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Religion Dispatches - Religion Dispatches Religion Dispatches
  • Racial Justice
    • The Death of a Black Man at the Hands of Black Officers Unveiled Something More Complex Than Whiteness
      The Death of a Black Man at the Hands of Black Officers Unveiled Something More Complex Than Whiteness
    • Don’t Sleep on Trump’s CPAC Speech Calling For ‘The Final Battle’: This was Southern Strategy as Apocalyptic Promise
      Don’t Sleep on Trump’s CPAC Speech Calling For ‘The Final Battle’: This was Southern Strategy as Apocalyptic Promise
    • Did You Read About Conservative Judaism’s Anti-Black Antisemitic Smearing of Hebrew Israelites? Neither Did I
      Did You Read About Conservative Judaism’s Anti-Black Antisemitic Smearing of Hebrew Israelites? Neither Did I
  • Politics/Law
    • Clues in the Data Suggest That Increase in LGBTQ Acceptance May Be Skewed By Conservative Desire For ‘Respectability’
      Clues in the Data Suggest That Increase in LGBTQ Acceptance May Be Skewed By Conservative Desire For ‘Respectability’
    • Communicators for Christ: How Homeschool Debate Leagues Shaped the Rising Stars of the Christian Right
      Communicators for Christ: How Homeschool Debate Leagues Shaped the Rising Stars of the Christian Right
    • Trump’s Arrest ‘Prediction’ Inflames Holy War Narrative and Sanctifies Violence — Welcome to Trump ’24
      Trump’s Arrest ‘Prediction’ Inflames Holy War Narrative and Sanctifies Violence — Welcome to Trump ’24
  • Sex/Gender/Justice
    • Clues in the Data Suggest That Increase in LGBTQ Acceptance May Be Skewed By Conservative Desire For ‘Respectability’
      Clues in the Data Suggest That Increase in LGBTQ Acceptance May Be Skewed By Conservative Desire For ‘Respectability’
    • Don’t Sleep on Trump’s CPAC Speech Calling For ‘The Final Battle’: This was Southern Strategy as Apocalyptic Promise
      Don’t Sleep on Trump’s CPAC Speech Calling For ‘The Final Battle’: This was Southern Strategy as Apocalyptic Promise
    • 2023 CPAC Lived Down to Expectations, But Don’t Buy the Narrative: The GOP is Not as Divided as You Might Think
      2023 CPAC Lived Down to Expectations, But Don’t Buy the Narrative: The GOP is Not as Divided as You Might Think
  • Christian Nationalism
    • Clues in the Data Suggest That Increase in LGBTQ Acceptance May Be Skewed By Conservative Desire For ‘Respectability’
      Clues in the Data Suggest That Increase in LGBTQ Acceptance May Be Skewed By Conservative Desire For ‘Respectability’
    • Communicators for Christ: How Homeschool Debate Leagues Shaped the Rising Stars of the Christian Right
      Communicators for Christ: How Homeschool Debate Leagues Shaped the Rising Stars of the Christian Right
    • Trump’s Arrest ‘Prediction’ Inflames Holy War Narrative and Sanctifies Violence — Welcome to Trump ’24
      Trump’s Arrest ‘Prediction’ Inflames Holy War Narrative and Sanctifies Violence — Welcome to Trump ’24
  • Russia Invades Ukraine
    • 2023 CPAC Lived Down to Expectations, But Don’t Buy the Narrative: The GOP is Not as Divided as You Might Think
      2023 CPAC Lived Down to Expectations, But Don’t Buy the Narrative: The GOP is Not as Divided as You Might Think
    • Espionage Allegations Against Russian Church Raise Religious Freedom Issue in Ukraine
      Espionage Allegations Against Russian Church Raise Religious Freedom Issue in Ukraine
    • As Tensions Escalate in the Balkans, the West Could Hand Putin a Valuable Weapon
      As Tensions Escalate in the Balkans, the West Could Hand Putin a Valuable Weapon

Lisa Webster

Lisa Webster, editor of Religion Dispatches, holds a Ph.D. in religion from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and an M.A. in comparative literature from Columbia University. She has worked in web and print publishing for more than 20 years at publications including NYC’s Paper Magazine, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, and others.

Guest BloggersNovember 2, 2010

Nuns Pray, Rangers Lose

By Lisa Webster

So much for the efficacy of remote prayer. Or is there more to think about?

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Politics/LawMay 19, 2010

Ian Buruma on the Political Excesses of Religion

By Lisa Webster

Few writers could to pick a theme as grand as the global interplay of democracy and religion and hope to utter the final word on the subject. In his latest book, Ian Buruma, a journalist and historian with over a dozen seminal books to his…

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(A)theologies, CultureFebruary 23, 2010

Healed of the Sin of Religion: At Church with Sara Miles

By Lisa Webster

Sara Miles was a journalist and a chef who wandered into a San Francisco church one Sunday, got religion, and stayed to start a food pantry that now feeds 600 families a week. We talked to her recently about her newest book, Jesus Freak: Feeding, Healing, Raising the Dead.

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(A)theologiesJanuary 29, 2010

How Does an Atheist Come to Believe in God?: An Interview with Jacob Needleman

By Lisa Webster

RD’s senior editor sits down with philosopher Jacob Needleman, whose autobiography What is God? describes his journey from young Ivy-educated professor and atheist, to talk about fundamentalism, atheism, separating the sacred from religion, and why listening is the first step of every ethics.

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Politics/LawSeptember 29, 2008

Witches, Fine… Does Sarah Palin Believe in Religious Tolerance?

By Lisa Webster

In the sensational coverage of Sarah Palin’s witch-defeating pastor many missed a crucial question for the potential leader of 300 million Americans.

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Culture, Politics/Law, Sexuality/GenderSeptember 23, 2008

Margaret Cho: God Bless You, F***ing F***ers 

By Lisa Webster

In response to attacks from Christians comedian Margaret Cho delivers a sacred and profane rant that’s actually a theological act.

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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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