The incredible shrinking party...

A new Gallup poll shows that the only demographic that has not jumped ship from the Republican party to some degree are (drumroll please) regular churchgoers (and unsurprisingly self-described conservatives)! This helps explain why a) the GOP isn't trying to moderate its stable of culture war issues and b) why the GOP is so intent on running moderates on social issues, like Arlen Specter, out of the party. Of course a block vote of churchgoers isn't going to win elections by itself in the near future, and this disadvantage may only get worse as one recent study showed that self-identified atheists and agnostics are a growing demographic in all 50 states. From the NYtimes:

Polls show that the ranks of atheists are growing. The American Religious Identification Survey, a major study released last month, found that those who claimed “no religion” were the only demographic group that grew in all 50 states in the last 18 years.

Nationally, the “nones” in the population nearly doubled, to 15 percent in 2008 from 8 percent in 1990. In South Carolina, they more than tripled, to 10 percent from 3 percent. Not all the “nones” are necessarily committed atheists or agnostics, but they make up a pool of potential supporters.

What's worse, this slide of Republican support started under Dubya's reign, "Gallup pollsters said the GOP slide began long before President Obama's election last November; Gallup first detected a loss of Republican support in 2005 following Hurricane Katrina, the failed Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers and the ongoing war in Iraq."

NPR: Narcotic Public Radio

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to hear a chipper middle-aged NPR correspondent reporting from an 11 hour marathon Peyote ceremony high atop a mountain on the Navajo Reservation here's your chance.

The report is the first in a five-part series exploring mystical experiences and neurology. This first installment was really fantastic, apparently research on psychedlic drugs is getting a major comeback!

Thanks but no thanks...

Next time Mormons knock on your door just be glad you're not in Myanmar:

Nobel Winner Suu Kyi charded in Myanmar after American Mormon's Visit.

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was charged Wednesday with breaching the conditions of her house arrest order, quashing hopes she may be released when her current period of detention expires in two weeks. The 63-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner, who has been detained for 13 of the past 20 years, may face as many as five more years in prison if found guilty...

The charge relates to a U.S. citizen who allegedly swam across a lake to visit Suu Kyi last week, violating a ban on her meeting anyone without permission. The man, 53-year-old John Yettaw, was charged Wednesday with breaching a security law, Nyan Win said...

According to guardian.co.uk, Yettaw was "described by one member of Aung San Suu Kyi's staff as 'a nutty fellow' [and] a Mormon who reportedly told Burmese exiles in Thailand he was writing a 'faith-based' book on heroism."

Mormons, they truly are everywhere.

In other unsolicited Mormon news, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints confirmed Tuesday [May 5th] afternoon that someone improperly, posthumously baptized the late mother of President Obama into the Mormon faith."

Posthumous baptism of non-Mormons into the LDS Church is not an uncommon practice.

It's the National Day of Prayer, do you know where the Religious Right is?

Answer: Unlike the last eight years, not in the White House.

The holiday which has roiled those of us who believe in a little thing called the Establishment Clause has been celebrated since it was signed into law by Truman at the outset of the Cold War in 1952.

It's one thing to have a non-denominational day of prayer, it's quite another to host an official gathering of far right Christian leaders every year at the White House as Bush did for all his eight years in office. The National Day of Prayer Task Force, the group whose members were the guests of honor during the Bush administration, is an arm of the bat-shit crazy Focus on the Family and is unnervingly militant in its stated goals:

The National Day of Prayer Task Force's mission is to communicate with every individual the need for personal repentance and prayer, mobilizing the Christian community to intercede for America and its leadership in the seven centers of power: Government, Military, Media, Business, Education, Church and Family.

Can't imagine why Obama might not want to be associated with that! The Obama administration has sought a middle ground, signing a proclamation noting the National Day of Prayer, arguing against a lawsuit that challenges the day's legality, but not holding an official White House function. Even the Presidential proclamation has been toned down from the Bush era. As the conservative Dan Gilgoff observes in the US News and World Report's God and Country blog:

Whereas Bush's last proclamation focused on the one being prayed to, Obama's focuses on the people doing the praying...Whereas Bush employed overtly Judeo-Christian language when invoking God in last year's proclamation, Obama's goes out of his way to emphasize religious pluralism, even acknowledging nonbelievers...

Needless to say, the Focus on the Family people are none to pleased about this (then again are these people ever happy?), but are keeping their rage in check. Yesterday they released a statement that was politely chiding in tone, "We are disappointed in the lack of participation by the Obama Administration. At this time in our country's history, we would hope our President would recognize more fully the importance of prayer."

This is the second perceived snub this week for the Religious Right. On Tuesday the Family Research Council released a statement excoriating the Jeb Bush, Ginchrich, and Romney lead National Council for a New America (the latest re-branding effort of the Republican party) as not religious enough:

The group's priorities, which were unveiled at a pizza parlor press conference, include the economy, health care, education, energy, and national security. Notice anything conspicuously absent? Former Gov. Jeb Bush explained the values void by saying it was time for the GOP to give up its "nostalgia" for Reagan-era ideas and look forward to new "relevant" ideas.

I wonder if the FRC knows that their beloved Sarah Palin is also part of this Pizza-eating heathen cabal.

In any event I know what the Religious Right will be praying for on this National Day of Prayer, relevance.

RELIGION V. HYPOCHONDRIA

Apparently religious groups are altering their worship practices to avoid inadvertently spreading swine flu.

Among the steps being taken by some churches:

Bishop Gregory Aymond of Austin, Texas, where 26 cases of swine flu infection have been confirmed, has asked priests not to offer Communion wine at Mass "until more is known about the virus.""It seems that having the public drink from the chalice is an unnecessary risk," Aymond wrote in a public letter on Wednesday (April 29).

Now, I'm not a medical doctor, and I'm not a theologian (heck I'm not even a Christian) but shouldn't swine flu be no match for the blood of Christ?

At least that's what the movies would have me believe.