Sign up to receive our daily news summary via e-mail »

Quote of the Day. "There are just not enough jobs for older people. They have no choice but to go on Social Security." Richard Johnson, senior fellow at the Urban Institute, explaining last year’s record 19% increase in the number of retired workers collecting Social Security. (USA Today)

FAITH IN THE NEWS

USCCB reiterates concerns about abortion, immigrants in health reform “As a Senate committee considered a range of amendments on many of the same issues, bishops representing three committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops called on senators to insist that any final health reform bill exclude mandated coverage of abortion, protect conscience rights, safeguard the health of immigrants and protect ‘the life, dignity and health of all.’"

Religious life won’t be the same after recession “Organized religion was already in trouble in the U.S. before the fall of 2008. Denominations were stagnating or shrinking, and congregations across faith groups were fretting about their finances. The Great Recession made things worse.”

U.S. Christian leaders join calls to restore civil rights in Honduras “Several Christian leaders in the United States are calling on the current government of Honduras to restore civil liberties suspended in an escalating political crisis in the Central American nation.”

Film Uncovers Dark Underworld of Modern-Day Slavery “Some call it trafficking, others bondage, but the people behind a new documentary want to call it slavery and talk about the 27 million slaves that exist in the world today.” 

NEWS AT HOME

Unemployment. U.S. Sept non-farm payrolls fall, jobless rate up “U.S. employers cut a deeper-than-expected 263,000 jobs in September, lifting the unemployment rate to 9.8 percent, according to a government report on Friday that fueled fears the weak labor market could undermine recovery from a prolonged recession.”

Health Care. Senate Panel Softening Insurance Penalties  “The Senate Finance Committee voted Thursday to soften the impact of financial penalties that would be imposed on people who did not obtain insurance under sweeping health-care legislation.” Senate Republicans Criticize Taxes in Health-Care Bill “As it drew close Thursday to finishing work on a health-care overhaul, a key Senate panel engaged in a spirited debate about whether the measure is ‘riddled’ with tax increases that would violate President Obama’s campaign pledge not to raise taxes on middle-class Americans.” Senate panel approves Cantwell amendment “By the narrowest of margins, the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday approved an amendment by Sen. Maria Cantwell that would allow other states to establish basic health-care plans for low-income residents similar to the one in Washington, but with the federal government providing the funding.”

Immigration. Agency Plans for Visa Push by Residents Made Legal “Although President Obama has put off an immigration overhaul until next year, the federal agency in charge of approving visas is planning ahead for the possibility of giving legal status to millions of illegal immigrants, the agency’s director said Thursday.” Halt to gov’t raids not an option to boost census “With the 2010 census six months away, the Commerce Department said Thursday it won’t seek a halt to immigration raids as it did in the previous census in hopes of improving participation in hard-to-count communities.”

Food Stamps. Texas under fire over processing times for food stamp applications  “The federal agency that oversees food stamps wants Texas to stop fingerprinting applicants as a way to save resources and speed up what the agency says is an unacceptably slow application system.” 

Abortion. Support Appears to Drop for Abortion Rights “For most of the last two decades, a clear majority of Americans has supported the right to abortion. A new poll, though, suggests that support for abortion may have declined, with the public almost evenly divided over the issue.”

Climate Change. Report: climate change threatens national parks “America’s national parks are at risk of disappearing or being fundamentally changed as seas rise, glaciers melt, trees die, and animal habitat changes as a result of climate change, according to a report Thursday from two environmental groups.”

NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

Asian Earthquake & Typhoon. Rescuers Dig by Hand After Indonesia Quake “No tractors were available to move the rubble that was their office building before Wednesday’s mighty earthquake felled this modest port city, so workers started digging feverishly with their bare hands.” Race to find quake survivors “Rescue workers in the earthquake-devastated Indonesian city of Padang have been stepping up the hunt for survivors in the rubble of collapsed buildings, although hopes of finding many of the hundreds missing still alive are beginning to fade.” Aid Groups Reaching Quake-Ravaged Indonesia “International aid organizations began arriving in force here on Friday in the aftermath of the powerful earthquake that destroyed huge swaths of the city two days ago.” Philippines alert for super-typhoon “The Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, has declared a nationwide ’state of calamity’ as it braces for the arrival of a powerful super-typhoon, just days after another storm caused the country’s worst flooding in decades.”

Iran. Obama in Iran inspection demand “Barack Obama says Iran must give the UN "unfettered access" to its second uranium enrichment facility within two weeks.” Iran, Major Powers Reach Agreement On Series of Points “The United States and Iran tentatively stepped back from looming confrontation on Thursday, as the Islamic republic reached an agreement with major powers that would greatly reduce Iran’s stockpile of low-enriched uranium and reset the diplomatic clock for a solution to Iran’s nuclear ambitions.” Iran Agrees to Send Enriched Uranium to Russia“Iran agreed on Thursday in talks with the United States and other major powers to open its newly revealed uranium enrichment plant near Qum to international inspection in the next two weeks and to send most of its openly declared enriched uranium outside Iran to be turned into fuel for a small reactor that produces medical isotopes.” U.S.: We won’t let Iran stall long enough to develop nuclear program “The United States will press Iran and not allow it to stall long enough to develop a nuclear program, American officials Thursday told Haaretz at the Geneva Talks 2 forum.” Iran agrees to more nuclear checks “Iran has agreed to allow international nuclear inspectors to view its recently revealed uranium enrichment plant near the city of Qom.”

Israeli Nukes. Obama agrees to keep Israel’s nukes secret “President Obama has reaffirmed a 4-decade-old secret understanding that has allowed Israel to keep a nuclear arsenal without opening it to international inspections, three officials familiar with the understanding said.”

Afghanistan. White House Considers Narrower War Effort in Afghanistan “Senior White House officials have begun to make the case for a policy shift in Afghanistan that would send few, if any, new combat troops to the country and instead focus on faster military training of Afghan forces, continued assassinations of al-Qaeda leaders and support for the government of neighboring Pakistan in its fight against the Taliban.” McChrystal Rejects Scaling Down Afghan Military Aims “The top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, used a speech here on Thursday to reject calls for the war effort to be scaled down from defeating the Taliban insurgency to a narrower focus on hunting down Al Qaeda, an option suggested by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. as part of the current White House strategy review.” McChrystal defends military goals in Afghanistan “The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan staunchly defended his emphasis on stabilizing the country with a troop-intensive counterinsurgency strategy, arguing Thursday that reducing U.S. aims in the nation would be ’short-sighted.’" McChrystal warns Taliban is growing “Violence in Afghanistan is growing and the success of the campaign against the Taliban cannot be taken for granted, General Stanley McChrystal, the head of US and Nato troops has said.”

Pakistan. Pakistan to Target Taliban ‘Epicenter’ “After fighting peripheral wars against militants for the last several years, the military is poised to open a campaign in coming days against the Taliban’s main stronghold in Pakistan’s tribal areas, South Waziristan.”

Canada. Liberals fail to topple Tories “Ignatieff condemns Harper government’s ‘terrible record of failure’ as he moves no-confidence; motion goes down to defeat by vote of 144-117 with NDP abstaining.” Government survives Liberal confidence motion “Even as he was facing the biggest challenge so far to his leadership, Michael Ignatieff and the Liberals tried Thursday to bring the government down and force a general election."

Burma. Burmese court rejects Suu Kyi appeal “A Burmese court has turned down Aung San Suu Kyi’s appeal against her most recent sentence to house arrest, her lawyer said today.” Court rejects Suu Kyi appeal “A court in Myanmar has rejected an appeal by detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi against her continued house arrest.”

OPINION

Politics as religion in America (Neal Gabler, Los Angeles Times) “Perhaps the single most profound change in our political culture over the last 30 years has been the transformation of conservatism from a political movement, with all the limitations, hedges and forbearances of politics, into a kind of fundamentalist religious movement, with the absolute certainty of religious belief.”

Sojourners’ Daily Digest is a compilation of the top news related to our commitments of life and peace, economic and racial justice, and care of creation, with a special focus on news of the engagement of faith in public life.