Religion Dispatches
…mes Baldwin writes that for blacks, “[American society] is entirely hostile, and, by its nature, seems determined to cut you down …[as it] has cut down so many in the past and cuts down so many every day…The brutality with which Negroes are treated in this country cannot be overstated, however unwilling white men may be to hear it.” This brutality is not incidental but intrinsic to America and its material prosperity. Spiritually speaking, I am—as…
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…was, however, a whole lot of political maneuvering. I am a straight, white, male, evangelical Christian, just like Tony Perkins. Mr. Perkins, you don’t speak for me or a number of conservative evangelicals who are worn out and sickened by the same old battle cry you believe we should join. Many ask today, why should we join one side and fight against the other? Each time it’s the same banal response: For no other reason than that we should just f…
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…us’s Second Coming. Would he come to initiate the start of a new millennium, a 1,000 years of peace and prosperity, or would he come at its conclusion? Fundamentalists and most evangelicals believed that Jesus is going to come back before the millennium. From there they determined that there will be signs or indications that tell us we’re approaching the Second Coming. They believe the Bible had laid out these signs, the sequence of events that wo…
Read More…xious Europeans, isn’t ineffective methods of assimilating new citizens but, rather, decades of “anti-family” permissiveness—contraception, abortion, divorce, population control, women’s liberation and careers, “selfish” secularism, and gay rights—enabling “decadent” white couples to neglect their reproductive duties. Defying the biblical command to “be fruitful and multiply,” Europeans have failed to produce the magic number of 2.1 children per c…
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…n Cryer, Clint Eastwood, Joe Flanigan, Kelsey Grammar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Susan Saint James, Pat Sajak, Gary Sinise, Ben Stein, Connie Stevens, Rip Torn, Janine Turner, and Dick Van Patten have in common?* They all contributed to John McCain’s primary campaign and/or his presidential run. *Notes: Aykroyd also donated to $4,600 to Al Franken’s Minnesota senatorial campaign and in 2000, he supported Al Gore for president; Boone has contributed to…
Read More…t Trump’s primary victories in evangelical-heavy states like South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama, pushed that opposition into overdrive. And it’s also prompted evangelical leaders to mount a defense of their faith by tearing apart what they have called the “myth” of the evangelical Trump voter. It’s understandable why they have done so. Portrayed as hypocrites who’ve abandoned their “values voters” reputation for the luster of the Trum…
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…th, while the Muslim population in North America has increased tremendously, the number of Muslim characters on television has remained negligible. The few that exist are of alien, violent men. Think about it. Can you name a Muslim character on television? Was your answer the terrorists in 24, the terrorists in Sleeper Cell, the torturer for the Iraqi Republican Guard on Lost, villains on professional wrestling, or the black Muslim prison inmates…
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…ederal and state laws that create a distinction based on sexual orientation, sex, and gender identity are subject to a level of interrogation slightly lower than the level granted to laws that create distinctions based on race. Some call it “heightened scrutiny.” In a fiery opinion from 2016, U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves issued a temporary injunction halting Mississippi’s broad anti-LGBT law from going into effect, finding that “It is…
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…with Francis. Instead, his bishops, secretaries, interreligious colleagues, escorts, and welcomers are all men all the time. It may seem churlish to point out this dynamic in light of Francis’ many good works. But it’s a telltale sign of an institution that needs to get its own house in order before its maximum impact can be felt outside. American theologian Ilia Dilio pointed out this dynamic in reference to the recent papal encyclical Fratelli…
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…orstein, consider to be leadership, and how narrow-minded is their view?” I, too, would like to know the answer to this question. Thomas began her organizing work in 2011 because, while data indicated that more and more young African Americans were questioning and disaffiliating from religion, there was a lack of resources available to bring them together and address their needs. Black Nonbelievers, which now has affiliates in seven cities across…
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