Free Republic

America is a religious nation. Polls reveal 94 percent of Americans believe in God or "a higher power," 84 percent believe religion is fairly or very important to them, 85 percent believe in life after death and 61 percent pray at least once a day. Consequently, presidential candidates and political parties know that if they come off as too secular, they will alienate voters. So they routinely appoint aides to advise them on religion issues. This spring, Sen. John Kerry hired Mara Vanderslice to be his director of religious outreach. Billed as a Christian activist, Ms. Vanderslice was raised without...

John Kerry has long been on record with his view that the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance don't violate the First Amendment's ban on establishing religion. But days before the Democrats convened in Boston, the Democratic National Committee announced as its first ever director of outreach to religious groups a clergywoman who takes the opposite view. In February, the Rev. Brenda Bartella Peterson was one of 32 clergymen who filed an amicus brief in Elk Grove Unified School District v. Michael Newdow, the case in which Mr. Newdow, an atheist, objected to his daughter's having to say...

WASHINGTON (BP)--The Democratic Party’s new religion adviser has resigned after less than two weeks at the post. Brenda Bartella Peterson, the Democrats’ senior adviser for religious outreach, announced Aug. 4 she was leaving the job because it was “no longer possible for me to do my job effectively,” Religion News Service reported. Peterson resigned after the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights criticized her hiring in news releases on three consecutive days. In one of its releases, the Catholic League reported Peterson signed on to a friend-of-the-court brief in support of an atheist’s attempt to remove the words “under...

The Democratic National Committee's appointed religion adviser has resigned after a Catholic group criticized her for supporting an atheist's claim that the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional. Rev. Brenda Bartella Peterson stepped down as the DNC's senior religion adviser, telling the Religion News Service that "it was no longer possible for me to do my job effectively." "The only question now is whether [Democratic presidential candidate] John Kerry and the DNC have finally got the message. When we exposed Mara Vanderslice as a Left-wing activist who cavorts with anti-Catholics, the Kerry camp silenced her as...

For John Kerry, this religion thing is a problem. On the one hand, he wants to appeal to Dem elites who tend to be (let's face it) more secular than not. On the other hand, he doesn't want to offend the vast majority of voters who consider themselves religious folk, especially black and Hispanic Democrats. Unlike George Bush, John Kerry has to straddle not only the difference between his base and the swing vote on religious themes, but a radical difference in taste between key constituents of the Democrat Party. A June Time magazine poll, for example, showed just 7...

Democratic adviser backed atheist in suit The Democratic National Committee's new adviser for religious outreach was one of 32 signatories on a U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief backing an atheist who sought to remove the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance.     In February, the Rev. Brenda Bartella Peterson was one of almost three dozen Christian and Jewish clergy who - along with the Unitarian Universalist Association - asked the Supreme Court to support Michael Newdow, the California plaintiff trying to change the Pledge's wording.     The Supreme Court restored the words "under God" to the Pledge in June, ruling...

On July 23, Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Terry McAuliffe announced the appointment of Rev. Brenda Bartella Peterson as the Senior Advisor for Religious Outreach; she is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Commenting on her selection is Catholic League president William Donohue: “Terry McAuliffe says that the appointment of Rev. Peterson as the new Senior Advisor for Religious Outreach ‘reflects the DNC’s commitment to reaching all people of faith’; he also notes that she ‘will act as liaison to religious organizations.’ Upon learning of this appointment, we decided to find out who this woman is....

On July 23, Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Terry McAuliffe announced the appointment of Rev. Brenda Bartella Peterson as the Senior Advisor for Religious Outreach; she is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Commenting on her selection is Catholic League president William Donohue: “Terry McAuliffe says that the appointment of Rev. Peterson as the new Senior Advisor for Religious Outreach ‘reflects the DNC’s commitment to reaching all people of faith’; he also notes that she ‘will act as liaison to religious organizations.’ Upon learning of this appointment, we decided to find out who this woman is....