2009-11-17T17:12:43Z Washington Post reporters write about religion's impact on the government and government's impact on religion. tag:onfaith.washingtonpost.com,2010:/onfaith/godingovernment/645 Copyright (c) 2009, WashingtonPost.Newsweek Interactive 2009-11-17T17:12:43Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-17:/onfaith/godingovernment2009/11/were_moving.html

God in Government readers, Starting today, we are merging with Under God, the popular On Faith news blog written by On Faith editor David Waters. We hope the new Under God will become your destination site for all Post-produced news, analysis and commentary on religion's impact on politics, policy and government in Washington, across the country and around the world. Post religion reporters Michelle Boorstein and William Wan will continue to post on God in...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Michelle Boorstein 2009-11-16T14:31:43Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-15:/onfaith/godingovernment2009/11/meeting_of_catholic_bishops_focuses_on_marriage_obama.html

By Michelle Boorstein After successfully influencing the health-care reform bill in the U.S. House, the nation's Catholic bishops are conducting their annual meeting this week in Baltimore, where they'll debate how to keep up their influence with the Obama Administration. The formal agenda for the meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops includes adopting a position paper (they call it a "pastoral") on marriage, which some bishops and Catholic pundits have called too negative...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Michelle Boorstein 2009-11-13T18:33:16Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-13:/onfaith/godingovernment2009/11/head_of_kosher_slaughterhouse_convicted_of_fraud.html

By Michelle Boorstein Some Jewish groups are praising the conviction of the former head of a kosher slaughterhouse where federal agents conducted a massive immigration raid last year in Iowa. The case of Sholom Rubashkin and the Rubashkin family has prompted a lot of debate in the Jewish community about the concept of being kosher, or of the laws of kashrut, and whether they do or should include not just the condition of food but...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Michelle Boorstein 2009-11-13T17:06:43Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-13:/onfaith/godingovernment2009/11/dc_same-sex_marriage_law_proves_good_fodder_for_lawyers.html

By Michelle Boorstein The same-sex marriage measure making its way through the D.C. City Council is proving good fodder for the debate that's heated up in recent years between faith-based groups and groups advocating for same-sex couples. Same-sex marriage and civil union measures have spun off a cottage industry of lawyers working on this issue. It's framed as a standoff between civil rights (of the GLBT community) and religious liberty (of the faith-based groups to...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Michelle Boorstein 2009-11-12T18:47:02Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-12:/onfaith/godingovernment2009/11/catholic_church_gives_dc_ultimatum.html

By Tim Craig and Michelle Boorstein The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said Wednesday that it will be unable to continue the social service programs it runs for the District if the city doesn't change a proposed same-sex marriage law, a threat that could affect tens of thousands of people the church helps with adoption, homelessness and health care. Read more....Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

David Waters 2009-11-11T13:57:14Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-11:/onfaith/godingovernment2009/11/shakeup_at_washington_times_economics_or_church_politics.html

By Michelle Boorstein What's really behind the power shakeup going on at The Washington Times, which is owned by the Unification Church? Our media and financial reporters ran a piece yesterday focusing on the tough reality of trying to run a newspaper in the midst of both a national recession and a newspaper industry crisis, but church members are telling me this has much more to do with church politics. Check this out from a...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Michelle Boorstein 2009-11-11T13:55:12Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-11:/onfaith/godingovernment2009/11/huge_jewish_confab_wraps_up_after_hearing_from.html

By Michelle Boorstein One of the largest Jewish meetings of the year has wrapped up in Washington, with some 3,000 Jewish community activists and leaders hearing in the past few days from the Israeli prime minister and President Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, and having dozens of meetings about how to fund social service work in a recession. Reports from the Jewish media - The Forward and the JTA wire service - quoted Emanuel...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Michelle Boorstein 2009-11-10T18:55:30Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-10:/onfaith/godingovernment2009/11/obamas_faith_office_launches_website.html

By William Wan The White House just launched a new page on its website for the Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. So far, some press releases have been posted, a video from the prayer breakfast a few months ago, and a note from the faith office's director Joshua DuBois. He writes: In the coming days, you can expect this blog to: * Provide more information about the day-to-day work of the White House Office...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

William Wan 2009-11-09T20:53:54Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-09:/onfaith/godingovernment2009/11/netanyahus_address_to_jewish_federations.html

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Speech at the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly: Thank you all. My dear friends, leaders of the Jewish communities of North America, The history of the Jewish people has been marked by a paradox. We are at once both small and great. We are few in number but luminous in achievement. In the ancient world, the Jews were a small people on the foothills of Asia touching the Mediterranean....Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

David Waters 2009-11-09T20:56:32Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-09:/onfaith/godingovernment2009/11/jewish_fundraisers_to_hear_from_netanyahu_emanuel_in_dc.html

By Michelle Boorstein THE event of the professional Jewish community's year is happening in Washington D.C. today. More than 3,000 people are at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel for the annual conference of The Jewish Federations of North America, which is made up of the groups that serve hundreds of Jewish communities across the continent. People who run Jewish community groups, big and small-time philanthropists, Jewish social service workers and tons of others come to...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Michelle Boorstein 2009-11-06T17:03:01Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-06:/onfaith/godingovernment2009/11/muslim_american_groups_condemn_fort_hood_shootings.html

By Michelle Boorstein Muslim American organizations hurried Friday to condemn the shootings at Fort Hood, saying they have already begun receiving some hate mail and emphasizing that there are thousands of Muslims serving in the armed forces. Officials from the Islamic Society of North America, the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council and Imam Mohamed Magid of the large Northern Virginia mosque ADAMS (All Dulles Area Muslim Society) among others held a news...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

David Waters 2009-11-04T14:26:30Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-04:/onfaith/godingovernment2009/11/in_rounds_at_the_capitol_orthodox_leader_pushes_health_care_nonviolence.html

By Michelle Boorstein Is Orthodox Christianity progressive? To see the spiritual leader of the world's 250 million Orthodox Christians making his rounds in Washington this week - meeting with President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, Senate leader Reid and speaking at the Brookings Institution today - you could make that case. In his talk yesterday at Georgetown University (sponsored by the left-leaning Center for American Progress), the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew spoke about the spiritual imperative for nonviolence,...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Michelle Boorstein 2009-11-03T16:32:15Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-03:/onfaith/godingovernment2009/11/anglican_archbishop_to_meet_with_pope.html

By William Wan Two recent developments following the Catholic Church's surprising overtures last month to Anglicans. First, the Vatican has confirmed that Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans, will meet Pope Benedict XVI on Nov. 21. Rowan's purported reason for visiting Rome, according to news reports, is "the celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of Johannes Willebrands, a Dutch cardinal who was a pioneer in Catholic ecumenism and...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

William Wan 2009-11-03T14:25:58Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-03:/onfaith/godingovernment2009/11/tough_few_weeks_for_scientology.html

By William Wan There has been a spike in stories about Church of Scientology lately, basically a litany of bad news for the organization. To recap, just in the past few weeks, the church has: * been convicted of fraud by a French court * seen the acrimonious departure of director Paul Haggis, who was one of the church's high-profile celebrity members but now calls it in a letter "morally reprehensible" * been the subject...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

William Wan 2009-11-02T14:40:28Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2009-11-02:/onfaith/godingovernment2009/11/dcs_newest_environmental_advocate_the_orthodox_patriarch.html

By Michelle Boorstein Top U.S. officials will meet this week with an unusual environmental lobbyist: the head of the world Orthodox Church. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the world's 250 million Orthodox Christians, who also has come to be known as "the green patriarch," arrived at Andrews Air Force Base last night from New York. He will meet this week with the area's Orthodox Christians, diplomats and U.S. government bigwigs including President Obama,...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Michelle Boorstein