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  • Racial Justice
    • After Orthodox Priest Suspended for ‘Stop the Steal’ Activity, a Renewed Spotlight on the Orthodox Far-Right
      After Orthodox Priest Suspended for ‘Stop the Steal’ Activity, a Renewed Spotlight on the Orthodox Far-Right
    • Making Muffins and Troops for Spiritual Warfare: The Godly Women of Instagram
      Making Muffins and Troops for Spiritual Warfare: The Godly Women of Instagram
    • Because We Dared to Exist: After Generations of Trauma Black Gun Ownership is on the Rise
      Because We Dared to Exist: After Generations of Trauma Black Gun Ownership is on the Rise
  • Politics/Law
    • After Orthodox Priest Suspended for ‘Stop the Steal’ Activity, a Renewed Spotlight on the Orthodox Far-Right
      After Orthodox Priest Suspended for ‘Stop the Steal’ Activity, a Renewed Spotlight on the Orthodox Far-Right
    • Making Muffins and Troops for Spiritual Warfare: The Godly Women of Instagram
      Making Muffins and Troops for Spiritual Warfare: The Godly Women of Instagram
    • How the Pro-Life Movement Gave us Donald Trump — and Why It Could Bring Worse
      How the Pro-Life Movement Gave us Donald Trump — and Why It Could Bring Worse
  • Religious Liberty
    • The Inauguration’s Beautiful Call for Unity Was Undermined by the Invocation of Religion
      The Inauguration’s Beautiful Call for Unity Was Undermined by the Invocation of Religion
    • We Can’t Have Religious Freedom Without Reproductive Freedom
      We Can’t Have Religious Freedom Without Reproductive Freedom
    • As We Survey the Damage of Yesterday’s Violence, What Will Christian Nationalist Politics Look Like in 2021? New Report Offers Clues
      As We Survey the Damage of Yesterday’s Violence, What Will Christian Nationalist Politics Look Like in 2021? New Report Offers Clues
  • Sex/Gender/Justice
    • It’s Time for Democrats to Read the Bible Verses on the Wall and Stop Courting White Evangelicals
      It’s Time for Democrats to Read the Bible Verses on the Wall and Stop Courting White Evangelicals
    • We Can Finally Put the Lie to Trumpism: 5 Myths Debunked By a Biden Victory
      We Can Finally Put the Lie to Trumpism: 5 Myths Debunked By a Biden Victory
    • 11 Election Tweets to Amuse, Infuriate, Enlighten, and Amuse You
      11 Election Tweets to Amuse, Infuriate, Enlighten, and Amuse You
  • New Books
    • Watch: Is The Religious Left a Mirage or Are Journalists Just Missing the Story?
      Watch: Is The Religious Left a Mirage or Are Journalists Just Missing the Story?
    • Pulitzer-Prize Winning Historian’s Latest Reveals the Problem with Today’s ‘Religious Freedom’
      Pulitzer-Prize Winning Historian’s Latest Reveals the Problem with Today’s ‘Religious Freedom’
    • ‘God Made Them Male and Female…and Eunuch’: Why the Biblical Case For Binary Gender Isn’t So… Biblical
      ‘God Made Them Male and Female…and Eunuch’: Why the Biblical Case For Binary Gender Isn’t So… Biblical
mrecla@umail.ucsb.edu'

Matt Recla

Matt Recla is an instructor in the Foundational Studies Program at Boise State University. He holds a PhD in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He researches the genealogy of violence in the Christian tradition.

Guest BloggersApril 25, 2013

Religion and Violence? Short Answer: “Religion” Does Not Exist in a Vacuum

By Matt Recla

It is patronizing to reduce religion to “ethics” or “values.”

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(A)theologies, Culture, Politics/LawJanuary 17, 2010

‘Biblical’ Disaster in Haiti: Pat Robertson and the Curse of Unyielding Ignorance

By Matt Recla

As people around the world begin to reckon with the scope of the catastrophe in Haiti, we offer a set of responses to what was—for those whose work focuses on American religion—a shameful expression of prejudice and ignorance from a once-prominent evangelical leader. 

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(A)theologies, Politics/LawJanuary 15, 2010

The Theo-logic Behind Pat Robertson’s Offense

By Matt Recla

Once again, Pat Robertson has embarrassed the larger Christian community with his comments on Haiti, but the idea of God as a judge is deeply rooted in American religion.

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Religion Dispatches

Religion Dispatches

Religion Dispatches is your independent, non-profit, award-winning source for the best writing on critical and timely issues at the intersection of religion, politics, and culture.

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