Washington Post

The new evangelical vote

White evangelical voters just aren’t as predictable as they used to be. That’s the news out of Iowa – and it’s bound to be reflected in Republican primary results all over the country. The most interesting poll data from the Iowa caucuses are these: Mitt Romney won in the cities. Rick Santorum won in the rural areas. In Iowa, where the vast majority of voters qualify […]

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How to be Jewish at Christmas

I think of the Jews of the Beit Alpha synagogue as I sit here in my New York City apartment, watching our Christmas tree being hoisted, the boxes of lights and ornaments in heaps, the child scampering in excitement, orchestrating, advising — kibitzing, as my father would say. I cannot imagine that the 6th-century men of the Beit Alpha community decided on

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Right Rev. Mariann Budde reaching out for a more vital Episcopal Church

On meeting her, you’d hope so. Bright-eyed, string-bean skinny and 52 years old, Budde (pronounced bud-EE) has the athletic bearing and viselike handshake of your high school lacrosse coach. She is unapologetically liberal, and the way she answers hot-button questions — “I’m in favor of gay marriage, always have been. At this point it’s a no-brainer” — is bracing after decades of public

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Will voters forgive Newt Gingrich?

I once watched an apology rebuffed. A young child said something hurtful to a grown-up dinner guest. After prompting from her mother, the child apologized. “I’m sorry,” the 6-year-old said in a dutiful and not completely sincere tone. “Sorry,” replied the grown-up, “is not enough.” I think of this frequently when I watch the renewed and refurbished Newt Gingrich, who

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What the devil?

Satan made an appearance on “Saturday Night Live” last week, all duded up in his red tie and cape, to talk about the sex abuse scandal at Penn State. “I may be the Prince of Darkness,” he quipped, “but I’m not a monster.” Before the voters of Mississippi headed to the polls recently to vote on whether a fertilized embryo

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Justice Scalia speaks for himself on death penalty, not the Catholic Church

That Justice Antonin Scalia believes in execution as a moral form of punishment is a well-known fact. That he is an observant, traditional Roman Catholic is, similarly, well-known. That he appears to believe his church supports the death penalty and that he’s willing to stake his job on that conviction is nothing short of astonishing. But there it is: “If I thought

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