Evangelicals Fear the Loss of Their Teenagers
Despite their packed megachurches, their political clout and their increasing visibility on the national stage, evangelical Christian leaders are warning one another that their teenagers are abandoning the faith in droves.
...
“I’m looking at the data,” said Ron Luce, who organized the meetings and founded Teen Mania, a 20-year-old youth ministry, “and we’ve become post-Christian America, like post-Christian Europe. We’ve been working as hard as we know how to work — everyone in youth ministry is working hard — but we’re losing.”
The board of the National Association of Evangelicals, an umbrella group representing 60 denominations and dozens of ministries, passed a resolution this year deploring “the epidemic of young people leaving the evangelical church.”
Ok, Jars. You should be all set. You should get a welcome e-mail. Let me know if you don't.
So what's up with Memphis? We're obviously getting mostly local news around here...
It was two miles west of where I live - didn't even see smoke when driving past the area on my way to work (due to the Nor'easter, no doubt). Last word that I heard was that the downtown Methodist Church and two office buildings had caught fire, and there were embers and debris over a several block area.
Happy Birthday, Sail!
And a belated Happy Anniversary to Tom & Nora!
Well, here's some good news.
Only a couple of weeks ago, NRCC chief Tom Reynolds was spending all his time worrying about House races across the country. Now, with two polls today showing him trailing Dem challenger Jack Davis, Reynolds is so worried about his own race that he's called on John McCain to bail him out. Ben Smith of The Daily Politics reports that McCain will host an upstate luncheon with Reynolds on Oct. 20. Press question for McCain: What does he think of the fact that Reynolds' former chief of staff claims he viewed Mark Foley as such a big problem that he badgered Dennis Hastert's staff about it at least two years ago -- and all Reynolds apparently did was mention it once to Hastert?
Why the fuck would McCain let himself get dragged into this? I'm a little boggled, but mightily pleased that he's decided to dip his toe into some ungodly muck.
And Lieberman, too. He's now saying that calling for Hastert to step down is overly "partisan." Words cannot express how I loathe this man.
This coming Sunday and Monday I'll be in New York, I think
Well, drat! I'll be out of town on Sunday, and busy all day Monday -- work and then a screening. I'll wave at you from my office though!
And Lieberman, too. He's now saying that calling for Hastert to step down is overly "partisan." Words cannot express how I loathe this man.
Yeah, WTF is up with Lieberman? Why doesn't he just become a Republican? (That's not a rhetorical question.)
Also, remember how Lieberman was critical of Bill Clinton for Monicagate? WTF - it's like he's already a hypocritical Republican.
::considerss making a "self-loathing Democrat joke::
This was Ned Lamont's statement on the issue:
“Joe Lieberman just can’t bring himself to hold anyone in Washington accountable, even when the safety of our children is at stake. If Dennis Hastert knew that Mark Foley was harassing minors and didn’t do anything about it, he should resign immediately. Anyone who disagrees is morally tone deaf. The fact that Joe Lieberman says calling for Hastert’s resignation is too “partisan” demonstrates that he’s been in Washington so long that he can’t recognize the difference between what’s right and what’s partisan.
Nice.
More politics spam, but did every catch this one earlier this week?
On Monday, responding to the political crisis created by the Mark Foley sex scandal, Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) insisted Republicans "need to up and do something dramatic." His solution: abolishing the congressional page program altogether.
LAHOOD: It just — it's a program that simply is flawed. It has its flaws. We should fix it. And then if it's a valuable program, perhaps bring it back.
MILES O'BRIEN (CNN): Well, that's kind of a sorry state of affairs. In essence, what you're saying is that members of Congress can't be trusted to be around young people.
LAHOOD: Well, that's pretty obvious.
::boggles::
This coming Sunday and Monday I'll be in New York, I think
Seconding Jessica's drat, since I won't be there then.
MILES O'BRIEN (CNN): Well, that's kind of a sorry state of affairs. In essence, what you're saying is that members of Congress can't be trusted to be around young people.
LAHOOD: Well, that's pretty obvious.
We can't trust them with our children OR our money.
