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Religion Dispatches - Religion Dispatches Religion Dispatches
  • Racial Justice
    • Louisville School Shooter’s Social Media Presence Reveals Online Right’s Fascination with Nation of Islam Lore
      Louisville School Shooter’s Social Media Presence Reveals Online Right’s Fascination with Nation of Islam Lore
    • Proud to be [a Real] American — Lee Greenwood’s ‘God Bless the USA’ and the Politics of the ‘Apolitical’
      Proud to be [a Real] American — Lee Greenwood’s ‘God Bless the USA’ and the Politics of the ‘Apolitical’
    • As the Old White South Rises Again Will Democrats Wilt For the Sake of National ‘Reconciliation’?
      As the Old White South Rises Again Will Democrats Wilt For the Sake of National ‘Reconciliation’?
  • Sex/Gender/Justice
    • Before Leaving Office Biden Announced the ERA Should Already Be 28th Amendment — If it is, Could it Be Used to Protect Trans People?
      Before Leaving Office Biden Announced the ERA Should Already Be 28th Amendment — If it is, Could it Be Used to Protect Trans People?
    • As the Old White South Rises Again Will Democrats Wilt For the Sake of National ‘Reconciliation’?
      As the Old White South Rises Again Will Democrats Wilt For the Sake of National ‘Reconciliation’?
    • Idaho Legislature Memo Opposing Marriage Equality Signals a New Collaboration to Undermine Norms of Democracy
      Idaho Legislature Memo Opposing Marriage Equality Signals a New Collaboration to Undermine Norms of Democracy
  • Christian Nationalism
    • Confronting Trump Directly, Bishop Mariann Budde Showed That Not All Religious Leaders are Spineless Sycophants
      Confronting Trump Directly, Bishop Mariann Budde Showed That Not All Religious Leaders are Spineless Sycophants
    • Proud to be [a Real] American — Lee Greenwood’s ‘God Bless the USA’ and the Politics of the ‘Apolitical’
      Proud to be [a Real] American — Lee Greenwood’s ‘God Bless the USA’ and the Politics of the ‘Apolitical’
    • Not a Single Senator Probed the Most Dangerous Part of Pete Hegseth’s Background: His Ties to White Christian Nationalism
      Not a Single Senator Probed the Most Dangerous Part of Pete Hegseth’s Background: His Ties to White Christian Nationalism
  • Election 2024
    • Bipartisan Bills Aimed at Pro-Palestine Groups Could Be Used to Target Political Opponents and Non-Profits
      Bipartisan Bills Aimed at Pro-Palestine Groups Could Be Used to Target Political Opponents and Non-Profits
    • The Trump Administration’s Approach to Immigration is Inspired by the Bible — The Book of Revelation
      The Trump Administration’s Approach to Immigration is Inspired by the Bible — The Book of Revelation
    • While Nixon Sought to Secretly ‘Screw’ Political Enemies Trump’s Dictatorial Desires Are Less Modest
      While Nixon Sought to Secretly ‘Screw’ Political Enemies Trump’s Dictatorial Desires Are Less Modest

Peter Laarman

Peter Laarman is a United Church of Christ minister who served as senior minister of New York's Judson Memorial Church and then as executive director of LA's Progressive Christians Uniting before retiring in 2014. He remains deeply involved in national and regional social justice projects touching on race, class, and religion.

(A)theologies, Archive, OMFG, Politics/LawDecember 2, 2020

Robbing Peter to Give Charity to Paul: The Dirty Secret Behind American ‘Giving’

By Peter Laarman

Just about every year at this time we’re invited, even hectored, to participate in the…

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(A)theologies, ArchiveNovember 24, 2020

Why America’s Whitewashed Thanksgiving Needs to Go: A Short Study in the Power of White Christian Mythmaking

By Peter Laarman

Readers of RD don’t need to be told that the image of “The First Thanksgiving”…

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Archive, Politics/Law, Sexuality/GenderNovember 4, 2020

Record Numbers Voted for More Death and More Racism; Can We Really Just Come Together as a Nation?

By Peter Laarman

In July I wrote in these pages about the necropolitics revealed by the actions of…

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Archive, Politics/Law, Sexuality/GenderOctober 29, 2020

Even if Biden Wins Will We Reckon With ‘Virtuous Republic Syndrome,’ the Persistent Belief that America is a Blessed Nation?

By Peter Laarman

Most white Americans of a certain age hew to a civil religion that holds that…

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(A)theologies, Archive, Books, Christian Nationalism, Politics/Law, Racial Justice, Sex/Gender/Justice, Sexuality/GenderOctober 20, 2020

How U.S. Conservatives Conjured the Jesus of Their Dreams

By Peter Laarman

It seems that when Donald Trump and his Republican enablers are able to seat a…

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Archive, OMFG, Politics/Law, Racial JusticeSeptember 3, 2020

And the Violent Bear It Away? Disciplined Nonviolence and the Coming Election Emergency

By Peter Laarman

A few weeks back I reached out to around 60 friends and colleagues whom I’ve…

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Archive, Books, OMFGAugust 24, 2020

The Revelation of Kurt Andersen: With ‘Evil Geniuses’ a Media Mandarin Discovers Plutocracy

By Peter Laarman

When I showed up at New York’s Judson Church in 1994 at least some of…

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(A)theologies, Archive, OMFGJuly 22, 2020

The Non-Mask of the Red Death: A Deadly Necropolitics Hits Home

By Peter Laarman

The shade of Edgar Allen Poe will perhaps forgive me for misappropriating the title of…

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(A)theologies, Archive, Racial JusticeJuly 8, 2020

Corporation as ‘Citizen’ is the Next Anti-Black, Anti-Democratic Model that Needs to be Torn Down

By Peter Laarman

When Claudia Rankine was asked by The Guardian why she decided to give the title…

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(A)theologies, Archive, OMFGJune 25, 2020

The Economy is Racism: Ending Race-Based Economic Violence is the Real Challenge of This Moment

By Peter Laarman

Please feel free to ignore the economists and pundits who like to say that Wall…

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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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