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Debate Over Mother Earth’s ‘Rights’ Stirs Fears of Pagan Socialism

By Bron Taylor

…ronment, which was first published in the Southern California Law Review in 1972. Indeed, I contend that the recent developments in Ecuador, Bolivia, and within the United Nations are as American as apple pie: they are to some extent in the spirit of a diverse range of American voices that led to the pioneering Endangered Species Act of 1973 signed into law by Richard Nixon. Yet today, those who call themselves conservative are generally hostile…

Constitutional Attorney Changes into Drag During Talk on Cancelation of West Texas A&M Drag Show

By Chrissy Stroop

…ect. The student groups met all the university’s requirements, booked an on-campus venue, and began to advertise the event and sell tickets. Then, 11 days before the drag fundraiser was set to take place, WT President Walter Wendler, who has a record of inserting his right-wing Christian bias into his public roles, unilaterally canceled the performance via a pedantic email. Seidel tells the story of the drag show cancelation at West Texas A&M (cli…

“Even the Rich Suffer”: An Interview with Google’s Jolly Good Fellow Chade-Meng Tan

By Max Zahn

…money, and the meaning of life. –The Eds. Also on The Cubit: Zen and the Art of Zombie Killing Follow The Cubit, RD‘s religion-and-science portal, @TheCubit…

Methodist Clergy Pledge to Defy Church in Blessing LGBT Unions

By Pamela R. Lightsey

…desire to be in lifelong relationships with loving partners? Last week, 70 United Methodist Clergy in Minnesota pledged to defy church polity against performing such ceremonies. This week, as of Thursday, 134 clergy in the Northern Illinois Conference have pledged the same. If they follow through with their pledge, they face the possibility of losing their clergy orders. It should be noted that losing one’s credentials is not simply losing the abi…

Angry Voters, Right-Wing Populism, & Racial Violence: People of Faith Can Help Break the Linkages

By Chip Berlet

…udiences of folks concerned about rising prejudice and bigotry. After April 19, 1995, people began to take Ward more seriously, as bodies were removed from the Oklahoma City Federal Building, collapsed by a truck bomb delivered by a domestic terrorist seeking to shift the right-wing populists into an armed insurrection. Timothy McVeigh failed to achieve his goal, but 168 people died in the process. On January 19, the people of Massachusetts electe…

The Faith-Based Militia: When is Terrorism ‘Christian’?

By Frederick Clarkson

…with how to acknowledge the realities of actual and threatened religiously-motivated violence in the United States. Until now, of course, the elephant in the room has been our double standard, at least since 9/11. We’ve had little difficulty acknowledging religious motivations when Muslims are involved, but it’s been rare to find the word “Christian” modifying terms like “militia” and “terrorism” in mainstream discourse. Faith-Based Terrorism? In…

As Transition Looms, Jewish Studies is Mired in Controversy

By Shaul Magid

…udience was as much the German academy as it was Jews. Whatever the case in 19th-century Germany, Greenberg argues that in late 20th-century America, “the problems of Jewish identity and Jewish survival are bound to emerge and haunt Judaic scholars with great intensity. This is because the crisis of modernization is entering a new level of intensity in the Jewish community…Thus the question of its survival becomes more of a question.” Much of this…

What Netanyahu Learned from Texas

By Sarah Posner

…away, or simply, passively, no longer care. American Jews predicate their support of Israel not only on ethnic solidarity and history, but on the idea that Israel and the United States share common democratic values.” If democratic-minded, anti-theocratic American Jews do walk away, who would be left to support Israel in the U.S., apart from the most ardent right-wing Jewish supporters of Israel? The Christian Zionists who think that America is a…

Who is Mat Staver, Counsel for Anti-Gay Activist Against Suit from Uganda?

By Sarah Posner

…le were appalled,” said one of the students, adding, “especially as lawyers-to-be, who are trained and licensed to practice the law—to disobey that law, that seemed completely counterintuitive to all of us.” Still, some knew what they needed to “regurgitate,” in order to get a good grade. “It was obvious by the substance of the class during the semester the answer that they wanted,” said one of the students. “The majority of people that I am acqua…

Ministries of Presence: A Report from Nepal

By Cathleen Falsani

…ongings as she could, gave the rest away, and lives on Social Security in a 10-by-20-foot low-income housing apartment in Laguna. “I don’t really care about anything. I have my room there and that’s it. I don’t need anything else. I’ve had a good life.” Christine Casey. Photo by Jari Kinnunen. Casey is Roman Catholic but also has an affinity for Buddhism. “I don’t see that there’s any dichotomy there. I have that on my refrigerator—a picture of Th…