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NOM Claims Victimhood for the Holidays

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…ir intolerance of me. For those family members, ignoring them is often the best thing to do. Leave the room when they start in on you. (I told my therapist I thought this was rude, but she reminded me that if I told a family member that I didn’t want to have this conversation and they persisted, it was really the obnoxious family member who was rude and I had every right to walk away after that.) Perhaps the best thing to do this holiday season—if…

Tucson, Like All Tragedy, is for Adults

By Louis A. Ruprecht

…District Court Judge John Roll was 63; why not imagine him as the arbiter best suited to give voice to the political meaning of Tucson? Dorothy “Dot” Morris was 76; so was Dorwin Stoddard. Phyllis Scheck was 79. Bill Badger, the man who first wrestled Jared Lee Loughner to the ground even after he had been shot himself, was 74. Even Gifford’s assistant, Gabriel “Gabe” Zimmermann, was 30. This was not a young crowd. But Christina Taylor Green was…

First Congregational UCC, Ripon Wisconsin

Cheese State Reality Check: On The Wisconsin Idea and the Social Gospel

By Daniel Schultz

…it’s anybody’s guess how it all plays out. This, it should be said, is the best case scenario. The worst case is that already-common perception that “religious liberalism” is an oxymoron continues to spread and any kind of politics rooted in faith is pushed to the margins. We’re already at a point where religious symbolism fails to capture the imagination of the broader world of committed citizens. Pink pussy hats, for all their flash-in-the-pan-n…

Forgiving LeBron, Fetal Jesus Sonogram, and Hummus Wars

By Michael J. Altman

The best part of Christmas is the advertising. I don’t mean the Coca Cola commercials with Santa and polar bears. I mean stuff like a sonogram of fetal Jesus complete with halo and a tag line reminding us “He’s on His way.” I also always enjoy a good Christmas billboard duel. This season do we celebrate Reason or Jesus? And are those are only choices? Maybe we should settle on the friendlier “Reason’s Greetings.” The only thing I like as much as…

8 Great Hanukkah Clips from TV

By Michael J. Altman

…Southpark’s Mr. Hankey sings a Hanukkah song: Night 6- The Holiday Armadillo brings Hanukkah to Friends: Night 7- Hanukkah Harry saves Easter on Saturday Night Live: Night 8- The Daily Show with Jon Stewart offers its best Hanukah moments: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c Exclusive – Best Hanukkah Moments Mash-up www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor The Daily Show on Facebook …

Patriotism and Piety—Not For Conservatives Only

By Ira Chernus

…aring. But it’s lousy strategy. If you want to win, you’ve got to have the best possible intelligence about what the other side is up to. Hierarchy, Loyalty, Sanctity If you listen to most conservatives, you’ll hear them saying one thing over and over: Let’s go to a religious worship service. For decades now, there’s been a clear statistical correlation: the more often you attend those services, the more likely you are to vote Republican. It’s an…

“My Scientology Movie” Pokes the Hornet’s Nest

By Gordon Haber

…mentary was shot in Los Angeles, they have no problem finding young actors looking for parts. What’s interesting is that the auditions do indeed provide a glimpse into the cynical overlap between show business and Scientology. “The practices of Scientology are like acting class techniques,” Rathbun says. “You’re learning a new role in life.” Another moving presence is Jeff Hawkins, a former marketing executive for the church. The most emotionally…

Quantum Theology: Our Spooky Interconnectedness

By Beatrice Marovich

…dark cloud, which is this basic contradiction. So a lot of physicists are looking for the coincidentia oppositorum between these not entirely reconciled sets of laws. But the contradiction itself isn’t something that I, as a theologian, am looking to solve. I’m more interested in a phenomenon that comes out of this cloud, out of what Einstein called “spooky action at a distance”—quantum entanglement. In classical physics, nothing can happen faste…

Doubting Ourselves Through the AZ Shooting

By Julie Ingersoll

…at that’s what people on “my side” do too. To make it worse, even when the best of our leaders assert that “both sides do it and it needs to stop,” our media culture is so divided that most of us couldn’t come up with examples of our own side “doing it.” I find appalling the way that Sarah Palin talks about “re-loading” in the face of criticism and even more so the target map circulated by her PAC that received so much coverage this past weekend d…

LDS Church Praised for “Good Sense and Sanity” on Immigration Policy

By Joanna Brooks

…them. Public officials should create and administer laws that reflect the best of our aspirations as a just and caring society. Such laws will properly balance love for neighbors, family cohesion, and the observance of just and enforceable laws. Imagine, just imagine, a parallel approach to same-sex marriage: As a worldwide church dealing with many complex issues across the globe, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints promotes broad, fo…