Today’s Reading List – November 7, 2006 | Article VI Blog

VOTE TODAY! And please, vote wisely.

Historical andecdotes regarding religion and politics in America. There is a wonderful phrase in there "the religious energy in the founding" of our nation. I love this one story of many in the piece, I think we have quoted it here before:

Their first act as a Continental Congress was to request a session of prayer.

Mr. Jay of New York and Mr. Rutledge of South Carolina immediately spoke against this motion. They said that Americans are so divided in religious sentiments, some Episcopalians, some Quakers, some Anabaptists, some Presbyterians, and some Congregationalists, all could not join in the same act of prayer. Sam Adams rose to say he’s no bigot, and could hear a prayer from any gentleman of piety and virtue as long as he is a patriot.

Newsweek looks at Evangelicals and politics trying apparently to widen a left/right divide. Al Mohler comments. This article and several related ones in the magazine tell this Evangelical that there is a lot of what is called in exegetical circles "proof-texting" going on. People deciding a political stance, and then seeking religious justification. Given that religious sources are remarkably quiet on much that we face as a nation this is not surprising. But it also illustrates how people of different faiths can unite for a single political purpose.

It's not really on topic, but a mil-blogger disses the Boston Globe. They have been pretty "dis-worthy" lately.

Some interesting philosophical stuff on religion and politics, particularly as it relates to today's election. My friend Joe Carter believes "the synthesis between 'traditional Christian belief' and 'classical liberal ideology' will be short-lived." Joe suggests a slightly different philospohical formulation than the current one for religious/political undertsanding:

Unlike the ideological form of modern conservatism, the Kuyperian form recognizes that ultimate sovereignty belongs to God alone who delegates authority throughout society to various institutional structures (i.e., the family, church, business, etc.).

It seems to me that Mormons and Evangelicals share this view of sovereignty, which should make them political allies. Lowell: Agreed.

Blogging for Dollars. (An update from Lowell.) The authors of Blog P.I. offer us a fascinating look at data they mined from "the FEC reports of candidates for federal office." The goal was

to report just how much their campaigns were paying the bloggers and new media coordinators in their employ.

It was a fascinating and useful article, though it could have used a sidebar or two breaking out the details. Who is the best-paid campaign blogger? Which campaign spent the most? What would these bloggers make if prorated to a yearly salary?

Blog P.I. then goes on to answer those questions. Take a look at the Blog P.I. summary. Article VI readers will recognize this bit of data:

Sen John McCain — WH'08 prospective — Patrick Hynes — $31,5000

Patrick Hynes writes Ankle-Biting Pundit. We've already pointed out in this blog that Mr. Hynes, who has shown a penchant for raising questions about Mitt Romney's religion, was getting paid by McCain. Now we know how much.

If the data reported are correct, it also appears that Hynes is the only blogger McCain is paying, and McCain is Hynes' only federal candidate client. The connection between the two thus looks quite exclusive. That certainly makes it hard for McCain to disavow Ankle-Biting Pundits' efforts.

Of course, John and I get nothing from anyone for our work on this little piece of the blogosphere, but we are prepared to entertain offers. This blog's for sale. Minimum bid $1 million.