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Jonestown at 40: The Real Conspiracy Is More Disturbing Than the Theories

By Rebecca Moore

…writes in A Culture of Conspiracy, the conspiracy theorist’s view is both frightening and reassuring. It’s frightening because it magnifies the power of evil …. At the same time, however, it’s reassuring, for it promises a world that’s meaningful rather than arbitrary. Thus, it’s more comforting to believe that nefarious outside forces murdered everyone than to accept the concrete evidence that insiders were responsible for what happened. Hateful…

The Plot to Turn the Synod into a “Plot”

By Patricia Miller

…nod is to take up. The Supreme Pontiff may, if he so chooses, increase the number of members of the Synod of Bishops by adding bishops, or religious to represent the religious institutes, or clerics who are experts, to the extent of fifteen percent of the total number of the members mentioned in articles V and VIII. Despite this, Douthat assures us that “as a Catholic,” he expects “the plot to ultimately fail; where the pope and the historic faith…

Satanic or Silly: Does Yale Press Censorship of Cartoons Insult Muslims?

By Daniel Martin Varisco

…at led to a boycott of Danish products, attacks on Danish embassies, and a number of deaths. Last month in the New York Times, however, Reza Aslan countered that the controversy over the cartoons has died out and that in any case, there never was any violence over them in the United States. I agree with Aslan that the novelty of the cartoon depictions, which were intended to irritate Muslims, has worn thin by now—the Saudis, to take just one examp…

As Gaza Burns, Jews Disagree, Protest & Pray

By Sam Kestenbaum

…ssiles Hamas has fired (2,270)—some reaching as far north as Jerusalem—the number of Hamas’ smuggling tunnels uncovered (31), the number of Israeli soldiers killed in action (29). These numbers will likely change every hour. In the weeks leading up to the Israeli invasion of Gaza and now as increasingly grisly accounts and bloody images emerge of Palestinian homes and hospitals blown apart, American Jews are conflicted—alternately protesting again…

Data-Mining Denominations: Same-Sex Marriage Edition

By Daniel Schultz

…people are by intensity, measured with the simple hack of subtracting the number of people Strongly Opposed to same-sex marriage from the number Strongly In Favor. Not surprisingly, since the Unitarian-Universalists only had 6 percent opposed, their position on the chart hardly budged at all. Other groups traveled a little more. Mainline Baptists, for example, strongly disapprove just a little more than they strongly approve. Evangelical Baptists…

5 Reasons You Shouldn’t Overthink the New Pew Data’s Impact on Politics

By Sarah Posner

…(down eight percent in seven years, to 70.6 percent), and the rise in the number of Americans identifying as atheist, agnostic, and otherwise religiously unaffiliated (up six points in seven years, to 22.8 percent). Greg Smith, Associate Director of Research at the Pew Research Center, called the pace of the continued growth of the religiously unaffiliated “really remarkable.” The number of Americans identifying with no religion grew by 19 millio…

Speaking for Hinduism in the Absence of a Conversation

By Murali Balaji

…ent the growth of any discipline. HAF’s objections were not over Doniger’s right to interpret Hinduism, but rather Doniger’s assertion that she has a right to interpret Hinduism any way she wants to and in the absence of vetted discourse. Additionally, Doniger claims to speak for Hinduism when in fact her interpretations diverge from lay historical accounts, lived experiences (including of the Dalits and women she claims to speak for), and years o…

Pope’s US Visit Provokes Intense Attention; New Vatican Book on Man-Woman Complementarity & New Int’l Report on Christian Role Models for LGBT Equality; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…-sex marriage goes against their beliefs. Christian May, chairman of equal rights campaign group Liberate, said: “We’re not trying to erode marriage in any way, we’re trying to bolster it by offering it to all people who are in love.” Islamic State: Another 10 people reportedly executed on sodomy charges Human rights watchdogs reported this week that militants with the self-declared Islamic State killed another nine men and a boy in Syria “after a…

Gambian Prez Rails Against Gay ‘Evil Empire’; Irish Priest Comes Out During Mass; Trans Talk on Tunisian TV Sparks Debate; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…Premier, aim to host a series of debates, opening up a dialogue about LGBT rights in the Cayman Islands,” reports Pink News. “The debates will come in the form of a number of free public lectures.” Despite the Cayman Islands being a British Overseas Territory, meaning residents in many ways are treated as British, including passports, access to the UK and EU, the territory does not have many of the protections for LGBT people. Some issues faced by…

Republicans “Evangelizing” Catholic Voters

By Patricia Miller

…gious liberty.” No doubt he will seek to up his game with Evangelicals and right-leaning Catholics over the next few months. The irony is that Bush, an Episcopalian convert to Catholicism, is in many ways the most traditional Catholic of the sizeable number of Catholics jostling for the GOP nod. Bobby Jindal has labeled himself a “Catholic Evangelical” and even hosted “The Response,” a prayer extravaganza that amounts to a full-out paean to Christ…