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Religion Dispatches - Religion Dispatches Religion Dispatches
  • Racial Justice
    • As an African American Who Loves Thanksgiving, Must I Simply Ignore the Historical Suffering of the Wampanoag and Pass the Sweet Potato Pie?
      As an African American Who Loves Thanksgiving, Must I Simply Ignore the Historical Suffering of the Wampanoag and Pass the Sweet Potato Pie?
    • ‘We Remember a United States That Fought the Nazis’: A German Scholar of Fascism Weighs in on Christian Nationalism in the U.S.
      ‘We Remember a United States That Fought the Nazis’: A German Scholar of Fascism Weighs in on Christian Nationalism in the U.S.
    • Recognizing (the Long History of) Christian Witches May Be Key to Diversifying Witch Community
      Recognizing (the Long History of) Christian Witches May Be Key to Diversifying Witch Community
  • Politics/Law
    • Atheist Richard Dawkins Swings to Anti-Trans Right in Grasp at Broader Intellectual Relevance
      Atheist Richard Dawkins Swings to Anti-Trans Right in Grasp at Broader Intellectual Relevance
    • Baby We Were Born for War: To Dominionist Christian Groups, No Election is Too Small — and Colorado is Just the Beginning
      Baby We Were Born for War: To Dominionist Christian Groups, No Election is Too Small — and Colorado is Just the Beginning
    • What ‘Faith Groups Do X’ Journalism Reveals About the Press’s Priorities
      What ‘Faith Groups Do X’ Journalism Reveals About the Press’s Priorities
  • Sex/Gender/Justice
    • Atheist Richard Dawkins Swings to Anti-Trans Right in Grasp at Broader Intellectual Relevance
      Atheist Richard Dawkins Swings to Anti-Trans Right in Grasp at Broader Intellectual Relevance
    • Baby We Were Born for War: To Dominionist Christian Groups, No Election is Too Small — and Colorado is Just the Beginning
      Baby We Were Born for War: To Dominionist Christian Groups, No Election is Too Small — and Colorado is Just the Beginning
    • ‘Landmark’ Speech From LDS Leader on LGBTQ Rights and Religious Freedom Was More Like a Sunnier Groundhog Day
      ‘Landmark’ Speech From LDS Leader on LGBTQ Rights and Religious Freedom Was More Like a Sunnier Groundhog Day
  • New Books
    • ‘We Remember a United States That Fought the Nazis’: A German Scholar of Fascism Weighs in on Christian Nationalism in the U.S.
      ‘We Remember a United States That Fought the Nazis’: A German Scholar of Fascism Weighs in on Christian Nationalism in the U.S.
    • In a New Manifesto Framing ‘Wokeness’ as Religion John McWhorter Sounds Like Moses Condemning Israel for Worshipping Golden Calf of Black Power
      In a New Manifesto Framing ‘Wokeness’ as Religion John McWhorter Sounds Like Moses Condemning Israel for Worshipping Golden Calf of Black Power
    • Savoring the Haterade: Why Jews Love Dara Horn’s ‘People Love Dead Jews’
      Savoring the Haterade: Why Jews Love Dara Horn’s ‘People Love Dead Jews’
  • Christian Nationalism
    • Baby We Were Born for War: To Dominionist Christian Groups, No Election is Too Small — and Colorado is Just the Beginning
      Baby We Were Born for War: To Dominionist Christian Groups, No Election is Too Small — and Colorado is Just the Beginning
    • ‘We Remember a United States That Fought the Nazis’: A German Scholar of Fascism Weighs in on Christian Nationalism in the U.S.
      ‘We Remember a United States That Fought the Nazis’: A German Scholar of Fascism Weighs in on Christian Nationalism in the U.S.
    • Vainglory Days: A Foremost Expert on Religious Violence Offers Clues to How QAnon Might End
      Vainglory Days: A Foremost Expert on Religious Violence Offers Clues to How QAnon Might End

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, Christian Nationalism, New Books, New Books, OMFGOctober 14, 2021

A New Book By Esteemed Sociologist Robert Wuthnow Struggles to Show ‘Why Religion is Good for American Democracy’

By Peter Laarman

At a time when Christian Nationalism is finally being recognized as a threat to democracy,…

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Archive, Politics/Law, Racial JusticeJuly 20, 2021

How Far Will White Christians Go to Maintain Power? An Interview with Robert Jones

By Peter Laarman

Robert P. Jones is CEO and founder of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and…

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Archive, OMFG, Politics/Law, Racial JusticeJune 7, 2021

UPDATED: The Coup That Never Ends: ‘Whitemanism’ and the Perils of a Flimsy Liberalism

By Peter Laarman

  The following piece has been updated with an adendum titled: Is a Fixation on…

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(A)theologies, Archive, OMFG, Politics/Law, Racial JusticeMay 4, 2021

How the Right’s War on ‘Critical Race Theory’ Taps into the Powerful Religion of American Innocence

By Peter Laarman

I would never pick a fight with the formidable Michelle Goldberg, but I must pick…

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(A)theologies, Archive, OMFG, Politics/Law, Racial JusticeMarch 31, 2021

The Radical Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Left’s Challenge Today

By Peter Laarman

A dream shared by many will finally come to fruition Sunday night when the April…

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(A)theologies, Archive, Politics/Law, Racial Justice, Sex/Gender/JusticeJanuary 20, 2021

Today’s Inauguration Was a Reconsecration of Sacred Space

By Peter Laarman

C’mon, admit it: you had the Kleenex handy while you watched the swearing-in of the…

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(A)theologies, Archive, Politics/Law, Racial JusticeDecember 27, 2020

Not Breathing Much Easier … But Still Breathing: A Modest Plea For Hope to End 2020

By Peter Laarman

Especially for people deemed “too political” (a label I’ve worn proudly for decades), this has…

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(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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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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