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  • Election 2024
    • Even if Voters ‘Get What They Asked For’ it’s More Likely to Cause a Fascist Death Spiral Than a Lesson Learned
      Even if Voters ‘Get What They Asked For’ it’s More Likely to Cause a Fascist Death Spiral Than a Lesson Learned
    • Loyalty and Chaos Play a Role in Trump’s Nominations, But This Schoolyard Tactic May Provide a Better Explanation
      Loyalty and Chaos Play a Role in Trump’s Nominations, But This Schoolyard Tactic May Provide a Better Explanation
    • Progressive Christian Election Response ‘Give us Barabbas’ May Be Well-Meaning — But Functions as Anti-Jewish Dogwhistle
      Progressive Christian Election Response ‘Give us Barabbas’ May Be Well-Meaning — But Functions as Anti-Jewish Dogwhistle
  • Racial Justice
    • Phoning It In: ‘Heathen’ Isn’t a Neutral Religious Description — It’s Also a Significant Force in the Creation of Race in the US
      Phoning It In: ‘Heathen’ Isn’t a Neutral Religious Description — It’s Also a Significant Force in the Creation of Race in the US
    • No image
      With no Viable Alternative on Ballot, Anti-immigrant Movement Claims Victory and Releases Wish Lists
    • New Doc Claiming Columbus was Jewish May Have Some Accuracy Issues — But There’s a Far Bigger Issue We Need to Reckon With
      New Doc Claiming Columbus was Jewish May Have Some Accuracy Issues — But There’s a Far Bigger Issue We Need to Reckon With
  • Sex/Gender/Justice
    • With Election Takeaways Like ‘Too Transgender’ or ‘the US is Shifting Right,’ Dems are Determined to Learn the Wrong Lesson
      With Election Takeaways Like ‘Too Transgender’ or ‘the US is Shifting Right,’ Dems are Determined to Learn the Wrong Lesson
    • Packed with Threats of Political Violence, Media Largely Ignore the NAR’s ‘Million Women’ Rally in DC
      Packed with Threats of Political Violence, Media Largely Ignore the NAR’s ‘Million Women’ Rally in DC
    • New Doc Strives for Christian Unity—But What if Unity is the Problem?
      New Doc Strives for Christian Unity—But What if Unity is the Problem?
  • Christian Nationalism
    • Phoning It In: ‘Heathen’ Isn’t a Neutral Religious Description — It’s Also a Significant Force in the Creation of Race in the US
      Phoning It In: ‘Heathen’ Isn’t a Neutral Religious Description — It’s Also a Significant Force in the Creation of Race in the US
    • Trump’s Fervent Christian Zionists Poised to Lead the Military — And US-Israel Relations
      Trump’s Fervent Christian Zionists Poised to Lead the Military — And US-Israel Relations
    • Meet Pete Hegseth, the Man Who Will Lead the Entire US Military — A Man Deemed an ‘Extremist’ by the US Military
      Meet Pete Hegseth, the Man Who Will Lead the Entire US Military — A Man Deemed an ‘Extremist’ by the US Military
  • 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, Peter Laarman, Politics/Law, Religious LibertyJuly 28, 2017

*UPDATE*: Sam Brownback as Religious Freedom Ambassador? His Distinguished Predecessor Hopes for the Best

By Peter Laarman

[Editor’s note: a clarification/correction to the author’s reporting of his interview with Rabbi Saperstein was…

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(A)theologies, Beyond Belief: Election 2016, OMFG, Peter Laarman, Politics/LawJuly 20, 2017

The Bad Religion at the Heart of GOP Healthcare Policy

By Peter Laarman

Even as Mitch McConnell’s last-ditch and putatively face-saving “repeal, then replace” maneuver fails, it’s important…

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(A)theologiesJuly 9, 2017

Drone Warfare, Divine Omniscience, and the Unspeakable Power of the Photographic Image

By Peter Laarman

A review of Sarah Sentilles’ newest book, “Draw Your Weapons.”

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Archive, Politics/LawJuly 2, 2017

American Civil Religion is Dead, Long Live American Civil Religion

By Peter Laarman

Dan Schultz gets it exactly right: Democrats don’t need to learn to speak the language of faith…

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Culture, Peter Laarman, Sexuality/GenderJune 5, 2017

When a Pride March Means Owning the Shame of Racial and Economic Injustice

By Peter Laarman

With its heavily-promoted #ResistMarch, the West Hollywood gay establishment is trying to signal that the usual…

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(A)theologies, Archive, Politics/Law, Remapping American ChristianitiesMay 1, 2017

Elizabeth Warren,  American Evangelist

By Peter Laarman

“Donald Trump has named his most likely challenger in the 2020 presidential election,” the Guardian’s…

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(A)theologies, Archive, OMFG, Peter LaarmanMarch 21, 2017

Storytime with David Brooks: In Which the Liberals’ Favorite Conservative Gets Lost in a Lily-White History

By Peter Laarman

Personal research conducted among my lefty friends shows that for many liberals, reading David Brooks…

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(A)theologies, Archive, Remapping American ChristianitiesMarch 6, 2017

Dutch Treat: Betsy DeVos and the Christian Schools Movement

By Peter Laarman

Perhaps Betsy DeVos can be forgiven for imagining that America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities…

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(A)theologies, Archive, Beyond Belief: Election 2016, Politics/LawFebruary 3, 2017

Are You There God? It’s Me, Donald: A President at Prayer

By Peter Laarman

“You saw those crowds at the inauguration? What a flock, right? You had a great view, I bet, the original Eye in the Sky. Back me up, it was over a billion people. Huge.”

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Culture, Peter Laarman, Politics/Law, RD BlogJanuary 25, 2017

Toward a Richer Ethical Discourse in Trumplandia: A Response to Harper’s “Trump: A Resister’s Guide”

By Peter Laarman

The path to social democracy in the American context runs through American religion, not around it.

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