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Google’s Benevolent Interfaith Big Tent

By Lucia Hulsether

…l village. This is the subtext for advertising campaigns that advance a not-so-subtle message that conspicuous consumption initiates subjects into an avant-garde multicultural global public. In a context in which belonging is forged through participation in free markets, the shape of religious practice may also change. For example, Kathryn Lofton has described secularism as a “kaleidoscopic buffet” in which spiritual seekers choose their religious…

How Muslim Civic Activism Helped Pass California’s Prop 47

By Nick Street

…ed the attention of “some of his friends on the left.” Another story-behind-the-story is the galvanizing effect that Prop 47 had on California’s diverse Muslim communities, many of which had previously been divided politically along ethnic lines. Felicitas Galedary, president of the Los Angeles-based Latino Muslim Association of America (LALMA), described her organization’s efforts in support of Prop 47 as a “tiny step” out of its tightly drawn ci…

Spiritual McCarthyism and the Catholic Vote

By Bill Berkowitz

…ral population,” Religion News Service’s Jeff Diamant pointed out in a post-November 2006 election analysis. “And for the last quarter-century, conservative Catholics and white evangelicals have increasingly voted Republican, making opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage their top political issues.” In the 2000 presidential election, Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore won a small majority of Catholic voters over George W. Bush. Four y…

The Pope in My Pocket; We Are All Dilettantes Now

By Michael A. Elliott

…ic and Hebrew. The iBlessing and Parveometer apps, meanwhile, can help an iPhone-wielding Jew keep kosher. This is just the beginning: iMenorah allows you to light virtual candles; iPrayers allows you to select from sixteen different categories (joy, thankfulness, etc.), and display an appropriate Bible verse; while iChing Divination delivers a technological version of that ancient Chinese practice. There are also a variety of apps to aid in medit…

Gay Marriage Supporters Rally People of Faith for Washington’s November Vote

By Nicole Neroulias

…m not throwing a bouquet,” he said, with a chuckle. His fiancée, an Episcopal vicar, made an “It Gets Better” video: But will it? If Referendum 74 passes, their state will become the first to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote. Washington United for Marriage has phone banks scheduled until November, with at least four more dedicated “people of faith” nights to make their case….

Behind a Recent Stunt in Idaho Lies a Dangerous Theocratic Movement

By Chrissy Stroop

…is “American Redoubt” just happens to overlap quite neatly with the decades-old neo-nazi separatist project known as the “Northwest Territorial Imperative.”) Not coincidentally, at the June 23 session, Scott stated, “I truly believe a civil war is coming if we do not put an end to what we are seeing.” Meanwhile, Rawles, a former U.S. Army intelligence officer, has clearly inspired many people to move to the Western enclave he and his fellow travel…

Exclusive: Columnist Jonathan Merritt on his Sudden Departure From Religion News Service

By Kaya Oakes

…“irreconcilable differences” between Merritt, Gallagher and interim editor-in-chief G. Jeffrey MacDonald, a UCC minister and religion writer whose RNS bio indicates that he has no previous experience as an editor. While Merritt had initially indicated in his statement that he wasn’t interested in making the details of his departure public, he says that became all but impossible when MacDonald posted an account on the closed, but widely read, Reli…

Our Lady of Good Hope and Excellent Behavior: Why this Apparition and Why Now?

By Lisa Bitel

…uns was at an all-time low even before the recent sexual scandals, and the number of self-identified Catholics world-wide keeps declining. Many of those who remain in the Church ignore standard doctrines and believe what they want. How many Catholics disobey Church rules? About as many as the angels dancing on a pinhead. Believers know that Jesus promised that they would see God face to face. But continuing revelation has always presented a direct…

Hajj Journal: M & M

By Amina Wadud

…Madinah, Muzdalifah, and Mina. But besides that, I’ll give some of the day-by-day expectations, and experiences. Hopefully, the place names themselves will get sorted out. This is hajj. Some people, including locals who live in Saudi, come here only for these days; so whatever madness of number is simply multiplied. Okay, so on Sunday night, Mr. Mansour said, we should sleep in ihram. I first took this to mean, sleep in my day clothes, but actual…

Grasping At Straws: The Problem with Common Ground on Abortion

By Frances Kissling

…ehind the words, it becomes apparent that we are dealing with classic smoke-and-mirrors politics. In reality, the abortion-reduction position favored by the authors of the Plain Dealer piece is shared by only a small percentage of progressive faith leaders. The constituency includes evangelicals and Catholics whose only area of disagreement is how illegal abortion should be. Both authors come from Catholic groups that have no position on pregnancy…