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The Book of Mormon, Dark Skin, and Racist Theology

By Joanna Brooks

…in to accursedness remain in the Book of Mormon itself. Which is entirely true. Look deep into the Book of Mormon, even the newly-updated on-line version, and you will still find verses like Alma 3:6 reporting that “the skins of the Lamanites were dark, according to the mark that was set upon their fathers, which was a curse upon them because of their transgression.” Pick any Mormon wardhouse, sit in the pews for a year of Sundays, and you’ll nev…

Pope Benedict’s Blind Spot on Holocaust

By Kevin P Spicer

…Way, an organization founded to “promote tolerance between religions,” and run by Gary Krupp, a retired medical equipment dealer* determined to have Pius XII canonized. Dr. Michael Hesemann, an independent historian from Germany who previously produced several works on UFOs, is one of the organization’s primary researchers. Back in July Hesemann claimed that he had uncovered a document proving that Eugenio Pacelli, as Papal Secretary of State, enc…

Hajj Journal: Using the Toilet at the Grand Mosque

By Amina Wadud

…these elements all combine to make this a place of complete wetness. I’m trusting that it was mostly just water, but I erred here when I chose to bring my purse with my iPad, camera, and money and to leave my water bottle, shoes, and prayer rug as markers to my Iranian neighbors that I was returning. As it was, I did still find my space had been invaded a bit, mostly by the sleeping husband of the woman next to me, with whom I initially wanted to…

Hajj Journal:
This Cultural Hajj

By Amina Wadud

…s.” Unfortunately, I took this literally and proceeded with only my prayer rug to this spot. Imagine my surprise when people loaded off buses with sleeping bags (the MOST prudent thing to have), king-size pillows, and other makeshift ways to spend the night in minimal discomfort. Actually when the option of was given to take a late night bus back to Mina for women and the disabled, I definitely decided I would take it. I mean, the previous night a…

Can Atheists Simply Ignore Theology?

By Eric Reitan

…learned treatises on the beauty of the Emperor’s raiment, and every major newspaper runs a section dedicated to imperial fashion… Dawkins arrogantly ignores all these deep philosophical ponderings to crudely accuse the Emperor of nudity. It goes on, but that is enough to capture its flavor. Since Myers first published it, this bit of satire has been invoked widely by atheists who want to quickly dismiss those who think atheist critics of religion…

What the Danish Cartoon Controversy Tells Us About Religion, the Secular, and the Limits of the Law

By Winnifred Fallers Sullivan

…that individual belief is understood in Muslim law to be fundamentally inscrutable and that its coercion is always thought to be inappropriate. What is of concern to Islamic law, he says, is “seduction” or the disruption of a living relationship. “What matters, finally, is belonging to a particular way of life in which the person does not own himself.” Saba Mahmood’s essay takes up several other difficulties with the conventional account of the ca…

Debating God: Atheist and Evangelical Face Off at Notre Dame

By Nathan Schneider

…cards. But I especially anticipated this one. Never before had these two crusaders faced each other. All the better that it was happening at a flagship Catholic school, lately accustomed to being a flashpoint in the culture wars. Weeks in advance, the campus lit up with controversy. Neither debater was Catholic, some complained, so the religion of Notre Dame and most of its students wouldn’t have anyone to root for. Others felt that the very idea…

Romania’s “Witch Tax”: Magic Meets Bureaucracy

By Joseph Laycock

…enter the EU. British newspapers reported that more witches were learning English and raised concerns that disgruntled witches would flee Romania and set up shop in western EU nations. Andrei Chiliman, mayor of the First District in the capital of Bucharest, called for taxing witches. He also demanded greater resources to prosecute witches with fraud. He remarked, “If money from witchcraft can buy the kind of houses they have, it means witches m…

Philadelphia Man Blames Bible for Stoning Death

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…ayers was to put an end to the victim’s life. John Thomas stated that he struck the victim approximately 10 times in the head. After the final blow, John Thomas made sure the victim was dead.” But the full story reveals that Thomas’ “the Bible made me do it” excuse may just be that. Thomas had another, far older, motive for the killing: money. He was the sole heir to Seidman’s estate. Yet Thomas’ excuse that the Bible supposedly sanctioned his hor…

Red Riding Hood Arouses Man’s Inner (Were)Wolf

By Louis A. Ruprecht

…randmother’s flesh and drink her blood by the big, bad wolf (shades of the rumored accusations against Jews and Lutherans there). Later still, the wolf would become a more sympathetic character, as in the 1966 classic by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, “Li’l Red Riding Hood,” a song that described a red-clad girl looking so good—eyes, lips, and heart—that she is “everything a big bad wolf could want.” So the spooky fairy tale has now transformed in…