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From Shofars to Hammers: The Spiritual Warriors of MAGA are ‘ReAwakening’ to Political Violence

By Mark Clatterbuck

…s of Jericho. According to the book of Joshua, what followed next was a not-so-spiritual bloodbath: “[Then] they devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, sheep and donkeys” (6:21). I wonder if this is the story Tricia Lindsay had in mind when calling God’s army to fight “the uncircumcised Philistines” of modern-day America. At times during the rally, the threats of violence go…

The March for Life: Grassroots Movement or Agitprop?

By Patricia Miller

…for Life President Jeanne Mancini told the Times: I don’t think that these numbers are the most important. The number most important for us is 58 million, which is the number of Americans that have been lost to abortion. But either they have the numbers or they don’t. And if they don’t, maybe the media should take a hard look at how it covers a predictable, lightly attended act of agitprop which claims to represent hundreds of thousands of people…

“Giving Godhead”: A Bloody Vision of Religion’s Deepest Influence

By Spencer Dew

…armed against. War in the name of faith is a recurring theme, as with cell-phone videos of beheadings. Krieger reads such rage within a dichotomy of “fundamentalist repression” and its opposite, freedom. Alhough she prefers the phrase “over-pervy libertinism” as, for her, the dichotomy is spread wide, with ISIS on one end and the antinomian carnival of de Sade’s vacation home at the other. That’s a freedom worth fighting for, she implies, but it…

Recovering From Rejection: The Second Coming of Ted Haggard

By Wendy Norris

…startlingly provocative description of his former compatriots as authority- and rules-fixated Pharisees—a notion that also reinforces his own disquieting personal portrayal of himself as a modern-day apostle, a notion no doubt borrowed in part from New Apostolic teachings. From Master of the Universe to Castaway While the fundamentalist helm comes unglued over the prospect of a new Haggard ministry (and a new book deal he’s currently negotiating)…

“You’ve Never Met a Muslim”

By Hussein Rashid

…e answer’s no, that’s not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president?…This is not the way we should be doing it in America. As he spoke, I sat on my sofa with tears streaming down my face. When I was seven I did firmly believe that if I wanted to, I could be President of the United States. And I am certain that thousands of seven-year-old Muslim-American children acros…

Trayvon Martin and American Exceptionalism

By Anthea Butler

…even have the courtesy to check Trayvon’s phone for his mom and dad’s telephone numbers because it’s just a black criminal’s body to them. While Zimmerman the trigger man slept in his bed, the police ordered a drug and alcohol test for Trayvon’s lifeless body. A black body that was representative of evil against the whiteness of George Zimmerman. I hesitated to write about this story, because there are many good stories about Trayvon and his pare…

After Mumbai: Winning the Global War on Terror

By Mark Woodward

…y al-Qaeda and South Asian Muslim militant organizations, including Laskkar-e-Taiba, as the most commonly mentioned. The Indian press has also blamed national and local security forces for not preventing the attacks, or responding quickly and effectively enough. A previously unknown group calling itself the “Deccan Mujahedeen” sent e-mails to Indian media claiming responsibility and explaining that their goal was to “Indianize” the war against Ame…

Swiss Priest Sacked for Blessing Lesbian Couple; Mormon Equality Advocate Excommunicated; Pope-Backed Anti-Gay Referendum Fails; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…ne, I’d be signing something like this? Isn’t it wonderful?” Slovakia: Pope-Backed Anti-Gay Referendum Fails on Low Turnout We reported last week that Pope Francis had given verbal support to proponents of an anti-gay referendum in Slovakia that was held last Saturday. The referendum failed due to low voter turnout, which at 21.4% was well below the 50 percent required to make the referendum binding. More from GLAAD: To take advantage of the 50% r…

Yes, It’s Worse To Be Gay in Russia

By Chrissy Stroop

…ls have already been arrested and deported for violating Russia’s ban on so-called “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations,” and all eyes will be on Sochi as we wonder if any similar incidents will occur there. These days, I teach interdisciplinary humanities and intellectual history courses at a Russian university, and I still push the envelope a bit. Last spring, I facilitated a heated debate about Pussy Riot in my Religion and Society c…

The Sacred and the Dead: Operator, Can You Help Me?

By Maren Haynes

…stairs, like Harry Potter. And so many others. For a few years in my early-to-mid-20s, I lived vividly amongst these eclectic, eccentric souls, each for his or her own brief but glorious chapter of our lives. We forged our connections around a table, playing games of Scrabble and cards, or listening to mix CDs, or spending nights under a canopy of stars. Transcendence came in conversations that lasted for hours—sometimes days— and meandered throu…