coming up religion and the elections. also arizona's tax credit that helps pay tuition to private schools including religious schools. is it constitutional? and an orthodox jew who spent a year visiting christian churches. >> major funding is provides by the lily endowment, an indianapolis based private foundation dedicated to its founders in christian religion,

community development and education. additional funding by mutual of america. designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. also by the henry louis foundation and the corpotion for public broadcastin >> welcome. i'm bob abernathy. it's good to have you with us. in the midterm elections republicans gave democrats what president obama called a shellacking. overall democrats suffered significant decline and backing of religious voters. several social issues were taken up to many people of faith. in california proposal to legalize recreational use of marijuana was soundly rejected. oklahoma passed a measure banni banning state courts from considering islamic law when

deciding cases. muslim groups have a legal challenge. and recognizing unborn fetuses as persons. and voters in iowa ousted three state supreme court justices who had ruled in favor of gay marriage. on the eve of the elections president obama had a private white house meeting with 21 top christian leaders from main line protestant, orthodox and historic black churches. the white house confirmed that the meeting took place but had nothing to say about it. we spoke with several participants that said they discuss ad wide range of issues including the current political atmosphere. >> we're also concerned with the level of cooperation with the difficult rhetoric of this election season. becausit oen seems the love of neighbor is not being shown very much in the way in which we

act as a country. so we're going to try to speak out on that. >> more on the election coming up. the department of homeland security reached out to jewish organizations after last week's thwarted bomb attempt. in a national conference call, homeland security warned jewish leaderso be on guard against suspicious activity and advised them how they can work closely with law enforcement. fear and mourning continue among christians in iraq after this week's deadly attack on a catholic church in baghdad. more than 50 people consider killed, and more than 70 wounded. religious leaders around the world denounced the violence. al qaeda said it will continue to target christians in iraq.

the christian population has fallen sharply since the iraq war began. some estimate the number decreased by nearly half. dropping from approximately a million to 600 thousand. in haiti religious aide groups are scrambling after hurricane tomas brought heavy rains to the already devastated country. aide workers were trying to stop an outbreak of cholera that claimed hundreds of lives and left thousandsmore sik. may fe itill lead to the spread of water carrying cholera bacteria. and now we look at the election results and what they mean. kim lawton, our managing editor. kim, you looked at the patterns. what did you see? >> not surprisingly republicans

made gains on all religion groups. white protestants voted republican overwhelmingly. they usually do at in elections b mo so this tie. the intesting thing for me was around catholics. this time around catholic went republican by significant margin. they have become in some way a swinging voting bloc. some always vote republican. some always vote democratic. this time around they really swung republican. >> david, why did so many catholics switch so much from democrats to republicans? >> well, the governing issues were the bread and butter kitchen table issues of economics and the size of the federal government. and catholics were swayed by those as well. also there was a real degree of moral issues going on here. the debate over abortion funding

and health care reform. a lot of things the christian right were hammering the obama administration on for a long time. there was a sense the obama administrati waspushed over o the cultural left. that made lot of catholics anxious and uneasy. >> you know, a lot of people say well of course these religious groups went republican because the whole electorate went republican more so this time around. i've been talking to strategists who crunched the numbers. they said, well, yes. that was a pattern throughout the electorate. religious voters, especially protestants and catholics voted more republican at much bigger rates and margins than the general electorate. >> and y? >> well, there's a lot of issues. people also say the republicans were doing a lot more outreach. and specifically targeting the base communitieds. and there was democrats the

democrats do that as much. >> david, why do you think that was? two years ago you were talking about democratic outreach to religious voters and how well they were doing. why not this time? >> good question, bob. i think it's puzzling in many respectw the administration andhe docraic party apparatus punted on that religious outreach that had been so successful that was really to a degree shifting the political culture where you had religious voters. the biggest predictor is church going. regular church goers go republican more than democratic. in 2006 and certainly 2008 democrats have begun to shift that. they really in the last two years i kind of gave up on that. i don't know if they got complaisant or wtever. buthere was grumblingon e eligious lft aut e lack of

democratic outreach to religious voters. you saw the results on tuesday. >> what about the tea party? >> clearly there was a big religious base in the tea party. depending on who asked the question, what asked they asked. almost half of people who consider themselves part of the tea party movement are religious conservatives. so that was a big factor in helping the tea party push some of the republican candidates to victory. not all of them did winch but it certainly has energized pople on the religious right. >> david, let me turn your attention to the lame duck section of congress coming up and particularly the new congress coming in jan. what do you see them doing or failing to do that would be of particular interest to the religious community? >> i think two things in the lame duck congress could come up. one is immigration reform. harry reid on the eve of his

lectnaid th he as contemplating bringing that up. he said he would bring it up for a vote in the lame duck section. how will that work out? how will that play politically? one thing that you have to break out is that latinos went very strongly for the democratic party this time. so you really got in a sense two catholic votes emerging. and two votes overall. the other issue that could come up in the lame duck is the don't ask, don't tell policy. and the democrats m try t formally resend that. those could be two hot button issues that will get immediate push back from the right. >> and i'm fascinated by the battles that could be shaping up in that. while religious conservatives are concerned about don't ask, don't tell.

they don't want to see the policy change. but on the other hand when we're talking about immigration, some evangelicals have, although fiscally consvative, some have been ppoive of some immigration reform. so while the tea party wants to focus on fiscal issues and those issues, a lot of evangelicals are right on board with that conservative fiscal outlook. when it comes to theseñi social issues or things like immigration, seem evangelicals may want to support that. so there are complexities there. >> you see anything coming up regarding right to life? >> that's always an issue importanto religious conservatives. ceain on the health care bill. that played a roll in terms of is there going to be funding for abortion? or even the catholic bishops concerned about possible funding for birth control. those issues came into play there and are likely to continue

as those debates came up again. >> david, how do you see that? >> i think kim is exactly right. there's going to be a big republican push to repeal health care reform or defund certain aspects of it to undermine it in some way, shaper rm. on t oter hand, we could have a couple court hass in the pipeline that could provide an answer to the question of whether there is funding for abortion in the health care reform bill. which experts say there isn't, but folks on the religious right believe that there is. if there's a definitive answer, that could be a game changeer as well on that issue. >> so many people looking at the election returns see a demand for civility. a demd that the reblicans democrats start trying to work together better. to what extent to you see any of that coming? >> well, i hear that especially in the religious community, people hoping there may be some

civility. but when you talk to the activists and people who were involved in the campaigns, to me i hear common ground means you vote like i want you to vote. or vote like i think, and let's find a compromise. i don't hear people in the mood for compromise. i do also hear in the religious moderates and left sort of a ñr renew renewed commitment to working for their social justice agenda. there's still going to beñr qmlitical0lçó battling ahead. >> i think the folks on the religious right and the real strong organizations basically said the next two years will be about 2012. so they're positions for the next election because they see they can only really get their agenda across if they win the senate and the white house as well. we're in ainne takes all forecast here. >> david gibson, kim lawton,

many thanks. in arizona taxpayers get a tuition credit for contributing to organizations that provide scholarships at private schools, most of them church run. the full amount up to $500 is subtracts from the donor's state income taxes. but is this public money? if so doest unnstitutionally promote religion? a=iqm2%uá)q supreme court. >> it was really a dream. private school was a dream. it was like, man, one day i would love to be able to. with the scholarship program and our fun pennies rubbed together,

we were able to send every one of our children to private school. they have six children, five of whom attended private schools. students at the public school in arizona have scored low on standardized texts. >> every one of my children that has now gone to college, and there's been three, they all said the first year of college was easier than the last two or three years of high school in the private sector. that's just a blessing. >> a blessing because they don't have much money and could never ve afforded private schools without the help of fellow arizona taxpayers. as allows taxpayers to contribute $500 to private student tuition organizations. and deduct the full amount of

the donation on their income taxes. great for the denards and great for school-run churches. they take in some $30 million in tuition credit donations last year alone. lynn hoffman is amongñr a groupf arizona taxpayer who is argued it in court. arguing it unconstitutionally promotes religion at the expense of the state's public school. >> i do not believe that the money that a taxpayer owes to the general fund should be diverted as it is being. to private schools, just diverting money out of the general funds private schools. i'm a public school adherent. we should keep the money in the general fund for public schools. >> after bouncing around the lower court for ten years, her challenge reached the u.s. supreme court with justices and

lawyers debate iing a question semantics and law. if the money doesn't come out of the state treasury, is it still taxpayer money? attorneys say it is not. >> we certainly take issue with the premise that this is government money. this is simply not the government's money until you reach the bottom line of the tax form and no sooner. >> attorney paul bender representing the taxpayers challenging the tax credit ask the justices if it's not the government's money, whose is it? >> you give this money as a credit you cannot keep the money. you either have to pay it to the state, the department of revenue, it's not your money. your money means you can keep i it. >> if they are provided by private voluntary donations,

they can pick and choose which students get scholarships and to which schools. they may also consider the religious beliefs. >> they distribute $30 million a year to people depending on their religion. you can get a scholarship if you're catholic from one tuition organization. another wi give it to jews but not to catholics. that's unconstitutional. the question is asked to a parent, what is your religion? you can't distribute government benefits by asking questions like that. >> one judge appeared to defend the program and noted that donations to churches are tax deductible, even though they teenly favor their own members. >> it is no different than if you give your charitable gif to a church and they discriminate.

every religious organization discriminat discriminates. >> most of the money goes to catholic or evangelical christian schools he says is not a problem. >> the statistics show 65% of the money goes to religious schools. but you have to keep in mind that 65% of the private schools are religious. >> in is another wrinkle in the case that could be more important than the tuition question. arizona is arguing that just because they're taxpayers the plaintiffs have suffered no injuries. and thus have no right to challenge the position in court. it's a position the obama administration embraced. writing to a friend that the injury to taxpayer is small. and the defending the arizona tax credit as a neutral program of private choice. all to this the dismay and surprise of proponents of strict separation of church and state.

>> it is truly shocking that the obama administration through the solicitor general has taken the position to deny access to the courts for arizona taxpayers and to support what is unequivocally a directñiçó funding of religio private schools. >> more than the administration brief, president obama'sñi cour appointments cgur" change the landscape on the issue of church and state. he replaced retiring justices john paul stevens and david sutter, the staunchest advocates of church and court sepation. it's a new court and this case could provide a glimpse of where the church stands on the issues. for religion & ethics news weekly, i'm tim o'brien. in other news, close to 100 victims of clergy sexual abuse gathered near the vatican for a candle light vigil.

they demanded the church do more toñr stop sexual abuse. they hoped to march from st. peter's square. some victims later met with a vatican representative who urged them to consider the church and ally in combatting abuse. now the author of the book "my jesus year." benyamin cohen. he decided to spend 52 weeks visiting christian churches in and around atlanta, georgia, his home. he even went door-to-door with mormon missionaries. he appreciated little things such as parki plas fofirst time visitor he also learned more about his own tradition by discovering the beliefs and practices of christians. >> i grew up in the heart of bible belt in atlanta, georgia, one of eight children, the son of an orthodox rabbi. i'm the only one that didn't go into the family business. they are all rabbis or married

rabbis. i was always jealous. i grew up across the street from a methodist church, and literally my bedroom window looked out at the church parking lot, and every sunday morning i would see it was packed, and living in the bible belt there are churches on every street corner. and the parking lots are full every week. maybe i could gro to church, not to convert to christianity. i wasn't interested in that. i wanted to go to find out what got people excited about worship. or what got people excited about their religion. maybe i could tap into the spirituality and find out the secret i was never taught growing up, and maybe i could bring that back and apply it to my own judaism. i haven't even walked into a church, and here's one thing i can tell my rabbi. i'm nottalkg abt brging jesus into the synagogue. it wouldn't kill you to put a first time visitor parking lot sign in the parking lot. i didn't know they talked about the old testament. i assumed jews have the old

testament and christians have the new testament. i didn't realize they have both. the pastor gave an old testament sermon. the way he was describing his interpretation was completely different than what i learned growing up. what came out of that moment is i didn't realize i cared so much about my own bible. they had a service every week. they had nice aditions. that's such a nice thingo ha traditions and ancient rituals. that sounds familiar. hey, we have that in synagogues. it made me look at my own rituals with a new fresh perspective. we're both minorities in america. they can't drink caffeine. they wear special undergarments. we wear special undergarments. for me i felt a real kinship with the mormon community. went knocng doo do with these two female mormon

missionaries, and their conviction, these are girls 19 or 20 years old and their conviction thr their religion was awe inspiring to me. i'm sure the woman whose house we were visiting, i'm sure they're wondering why they brought their accountant with them. i was feeling guilty i had strayed from hi own religion. i wanted to cleanse myself of that guilt. so i went to confession. i asked my caolic frien vince if i could do this. he said no. only catholics go to confession. but i'll sneak you in. it was a very meaningful experience. the priest, now that the book has come out, the priest knows that i went to confession with him, and he called me and thanked me. he was happy i had a meaningful experience to him. i feel closer to a religious christian than a nonreligious

jew. we have so much in common. people ask me if i found jesus chuh. a i personally did not so to speak find jesus. but what i did find was true spirituality. that's what i found. the openness to the experience and the belief in god. whoever that god may be. >> on our calendar this week. members will celebrate the birth of their founder, born on november 12th, 1817. they suspend work and school on this day. hindus continue to celebrate the five-day festival of lights. it marks the victory of good over evil. and the muslims are preparing for the pilgrimage that begins next weekend. all muslims are called upon to

participate at least once in their lifetime. finally evangelist billygraham is turning 92 this weekend. he's working on a book about aging. he's in frail health, but says he works with the ministry he founded as he can. and in the past year he received visits from president obama and sarah palin. although not at the same time. that's our program for now. i'm bob abernathy. you can comment on the stories and share them. audio and video podcasts are available. you can follow us on facebook and twitter. find us on youtube and watch us on smort phones and iphones with our new mobile app. join us at pbs.org. as we leave you, scenes for the observance of all saints day at

saint rock cemetery in new orleans. ♪ major funding provided by the lily endowment. a private family foundation dedicated to its founder's interest in religion, community development, and education. additional funding by mutual of america. designing customized, individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. also by the henry foundation and the corporation for public broadcasting.