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Do Atheists Belong in the Interfaith Movement?

By Chris Stedman

…ther it is engaging Christians around my negative experiences as a former evangelical and a queer person, or challenging my religious peers to rationally explain their beliefs, I’ve found interfaith work to not only be a fruitful place for such conversations, but the ideal forum for it. I can fondly recall any number of incidents where I argued theology and philosophy with a religious colleague while doing interfaith work; and how, later, they tol…

American Jewish Leaders Get Gaza Wrong

By Sarah Posner

…irthright offers young American Jews a Disney-fied Israel experience that evades the harsh realities of Palestinian life in the West Bank.” What does the attachment mean, exactly, even for kids who haven’t gone on Birthright? Are they attached to Israel the idea, or Israel the reality, occupation and all? The Reform Movement is trying very hard to attract and retain young people in its synagogues, but its teachings on Jewish values don’t mesh with…

Death Without Religion

By Gordon Haber

…ble assertion to make in such a tendentious book. Perhaps there is a small number of Americans losing their lives at the hands of hasty harvesters; even a very small number would be too high. But I had a hard time summoning any outrage. In the end I learned much more from Kagan—ironically because his aims are in a way more modest. He wants to convince you of his physicalist stance; however, he doesn’t want to tell you how to reconcile with death….

As Tensions Escalate in the Balkans, the West Could Hand Putin a Valuable Weapon

By Katherine Kelaidis

…de against Albanian Kosovars in the late 1990s. The fact is, a significant number of Serbs, and even a large number of others from traditionally Orthodox backgrounds, continue to harbor a great deal of anger about Western intervention in the Kosovo War, which they see as a failure by the West to comprehend the historical role-reversal that’s taken place, including the persecution of Orthodox Christians by Albanians and other majority-Muslim ethnic…

Good News: Religious Outreach Works On Vaccine Hesitancy. Bad News: We Need It.

By Daniel Schultz

…ng to PRRI, more than 4 in 10 Americans are hesitant or opposed to getting vaccinated. That number could and should be much lower, but we seem to have lost our collective way. Over 500,000 dead, and America can’t even agree on the simplest proposition: getting your shot is good for you, and good for the people around you. Full disclosure: I currently work for as a contractor for the Wisconsin Council of Churches on a project to help churches lower…

The Religious Right and the Tea Party on “Education Choice”

By Julie Ingersoll

…ithin conservative circles over whether or not shifting public funds to private or quasi-private institutions is the best strategy for eventual elimination of what is seen as a government usurpation of a family responsibility. Indeed citing the Times article, Gary North recently wrote about a tea party-sponsored school voucher plan as an issue that might even split the tea party: “The idea is being challenged by libertarian Tea Party members… That…

A Peek Inside the ‘Onion’ of Scientology

By Kristin Rawls

…very separate in many ways. Would it be fair to compare their process to evangelical Christian ex-gay therapy? Philosophically speaking, Scientologists, like some evangelical Christians, believe you can be cured of being gay—or at least the gay people I have met who were members of Scientology say that was what they believed and were told when they joined. However, in terms of the techniques, they don’t have a special ex-gay therapy, they just d…

Evangelical Pastor Argues for Full LGBT Inclusion: “I Think It’s Inevitable”

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…sion of evangelicalism which will be inclusive of LGBT people. There are a number of evangelicals that are very open to this and are having the same experience I had of actually knowing gay and lesbian people, so I think it’s inevitable. I think there will be a sector of evangelicalism that will go past mainline protestant denominations, which have more institutional restraints. The more autonomous congregations will outpace them in acceptance. Th…

‘It’s a Gay Problem,’ and Other Myths From the Catholic Church’s Sexual Abuse Crisis

By Joelle Casteix

…d sexual abuse and cover-up flourished in the Catholic Church during conservative papacies, just as it is continuing now. I’ve worked with victims pre-and post-Vatican II and their stories are similar. The cover-up has nothing to do with politics. It’s about saving face, protecting priestly friends, and saving the Church from scandal. The political leanings of the pope or the predator have nothing to do with it. As John Gehring recently noted on R…

Exclusive: Religious Leaders for Immigration Equality for Gay and Lesbian Couples

By Sarah Posner

…year, the support of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and various evangelical groups for immigration reform (without UAFA) did not move a single Republican in favor of reform. The failure of evangelicals to alter the outcome of either Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal (which they opposed) or the passage of the DREAM Act (which failed despite evangelical support) at the end of the last Congressional session demonstrates that their influe…