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Religion Dispatches - Religion Dispatches Religion Dispatches
  • Election 2024
    • 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
    • Leading ‘Constitutional Sheriffs’ Org Announces ‘Full Support’ for Trump’s Mass Deportations
      Leading ‘Constitutional Sheriffs’ Org Announces ‘Full Support’ for Trump’s Mass Deportations
  • Racial Justice
    • 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
    • Coverage of Tucker Carlson’s Demonic Assault Missed the Importance of the Man He Shared the Story With
      Coverage of Tucker Carlson’s Demonic Assault Missed the Importance of the Man He Shared the Story With
    • Leading ‘Constitutional Sheriffs’ Org Announces ‘Full Support’ for Trump’s Mass Deportations
      Leading ‘Constitutional Sheriffs’ Org Announces ‘Full Support’ for Trump’s Mass Deportations
  • Sex/Gender/Justice
    • Coverage of Tucker Carlson’s Demonic Assault Missed the Importance of the Man He Shared the Story With
      Coverage of Tucker Carlson’s Demonic Assault Missed the Importance of the Man He Shared the Story With
    • Authoritarians Must Break Your Will to Resist — So What Can You Do About it?
      Authoritarians Must Break Your Will to Resist — So What Can You Do About it?
    • Trump’s Cabinet (and Other) Picks Paint Picture of a Christian Nationalist ‘Kakistocracy’
      Trump’s Cabinet (and Other) Picks Paint Picture of a Christian Nationalist ‘Kakistocracy’
  • Christian Nationalism
    • 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
    • Coverage of Tucker Carlson’s Demonic Assault Missed the Importance of the Man He Shared the Story With
      Coverage of Tucker Carlson’s Demonic Assault Missed the Importance of the Man He Shared the Story With
    • Authoritarians Must Break Your Will to Resist — So What Can You Do About it?
      Authoritarians Must Break Your Will to Resist — So What Can You Do About it?
  • The Ashes Initiative

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.

Archive, Books, Christian Nationalism, New Books, OMFG, Racial JusticeSeptember 9, 2024

Historian Matthew Stewart Upends the Widespread Belief that 19th Century U.S. Christianity Was On ‘The Right Side of History’

By Peter Laarman

Might as well say it up front: I am one of many progressive Christians who…

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Archive, Culture, OMFG, Politics/LawJuly 2, 2024

Grab ‘n Go – Investigative Thriller Follows Covert Efforts to Control the Source of Life But Comes Up Short on Analysis

By Peter Laarman

Mainly curiosity—along with a nudge from RD—got me to pay my eight bucks to watch…

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President Joe Biden at a podium with a microphone in hand.
Archive, Christian Nationalism, OMFG, Politics/Law, Racial JusticeOctober 31, 2023

Biden’s Embrace of ‘Victory Culture’ is a Victory for Toxic White Christianity

By Peter Laarman

Every new day reveals fresh hints of Joe Biden’s wish to be remembered as a…

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Archive, BooksDecember 29, 2022

When ‘Church Business’ Yields a Real Page Turner

By Peter Laarman

I have to admit that Michelle Huneven’s new novel was almost too delicious for me,…

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(A)theologies, Archive, Media Analysis, Politics/Law, Racial JusticeSeptember 1, 2022

Evangelicals Clutching Pearls Over Student Debt Relief: Lord Have Mercy!

By Peter Laarman

What with Ukraine, Mar-a-Lago, Jerome Powell, and what-not, I suppose we can be forgiven (ha!)…

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Archive, Books, Christian Nationalism, New Books, OMFG, Politics/Law, Racial JusticeAugust 3, 2022

Breaking Up With Marilynne Robinson Over Her Refusal to Acknowledge the Dark Side of Puritanism

By Peter Laarman

Breaking up is hard to do, and I am not at all prepared to discard…

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Archive, Racial Justice, Religious Liberty, Sex/Gender/JusticeMay 9, 2022

The End of Roe May Have Something Important to Tell Us About the Decline of Mainline Protestant Churches

By Peter Laarman

As we gnaw on the paws of our grief and foreboding regarding the Supreme Court…

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Archive, Christian Nationalism, Media Analysis, OMFG, Racial JusticeApril 12, 2022

Douthat, Do Tell! Some Questions for a Columnist Longing for the Good Old Days of American Religion

By Peter Laarman

Sometimes it’s as necessary as a bowel movement to point out how some very smart…

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Archive, OMFG, Racial JusticeApril 4, 2022

Honoring and Renewing Dr. King’s Other, More Challenging, Dream — 55 Years Later

By Peter Laarman

Fifty-four years ago—on April 4, 1968—Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis. Exactly one…

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Archive, Books, Christian Nationalism, Media Analysis, New Books, OMFG, Racial JusticeFebruary 10, 2022

The Missing Element in the Conversation on Christian Nationalism and Freedom: Whiteness

By Peter Laarman

A new report released Wednesday by a trio of groups, both Christian and secular, on…

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