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Gallup: New Hampshire 2nd Least Religious State, South Carolina 3rd Most Religious

January 12, 2012 at 10:00 am

Gallup looks at the significant cultural contrasts between New Hampshire and South Carolina:

An analysis of more than 350,000 interviews conducted by Gallup in 2008 finds Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas to be the most religious states in the nation. Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts are the least religious states.

... The United States is generally a religious nation, although the degree of this religiosity varies across states and regions of the country. A robust 65% of all Americans (across the entire U.S. population) reported in 2008 that religion was important in their daily lives.

... Additionally, at least half of the residents of all but four states (Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts) say religion is important in their daily lives.

This hasn't stopped some groups in New England, such as the Freedom From Religion Foundation, from taking out ads in Rhode Island which read: "Keep Religion Out of Politics."

By NOM Staff | Posted in Culture, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Carolina | Comments (1)

Cumberland, MD Delegation Agrees: Protect Marriage!

January 12, 2012 at 9:00 am

The Cumberland Times-News in Maryland:

While the local legislative delegation may not agree on everything, members agree that marriage rights shouldn’t be given to same-sex partners in Maryland.

Sen. George Edwards and delegates Wendell Beitzel, Kevin Kelly and LeRoy Myers Jr. all went on the record opposing same-sex marriage at their prelegislative public meeting Wednesday.

The legislators were responding to a question by Joe Shipley, who is active in the Maryland Family Alliance. Shipley asked each of the legislators to go on the record with his opinion.

“This is not an issue I look at as a political issue,” Shipley said.

Marriage should be limited to a union between one man and one woman, Shipley said.

... Beitzel agreed. “I’m very much opposed to legislation allowing same-sex marriage,” Beitzel said.

Edwards said the Senate took a vote on a same-sex marriage proposal in 2011, “and I opposed it.”

“We are for stronger families and a stronger Maryland,” McBride said. The defense of traditional marriage isn’t just a Baptist issue, but involves all sorts of denominations and religious viewpoints, he said. The Maryland Marriage Alliance is a companion group, McBride said.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Marriage, Maryland, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (3)

Reminder: NOM Has Pledged $1 Million to Protect Marriage in Maryland

January 11, 2012 at 3:45 pm

A reminder, as the Maryland legislative session opens, that NOM is fully committed to protecting marriage and standing with Democrats and Republicans who join us in this good cause.

This from our March 9 press release from last year:

The National Organization of Marriage today announced that it will form the "NOM PAC Maryland" in the state. NOM pledges to spend at least $1 million in Maryland to support Democratic State Legislators who cast their votes to defend the traditional marriage and oppose any Republican Legislators who vote to redefine marriage.

"It's become quite clear in recent days in Maryland that the Democratic leadership and the same-sex 'marriage' lobby will resort to any tactic, including threats and intimidation, to coerce Democratic legislators to support their agenda," said Brian Brown, President of NOM. "We want to be sure those courageous Democrats who cast their vote of conscience in favor of marriage will have a strong supporter if the radical gay activists come after them in their next primary election."

By NOM Staff | Posted in Marriage, Maryland, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (26)

PPP: In North Carolina, Santorum Is Tied with Obama; Romney Trails by 1

January 11, 2012 at 2:30 pm

The Weekly Standard on democrat-leaning PPP's latest poll of North Carolina:

The latest PPP polling in North Carolina, the swing-state where the Democrats are holding their 2012 convention, shows Rick Santorum faring slightly better than Mitt Romney versus President Obama. The poll shows Santorum and Obama tied at 46 percent apiece in a hypothetical general election matchup, while Romney trails Obama by one percentage point — 46 to 45 percent.

... In truth, North Carolina is a state that the Republican nominee would likely have to win — and perhaps relatively handily — in order to win the presidency. Obama won nationwide by 7.3 points last time, but his winning margin in North Carolina was only 0.3. Evidence that Romney is trailing there doesn’t help strengthen his electability argument heading into the crucial GOP primary in neighboring South Carolina.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Election Watch 2012, North Carolina, South Carolina | Comments (11)

Actual Republicans Represented Less than 50% of New Hampshire Primary Voters

January 11, 2012 at 2:00 pm

Philip Klein of The Washington Examiner:

Over at Townhall, Guy Benson has defended the strength of Mitt Romney's victory in New Hampshire, and I don't think there's any disputing that it was a solid win. But I think there's one important point worth clarifying. Though overall turnout in the primary is projected to set a record, eclipsing the 2008 tally, turnout among Republican voters is on track to be down by roughly 16 percent.

The reason for the discrepancy is that because there was no competitive Democratic primary this time around (as well as several GOP candidates aggressively chasing their votes), there was a huge spike in the number of independents and Democrats who were voting in the Republican race, something Granite Staters can do in the open primary system.

When you eliminate independents and Democrats from the 2008 equation, actual registered Republicans made up 61 percent of the roughly 239,000 votes cast in the GOP primary, putting the turnout among Republicans at around 145,790. But last night, actual Republicans only comprised 49 percent of the electorate, according toexits. Even if we round up the final 2012 turnout number to 250,000, which would be slightly higher than current projections, that would only leave actual Republican turnout at 122,500, which would represent a 16 percent drop.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Election Watch 2012, New Hampshire | Comments (6)

Supreme Court Slaps Down Obama's Anti-Religion Attack!

January 11, 2012 at 1:30 pm

It was unanimous, as legal Scholar Ed Whelan points out on NRO's Bench Memos blog:

In its unanimous ruling today in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church v. EEOC, the Supreme Court held that the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause bar ministers from invoking the employment-discrimination laws against the religious organizations that employ them.

Chief Justice Roberts’s opinion on behalf of the entire Court affirms that the so-called “ministerial exception” to employment-discrimination laws is firmly rooted in the First Amendment’s Religion Clauses, including the Court’s decisions establishing that “it is impermissible for the government to contradict a church’s determination of who can act as its ministers.” The opinion thus rejects the remarkably hostile contentions of the Obama administration that there is no general ministerial exception and that religious organizations are limited to the right to freedom of association that labor unions and social clubs enjoy.

By NOM Staff | Posted in President Obama, Religious Liberty, Supreme Court | Comments (5)

New Hampshire Resident: We Never Asked for Gay Marriage in the First Place

January 11, 2012 at 12:15 pm

A New Hampshire resident writes the Nashua Telegraph calling them out for editorial bias:

I was saddened to read your Dec. 28 editorial (“Gay-marriage law assault perplexing”). Rarely have I seen an editorial go so far out of its way to ignore the facts about New Hampshire’s gay-marriage law.

The notion that efforts to restore traditional marriage exist only because “conservative Republicans were emboldened by their landslide victory in 2010” completely ignores the fact that voters never asked for gay marriage in the first place.

I’d bet I’m not alone in wondering where your rant against this “distraction” and “social engineering” was when gay marriage activists and liberal legislators put gay marriage ahead of the economy in 2009?

Editorial elites at The Telegraph didn’t call the 2009 push to enact gay marriage a distraction when New Hampshire’s economy was in shambles, so why now?

By NOM Staff | Posted in Marriage, New Hampshire, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (26)

David Storobin to Challenge Lew Fidler for Disgraced Sen. Kruger's Seat

January 11, 2012 at 11:45 am

The New York Daily News:

Republicans emboldened by a recent Congressional victory are eager to grab the state senate seat vacated by disgraced Sen. Carl Kruger - but they’re facing a popular Democrat who’s flush with cash.

The race is likely to pit Democratic City Councilman Lew Fidler against David Storobin, a lawyer and vice-chairman of the Brooklyn GOP.

The district is dominated by registered Democrats - but Republicans plan to mount an all-out push to repeat the upset scored by Rep. Bob Turner, who defeated Democrat David Weprin in a special election to replace disgraced pol Anthony Weiner.

“This is not a traditional Brooklyn district,” said Storobin, who immigrated from the Soviet Union when he was 12, got his start in politics volunteering for Rudy Giuliani, and hosted one of Brooklyn’s first Tea Party meetings. “Even the Democrats tend to be conservative Democrats.

... Fidler is viewed as well-liked in his Council district, where term limits prevent him from running again, and has already amassed a $332,000 war chest and taken out ads in Orthodox Jewish newspapers touting his accomplishments.

... Gov. Cuomo has called a special election for March 20 to replace Kruger, who resigned and pled guilty to a massive bribery scheme. The district covers parts of Sheepshead Bay, Brighton Beach, Mill Basin, and Canarsie - much of the same turf as the Congressional seat.

By NOM Staff | Posted in New York, Same Sex Marriage | Comments (2)

National Organization for Marriage Commends Mitt Romney on Impressive Victory in New Hampshire

January 10, 2012 at 10:21 pm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 10, 2012
Contact: Anath Hartmann or Elizabeth Ray (703-683-5004)

"Mr. Romney has signed NOM's pledge to take specific actions as president to defend traditional marriage." —Brian Brown, NOM president—

The following statement may be attributed to Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM):

"We commend Mitt Romney on his impressive victory tonight in New Hampshire, adding to his delegate total following his victory in Iowa. Mr. Romney has signed NOM's pledge to take specific actions as president to defend traditional marriage. He has also called for the repeal of same-sex marriage in New Hampshire. Voters rewarded him and we congratulate Mr. Romney on his well-earned victory."

To schedule an interview with Brian Brown, President of the National Organization for Marriage, please contact Elizabeth Ray (x130), [email protected], or Anath Hartmann, [email protected], at 703-683-5004.

###

Paid for by The National Organization for Marriage, Brian Brown, president. 2029 K Street NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20006, not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. New § 68A.405(1)(f) & (h).

By NOM Staff | Posted in Election Watch 2012, Marriage Election Watch, New Hampshire, Press Releases | Comments (12)

Law Professor Alleges U. of Iowa Discriminated Against Her For Her ProLife Views

January 10, 2012 at 3:30 pm

In a groundbreaking lawsuit, Teresa Wagner is alleging a public university law school discriminated against her for exercising her First Amendment rights on life and marriage, as the New York Times reports:

Teresa R. Wagner is a conservative Republican who wants to teach law. Her politics may have hurt her career.

An official of the University of Iowa College of Law, where Ms. Wagner applied for a job in 2006, certainly seemed to think so.

“Frankly, one thing that worries me is that some people may be opposed to Teresa serving in any role, in part at least because they so despise her politics (and especially her activism about it),” Associate Dean Jonathan C. Carlson wrote in 2007 to the law school’s dean, Carolyn Jones.

... Walter Olson, a fellow at the Cato Institute, the libertarian group, and the author of “Schools for Misrule: Legal Academia and an Overlawyered America,” said there was nothing unusual about the number of Republicans on Iowa’s law faculty.

“What would count as freakish would be to find two dozen registered Republicans on a big law faculty,” Mr. Olson said. “Law schools are always setting up committees and task forces to promote diversity on their faculty, which can serve to conceal an absence of diversity in how people actually think.”

... The percentages of professors contributing to Democrats were even more lopsided at some of the most prestigious schools: 91 percent at Harvard, 92 at Yale, 94 at Stanford. At the University of Iowa, it was 78 percent. Political affiliations and contributions are, of course, an imperfect proxy for ideology, and political beliefs may in any event have no effect on scholarship and classroom teaching.

By NOM Staff | Posted in Same Sex Marriage | Comments (6)

EMERGENCY ALERT: Activists Fast-Track SSM Bill in Trenton-Help Stop them Today!

January 10, 2012 at 3:22 pm

Email Header Image

Dear Marriage Supporter,

Marriage rests on a knife's edge in Trenton, and the next few weeks are critical. Please use the links below to take action, and then forward this message to five friends today.

The bill to redefine marriage for everyone will be introduced tomorrow, and SSM activists have already begun the spin game—claiming they already have the votes needed to pass a same-sex marriage bill. It's not true—at least not yet—but SSM activists are making progress in the legislature, and we need a massive outpouring of grassroots opposition to stop them.

We stopped this bill two years ago, but it's going to take even more work this year, as the Democratic leadership in Trenton has made same-sex marriage its primary focus this year.

Use this link to take action now!

At a news conference yesterday, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver announced plans to make same-sex marriage their signature initiative in 2012, with same-sex marriage to be the first bill introduced in both houses when the session opens tomorrow, and fast-tracking the bill through the legislature, setting up a showdown with Governor Christie, who has promised to veto the measure.

The media is, as usual, playing along with this lie of inevitability by treating passage as virtually guaranteed. Mr. Sweeney even claims he already has the 21 votes needed to pass the measure in the 40-member Senate, but our sources in the legislature say that as of today, the votes aren't there to pass a same-sex marriage bill with even a simple majority, much less a veto-proof majority.

I repeat—as of today, the same-sex marriage bill would not pass in the Senate.

Two years ago, SSM activists made the same claims—that passage of the same-sex marriage bill was a done deal—only to see the bill defeated 14-20 when New Jerseyans sent a powerful message to Trenton.

But gay marriage advocates are pulling out all the stops, and are making progress in the legislature. They will likely have at least one Republican sign on to the bill in the Senate, and are getting very close to the majority needed for passage.

Please understand this: The only way to stop them is for you—and all your friends and family—to let your legislators know exactly where you stand on marriage.

Some of you can make a trip to Trenton to meet with your state senator and representative. Some of you can help organize your church to stand up for marriage.

And each of us can make phone calls and send emails today.

NOM has committed $500,000 to hold New Jersey legislators accountable for their vote on marriage, and we're working closely with grassroots leaders in the state to coordinate efforts in Trenton. But this effort will only succeed if people of New Jersey from all walks of life step up and tell politicians in Trenton: "Don't Mess with Marriage!"

Please, take five minutes to contact your legislators right now. Then forward this email to five friends, post it on Facebook, or print a copy and take it with you to church.

Together we can stop this effort, but it's going to take all of us.

Faithfully,

Brian Brown

Brian S Brown

Brian S. Brown
President
National Organization for Marriage

By Brian Brown | Posted in Same Sex Marriage | Comments (14)

Video: Newt Gingrich Responds to CNN Bias Against Religious Liberty

January 10, 2012 at 3:15 pm

Newt Gingrich called out the mainstream media for bias when covering religious liberty issues at a GOP debate this weekend and defended that critique when a CNN host tried to counter his claims in an interview:

By NOM Staff | Posted in Election Watch 2012, Media, New Hampshire, Religious Liberty | Comments (39)

Reuters: South Carolina in Mind, Republicans Stress Social Stances

January 10, 2012 at 12:30 pm

A look at what's ahead, after today's voting in New Hampshire:

...Abortion rights and same-sex marriage were among the issues that came up in the ABC News debate at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire.

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum led the charge at the ABC News debate, declaring that marriage is a federal issue that should be defined as being between a man and a woman - even though he said in the same breath that the question of same-sex couples to adopt children was a "states rights" issue.

... South Carolina, which holds its primary on January 21, has a heavy concentration of social conservatives who are thought more willing to assess a candidate based on his or her views on abortion or gay marriage.

As in Iowa, where Santorum's campaign sprang to life, about 60 percent of Republican voters in South Carolina typically identify themselves in exit polls as born-again or evangelical Christians. Among that demographic in Iowa, Santorum finished first, with 32 percent support; Romney was at 14 percent, according to the Pew Forum on Religion and Republic Life. -- Reuters

By NOM Staff | Posted in Election Watch 2012, Marriage Election Watch, New Hampshire, South Carolina | Comments (2)

Study: A Home With a Mom and a Dad Improves Boys Behavior in School

January 10, 2012 at 12:00 pm

CitizenLink introduces these important findings:

An analysis of 20 years’ worth of school suspension rates nationwide shows that the greatest influence on boys’ behavior at school is not the type of school they attend or teacher they have, but the type of home in which they’re being raised.

Researchers at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business found that boys being raised in intact homes with both parents had the least behavioral problems and school suspensions, while those being raised by single mothers had the most. However, this was not found to be the case among girls.

Glenn T. Stanton, director of Global Family Formation Studies at Focus on the Family, said intact families are the best for children of either gender.

“This supports over three decades of consistent research showing that kids who grow up in a home with their married parents tend to do better in all measures of educational attainment than their peers being raised in single, divorced and cohabiting-parent homes,” he said. “This is true from everything from grade-point average, behavioral issues, high school graduation and going on to graduate from college. Moms and dads both matter here, as well as the type of relationship between them.”

You can read the study here (PDF).

By NOM Staff | Posted in Children, Education, Parenting, Research/Study | Comments (30)

Pope: Redefining Marriage Threatens "The Future of Humanity"

January 10, 2012 at 11:45 am

Reuters:

Pope Benedict said Monday that gay marriage was one of several threats to the traditional family that undermined "the future of humanity itself."

The pope made some of his strongest comments against gay marriage in a new year address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Vatican in which he touched on some economic and social issues facing the world today.

He told diplomats from nearly 180 countries that the education of children needed proper "settings" and that "pride of place goes to the family, based on the marriage of a man and a woman."

"This is not a simple social convention, but rather the fundamental cell of every society. Consequently, policies which undermine the family threaten human dignity and the future of humanity itself," he said.