Signs and Wonders 04.04

Now who's the bully? Urban Outfitters Inc. is a hip company that owns such stores as the eponymous Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, and Free People. Its clothes and brands target the young and progressive. But the organization's long-time president, Philadelphian Richard Hayne, was a heavy Republican Party donor. Hayne has given at least $20,000 to Rick Santorum, the Republican Party, and other Republican candidates. But his last donations to Santorum came in 2005, about the time his contributions attracted the attention of the liberal media, including the alt-left Philadelphia Weekly. The articles alerted pro-gay groups, who threatened to boycott the stores. Hayne, who Forbes said in 2008 had a net worth of $1.8 billion, now gives nominal amounts to both Republicans and Democrats. Have his views simply changed, or did the liberal media intimidate him into virtual silence? Hard to say, but it is interesting that he's given nothing (that I can tell) to Santorum's current presidential bid.

No arguments here. It will be a couple of months before we know which side will win the Supreme Court case on Obamacare, but one verdict is already in: Paul Clement, who argued the case against Obamacare, was brilliant. Forbes called him "polished and fluent." Even liberal National Public Radio (NPR) described Clement as a "walking superlative. A wunderkind who at age 34 became deputy solicitor general and then was promoted to the top spot, solicitor general of the United States [under George W. Bush], becoming the youngest person to hold that post in more than a century." The NPR report went on to quote Neal Katyal, who served as solicitor general for the Obama administration: "I think he is the preeminent advocate in his generation." If Obamacare gets overturned, Clement will deserve much of the credit.

Mormons and race. The Mormon Church excluded African-Americans from leadership until 1978, so it's no surprise that the number of black Mormons is very small. What may be more of a surprise is that the number is growing. African-Americans now make up about 3 percent of the 5.5 million Mormons in the United States. Blacks make up about 11 percent of the U.S. population, so they're still dramatically underrepresented. And while the Mormon Church is making special efforts to reach out to African-Americans, it's hard to explain away-short of a full renunciation, which doesn't seem likely-passages from the Book of Mormon such as Nephi 12:23: "And it came to pass that I beheld … a dark and loathsome and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abomination."

Unbelievable. Last week I told you about the Reason Rally that took place in the rain in Washington, D.C. The next Saturday the U.S. military hosted a first-ever event for soldiers who don't believe in God. Rock Beyond Belief took place at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, one of the world's largest military installations. The event was a response to a Christian event hosted by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association at Fort Bragg a couple of years ago. When atheists objected to that event, the Army agreed to contribute $50,000 toward this event. Oh, and in case you aren't connecting the dots, that means you and I paid for this event for atheists.