In Religion Is �Very Important� to 6 in 10 Americans, our old friends at Gallup — the most conservatively-biased and pro-Xian major polling organization by far — gives us a new collection of lies and half-truths.

Some are just ways of stating the results (”6 in 10 think religion is VERY IMPORTANT” rather than 41% don’t think religion is very important). Others just encourage and repeat the response biases of the respondents (”43% of Americans report having attended church or synagogue in the past week” when then good evidence suggests 25% is about right). And some depend deeply on question design (”7% say they have no religious preference at all”, where other studies that simply insert “if any” into the religious preference question get results over 20% for no religious preference).

Worth a read, though — partly for a few facts, but mostly for the study in how to lie with statistics.

The Interfaith Alliance (TIA) is blowing the whistle on what they call “an astonishing abuse of religion” by the Bush-Cheny campaign. The campain is e-mailing clergy asking for volunteers to ’serve as a coordinator in your place of worship.

‘If ever there were a question about the real intent of expanding faith-based initiatives and promoting a presence of religion in government, this tactic puts it to rest,’ Rabbi Moline said. ‘The Bush-Cheney campaign has dropped any pretense of honoring the separation of church and state mandated by the Constitution, and puts in jeopardy the non-profit status of 1600 houses of worship by asking them to engage in partisan politics. The President should repudiate this initiative immediately. 1600 Pennsylvania churches for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. How clever. How reprehensible.’

You tell ‘em, Rabbi. Read it here: Yahoo! News - TIA: Bush-Cheney ‘04 Commits ‘an astonishing abuse of religion’; Campaign Seeks to Enlist Tax-exempt Congregations in Campaign

Nice little piece `South Park’s’ unique form of religious satire, asking in part how they get away with it.0 down loans purchase homedollar 10 loan advance cash100 fha loanloan vegas las 100 homeloan commercial 101equity 125 home quotes loans15 check 000 personal credit loanadvances 26 loan payday 18 location Map

Hey, new stuff in the store. Get yourself a summer shirt, or one of the new cheaper t-shirts.

From Detroit Piston Chauncy Billups, on being awarded the MVP trophy for the NBA Finals:

It’s unbelievable. Really, I’m just speechless, man. I’ve dreamed of this opportunities all my life, and the way my career had gone, it seemed like my chance was kind of drifting away. But I never gave up. I never gave up on what I felt I could do. And what I felt could I do is win the Championship and have a chance to win this trophy right here. You know, God is good, man. God is definitely good. (from The Pistons played the right way)

Apparently, God was pissed at Kobe for the rape, and decided to side with Detroit. I mean, how else could Chauncy Friggin’ Billups be the MVP of the NBA finals?merchant card account canadian credit gamblingcredit offers credit bad cards alladult card p credit account merchantunion credit 7-17accredited colleges design interiorschools florida accredited nursingmiles air credit card aaabbey credit union Map

Haven’t seen it yet, but I guess there’s a movie out called Saved! that’s pissing a lot of xians off (so, you know, that’s cool). The story can be found here. If you’ve seen it, send a thumbs-up or thumbs-down.

The Supremes rule 8-0 against the Newdow challenge to “under God” in the pledge — but 5 of them just ruled he had no standing. So, they ducked the big issue. Not shocking, I guess. And way better than an outright loss. After all, if all 5 of the “no standing” justices go the right way when somebody with standing comes up, we win — even with God’s boy Scalia back in the mix. And in case you like to keep score, the 3 who agreeed to the “no standing” ruling but also submitted a separate opinion saying that God is A-OK with them were Rehnquist (duh), Clarence “The Lapdog” Thomas, and (slightly surprising, to me anyway) O’Connor. Man cannot sue over reference to God in Pledge

Looks like the Court choked on this one: Supreme Court Preserves ‘God’ in Pledge

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court at least temporarily preserved the phrase “one nation, under God,” in the Pledge of Allegiance, ruling Monday that a California atheist could not challenge the patriotic oath while sidestepping the broader question of separation of church and state.

The decision leaves untouched the practice in which millions of schoolchildren around the country begin the day by reciting the pledge.

The court said the atheist could not sue to ban the pledge from his daughter’s school and others because he did not have legal authority to speak for her.