The Price of Religious Advocacy in D.C.

More religious groups are spending more money on political lobbying than ever before.

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This article appeared in the February, 2012 issue of Christianity Today as "Spotlight".

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

February

Christianity Today February, 2012

Cover Story

The Best Ways to Fight Poverty—Really

Cover Story

Cost-Effective Compassion: The 10 Most Popular Strategies for Helping the Poor

Bruce Wydick

Review

John Stott: A Uniter and a Divider

Collin Hansen

Excerpt

Beauty Will Save The World

Brian Zahnd

Public Theology Project

A Purpose-Driven Cosmos: Why Jesus Doesn't Promise Us an 'Afterlife'

Russell D. Moore

Wilson's Bookmarks

John Wilson

Liberty Balance

Mark Moring

News

Sex Offender Misstep Illustrates Outreach Difficulties

Ken Walker

Flaming Truth: Recalling Francis Schaeffer's Challenge

Chuck Colson and Timothy George

News

Teaching Natural Theology as Climate Changes Drown a Way of Life

Ruth Moon

News

Go Figure

Compiled by Ted Olsen

The Other Prodigal Son

Letters to the Editor

News

Pro-life Advocates Cheer State Court Rulings, Parliament Reaffirms Church De-Regulations, and More News

Editorial

You Can't Worship Here: Evicting Churches from New York Schools

A Christianity Today Editorial

A Rueful Meditation

Andy Whitman

Two Minutes With ... Jaci Velasquez

Mark Moring

My Top 5 Silent Movies

Frederica Mathewes-Green, CT film critic (with a nod to 2011's The Artist)

Finding God in the Sewers

Brett McCracken

Review

Schoolhouse Divided

Matt Reynolds

How biblical is it to be pro-life and support the death penalty?

David P. Gushee, Richard Land, Glen Stassen

News

Does motive matter if a ministry is doing good deeds?

Compiled by Ruth Moon

How to Help

David Neff, Editor in Chief

Community Chaste

Interview by Marlena Graves

More Media

My Top 5 Books By Charles Dickens

Gary Colledge, author of the forthcoming 'God and Charles Dickens' (Brazos Press)

Books to Note

News

After Komen, the Next Big Planned Parenthood Fight

Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra

News

Out of Africa

Bobby Ross Jr.

News

Passages

News

Pink Stink: Komen Drops Planned Parenthood Support

Sarah Pulliam Bailey and Ted Olsen

News

Quotation Marks

Compiled by Ted Olsen

Masculinity in the Movies

Mark Moring

Critics' Choice Movie Awards of 2011

The Most Redeeming Films of 2011

Our Latest

A member of the Prosecutor's Office stands guard near a burning bus after it was set on fire by organized crime groups in response to an operation to arrest a high-priority security target in Mexico.

News

How Mexican Cartel Violence Disrupted a Guadalajara Church

Franco Iacomini

Christians call for peace and prayer after the killing of drug kingpin El Mencho led to violence across the country.

An image of ICE agents and an image of an empty church.

ICE Is Devastating Some Latino Churches

Samuel Rodriguez

One of America’s leading Hispanic Christians witnesses the devastating effect of immigration politics on church life.

A collage of the United States, sheet music, and a hymn.

‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ Should Be for All Americans

Commonly referred to as the Black national anthem, the Christian hymn is part of our shared inheritance.

Three books on a yellow background.

Review

Parenting Takes Courage. These Books Offer Hope.

Gretchen Ronnevik

Three books on parenting and family to read this month.

An image of Richard Nixon and a CT magazine cover from 1974.

Confronting Evils

Daniel Silliman

In 1974, CT saw trouble in the White House, Chile, and Cyprus, and in the American fascination with exorcists.

Image from the State of the Union address on a television.

The Bulletin

Tariff Takedown, War with Iran, and State of the Union

Mike Cosper, Clarissa Moll, Russell Moore

Supreme Court says Trump’s tariffs are unconstitutional, US considers war with Iran, and a very long State of the Union address.

A photo of Benjamin Watson at mic with the title of the podcast The Just Life overlaid on the image

The Just Life with Benjamin Watson

Preston Perry: If God Is Good, How Can He Allow Such Horrific Things to Happen?

How the Gospel provides the framework for both righteousness and justice.

Homeless people and tents on a sidewalk in Los Angeles, California on July 24, 2025.

Analysis

Housing Doesn’t Solve Homelessness

At California’s Orange County Rescue Mission, a two-year program provides far more than a roof over residents’ heads.