Clinton, Obama and John Edwards address liberal evangelicals at a forum on "faith, values and poverty."

What's Faith Got to Do With It? Sen. Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Sen. Barack Obama mentioned faith in a generic way, baptizing their liberal politics and suggesting that God favors their positions more than those of the Republicans. (RealClearPolitics)

Faith Factor: Dems Discuss Religion, Values
Religious Dems No Longer 'In the Closet' Says Host of Rare Forum
The Rev. Jim Wallis told ABC News. "The Democratic front-runners are all people who are clearly more comfortable in church as people of faith -- relating their faith to politics -- than the top Republican front-runners."

Can the Religious Left Sway the '08 Race? Democratic presidential candidates are speaking openly about faith, competing for 'values voters.' (ChristianScienceMonitor)

Sen. Clinton credits faith for getting her through Lewinsky ordeal "I'm not sure I would have gotten through it without my faith." (The Hill)

John Edwards — "Violent, White, Heterosexual, Christian Male"? "If I had a day in my 54 years where I haven't sinned I would be surprised," he said, declining to specify. "I sin every day; we are all sinners."

Huckabee Stands By Views ? But Says Campaign is Presidential, Not Theological "It doesn’t bother me so much if a person says he’s an atheist, it bothers me when a person says he’s a Christian but refuses to live like one,” Candidate Mike Huckabee (NewYorkTimes)

Religion and Rudy "The public record shows that Giuliani, a Catholic with a parochial school background (as he highlighted in Manchester), has a greater appetite for Scotch and cigars than for prayer and reconciliation, and, in fact, does not shy from interjecting religion into the campaign arena when it suits his political needs of the moment." (Huffington Post)
Brownback: No contradiction of science, faith Under the title “What I think about Evolution,” Sen. Sam Brownback writes in The New York Times that the “truths of science and faith … do not contradict each other, because the spiritual order and the material order were created by the same God.”

House Defeats Fake Human Cloning Ban Allowing it For Research
The House of Representatives defeated a human cloning bill Wednesday that claimed to prohibit the grisly practice but would have allowed scientists to create and destroy human embryos for research.(LifeNews)"What it actually prohibits is the act of becoming pregnant a kind of law seen chiefly until now in the People's Republic of China, where women can be punished for carrying an unauthorized child," Cardinal Rigali stated.
view voting results

HOUSE BACKS FUNDING EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH, SHORT OF VETO OVERRIDE
The House passed a bill that would expand federal policy to require taxpayers to fund embryonic stem cell research that involves the destruction of human life. Though the House approved the bill 247-176, the vote was well short of the two-thirds necessary to override a veto the president has promised. (LifeNews)

view voting results

Text of President Bush's Comments on Embryonic Stem Cell Research Bill

USCCB comments on passage of bill

House Dems Extend Olive Branch to Republicans, Vote to Increase Abstinence funding
Thursday afternoon, members of a House Appropriations subcommittee voted to increase funding for the Community Based Abstinence Education program (CBAE) by $27.8 million, to $141 million. Though abstinence education funds were increase, the panel also voted to increase Title X family planning funding by $27.8 million, to $311 million which a good percentage of the money going to Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion business.

Noteworthy

Pope Benedict and President Bush to meet today The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, told the Italian newspaper that ethical and social questions would be on the agenda when the pope meets the president. "The United States is a great country, and the current president has especially distinguished himself for some positive initiatives in favor of the defense of life from conception," Cardinal Bertone said.

Smut Sells: Larry Flynt Hunts for Political Sex ScandaI

In a full-page advertisement in The Washington Post, Flynt asked for "documented evidence of illicit sexual or intimate relations with a Congressperson, Senator or other prominent officeholder." He said he would pay up to $1 million for material that could be verified and published in Hustler. read article

WashPost ad brings many leads for Larry Flynt story "Hustler" publisher Larry Flynt - just days after posting a $1 million bounty for verifiable information on the sexual exploits of U.S. Congress members and political leaders -- says he's already been deluged by more than 200 leads pouring in from around the country, "80 percent of them on Republicans.'' read more

"I am a Catholic and a very dedicated Catholic, but I support Research on Human Embryos"

 

 

This Weeks Headlines

Immigration Overhaul Bill Stalls in Senate A 45 to 50 procedural vote fell well short of the 60 votes needed to break the filibuster. Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) then pulled the bill from the floor, while holding out hope that the Senate could resurrect the measure within weeks." Washpost

GOP eyes 'shutdown' of Senate over judgesRepublican leaders yesterday threatened a "total shutdown" of Senate business if Democrats keep holding up President Bush's appointments to the federal bench.

Left Wants to Amputate Surgeon General Nominee The Human Rights Campaign, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and a host of other radical homosexual activist and leftist organizations are decrying President Bush’s Surgeon General Nominee, Dr. James Holsinger.

 

 

From Our Shepherds

Bishops

Now Philadelphia is officially 'pro-choice'
Cardinal Justin Rigali immediately criticized Council's 9-8 vote, which has no practical meaning. In a letter to council members Cardinal Rigali called the "pro-choice" designation a "shameful label." "Philadelphia is experiencing homicide at a record rate; now is not the time to affirm the false choice of procured abortion," his letter said.

An ex-con, not a celebrity: Detroit diocese Denounces Kevorkian Hype "For 10 years Jack Kervorkian's actions resembled those of a pathological serial killer. It will be truly regrettable if he is now treated as a celebrity parolee instead of the convicted murderer he is."
States with assisted suicide/euthanasia bills pending are Arizona, California, Hawaii, Vermont and Wisconsin.
Read Dr. Death Returns

Kevorkian, Now Free, Enslaved Others, Says Fr. Pavone

USCCB Official Comments on Approval of Bill to Fund Stem Cell Research Requiring the Destruction of Human Embryos “Today the House of Representatives again approved a bill to fund stem cell research requiring the destruction of human embryos (S. 5), 247 to 176. The margin of support was a bit lower than in January, when a similar bill passed 253 to 174, despite the recent addition of language supporting morally noncontroversial stem cell research that was designed to invite more support. The President will veto this bill, and his veto will be sustained." 06/07/2007

Commentary

"Cloning Scam" Nancy Pelosi and her colleagues know perfectly well that cloning is unpopular, so they pretended that the bill bans human cloning.

Real Stem-Cell News New developments point toward a consensus solution and away from the Democrats’ bill.

This Is Compassion Thanks to President Bush, the U.S. has emerged as the global leader in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Bush and Benedict An exclusive interview with the US Ambassador to the Holy See, Francis Rooney

State News

AB43 Homosexual Marriage

Update:California Assembly Passes Same-Sex Marriage Bill
Assembly Bill 43 would strike the words “male” and “female” from the marriage code, substituting the phrase “two persons” in the definition of marriage. The State Assembly voted 42-34 to pass the bill, ignoring a vote in 2000 to retain the traditional definition of marriage that was supported by more than 60 percent of California voters. view voting results

AB374 Assisted Suicide Bill Dies Peacefully in California Assembly