During this month, I have made pitches regarding not going it alone in catholic youth ministry and involving many others to make it all happen.  Here’s even more motivation…  to quote the internal thought of the Clinton campaign of 1992, "It’s the economy, stupid."

Newsweek‘s religion commentator and resident rabbi Marc Gellman looks ahead:

The impact of the financial crisis on the election will end on Nov. 4. The effect of the financial meltdown on America’s churches, synagogues, temples and mosques will not end for some time to come.

For the most part, our current dire economic straits will not cause the changes to America’s religious institutions I am about to enumerate. Rather, the 2008 meltdown will merely accelerate the changes that began to reshape American religion in the last part of the 20th century. Robert Putnam in his "Bowling Alone" echoed the work of other sociologists in describing the collapse of both religious and secular communal affiliations and the rise of a new more isolated and lonely civic culture.

More here.