Rick Santorum Defends Views on Obama’s Theology

WASHINGTON (RNS) Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum, leading the GOP field in national polls, is defending his views questioning prenatal testing and President Obama’s “theology.” The unapologetic advocacy by Santorum seemed sure to...

Pastor Poised to Be First Black to Lead Baptists

NEW ORLEANS (RNS) After months of urging from other Baptists around the country, the Rev. Fred Luter told his African-American congregation that he will seek to become the first black man to lead the predominantly white Southern Baptist Convention. Several Baptist...

Anti-Mormon Bias Persistent in Presidential Politics

(RNS) On June 27, 1844, vigilantes cornered a man who claimed to receive messages from God and gunned him down in an Illinois jail after his arrest. At the time of his death, Joseph Smith Jr., founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was an...

Poll: Obama Seen as Smartest, Most Honest Candidate

WASHINGTON (RNS) Americans consider President Obama to be the smartest and most honest presidential candidate against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, according to a new poll, but religious groups differ on their views of the...