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Response: What Black Prophetic Politics?

By Jonathan L. Walton

…eed been what Adolph Reed refers to as a “mythology of the church in Afro- American Politics.” The vast majority of African American elected officials in this country extend from occupational backgrounds other than ministry. And most only appeal to the real progressive wing of the black church when politically expedient. Which tends to be, by the way, err, um, NEVER! (Let’s be clear, the Civil Rights Movement has become a socially acceptable Ameri…

How Mormonism Built Glenn Beck

By Joanna Brooks

…onism’s lay priesthood at age 12, intensifies during compulsory missionary service from age 19 through 21, and continues throughout a lifetime of service within hierarchical priesthood quorums. A textbook example of the traditional Mormon “man of steel and velvet” is Mitt Romney, whose inability to connect with the Republican base may have as much to do with his lack of familiar jocularity and chest-thumping outrage as it does with the perceived w…

New Book Reveals How Faith is Like a Covert Operation for the Bush Family

By Frederick Clarkson

…rns, “have replaced the citizens of Communist countries as a key target of American elites. They seek to win hearts and minds of devout Christians through quasi-intelligence techniques.” Revelations Cont’d: CIA & Watergate: In a related point, Baker notes that Nixon suspected the CIA of infiltrating his White House staff. Nixon recognized the Watergate burglars from his own days supervising covert operations as vice president in the Eisenhower adm…

Goliath the Israel Slayer: Why Max Blumenthal’s New Book is a Painful Read

By Shaul Magid

…y service, were subject to KGB-like abuse by the Shin Bet, Israel’s secret service. Most Israelis know all this. Most American Jews do not, even though a film like The Gatekeepers has been around for almost two years. But Blumenthal’s medium, a combination of myopic perspective, selective focus, and a limited understanding of context and history subverts a valuable opportunity to present another side of this ugliness, a side that American Jews and…

Openly Gay Mormon Appointed to LDS Church Leadership Position

By Joanna Brooks

…o reaching out to the many LGBT Mormons who live within his congregation’s service area. “We have so many people on the Church records who are inactive, whose families are still members. Many of them served honorably as Mormon missionaries. Many identify as LGBT. I want them to understand that like me they do have a home here,” Mayne says. “As an openly gay priesthood leader, I hope my example also shows that not only do they have a home here but…

The Curious Case of Mormons and LGBT Rights

By Alan Michael Williams

…ment, enter temples and are usually not allowed to hold church “callings” (service responsibilities). The reality is, the situation is very uneven. One can still find new accounts online of those disciplined for merely “coming out.” Conversely, I have a friend in Seattle who was called to the stake Sunday school presidency even though his stake president knows that he dates men. Negotiated cases like his are the result of a local service need for…

Defending the Helpless: New Bible Highlights Poverty and Justice

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…it’s a verse from the Bible, Proverbs 31:8-9 to be exact. The poll is in service to the American Bible Society’s latest vanity Bible — the Poverty and Justice Bible that features a cover depicting breaking chains. On the inside you’ll find more than 2,000 verses that deal with issues of poverty and justice bolded by a bright orange highlight. “The Poverty and Justice Bible seeks to challenge the notion that the Bible is outdated and proves that…

RDBook: The Lost Scopes Archive

By Arri Eisen

…rollers’ in action to Model T-lined Dayton streets) and notes from Science Service reporters Davis and Frank Thone (which she uncovered in the Smithsonian archives) and lets them do the talking. Refreshingly, there is no intellectual prattling and wandering here; the book’s about the people, the moment, the context. LaFollette and the Science Service notes and pictures tell the story from the perspective of these two men on the scene who eventuall…

The “Nones” Are Here… And Have Been for Over 100 Years

By Emily Mace

…ter of fact, actually do you?” Wouldn’t it be better to attend any kind of service—even one as secular as theirs—to increase the chances of having that kind of uplift? Adler’s implied question raises a point still relevant to unaffiliated Americans of today: does a life without religious institutions offer the same benefits as one lived in the context of a religious tradition? Another Ethical Culture leader, Percival Chubb of the Ethical Society o…

Black Women and the Sacred: With “Lemonade,” Beyoncé Takes Us to Church

By Yolanda Pierce

…rship. It celebrates beauty and resiliency, as any good, uplifting worship service in the African-American Christian tradition should do. But the visual album doesn’t shy away from the trials and pains experienced by those women who may not get a chance to speak or to lead on Sunday morning, but who testify about their lives on a Wednesday or Friday night. To understand “Lemonade” is to understand the contrasting realities under which black Christ…