends this, in preparation for Pope Francis’ visit to the U.S.: Over half of U.S. adults who were raised Catholic have left the church at some point. Some come back. Some don’t. I think most of the people I know who’ve left are what this survey calls “cultural Catholics.” I wish there was the …

So some Catholics made this:

And there are few things less attractive than someone feigning persecution, so I’m really grateful that someone made this:

American’s confidence in religion is at a new low — but not for Catholics

A new Gallup poll says Americans’ confidence in the church and organized religion has fallen dramatically over the past four decades, hitting an all-time low this year of 42%. Confidence in religion began faltering in the 1980s, while the sharpest decline occurred between 2001 and 2002 as the Roman Catholic Church grappled with a major …

How do religious women feel about the birth control mandate? Pretty OK, actually.

A University of Michigan study says that support for religion and birth control actually can mix when it comes to the Affordable Care Act’s (Obamacare) birth control mandate. In fact, the proportion of Protestant and Catholic women who believe employers should cover contraception are similar  — 66 percent and 63 percent, respectively. And although my …

Is it time for Candidate Romney to give a separation of church and state speech?

There’s been much talk about Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith — much as there was much talk about John F. Kennedy’s Catholic faith. The latter assuaged some fears with the speech above, which was delivered in 1960 to the Greater Houston Ministerial Alliance (a transcript’s here). Sharon sent a New York Times story about gay rights …

What do Oprah, Muslims, homosexuals and Catholics have in common?

None are beloved by TheCall, a prayer rally that starts Friday night in Detroit — and Muslims seem to be their special target. Look, there’s a difference between sharing the Word, and stuffing it down the throat of someone who has their theology in place already. And when you go around demonizing someone’s religion from the …