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A Pair of Exhibitions Demonstrate How Biases Color the History of Jerusalem

By Gordon Haber

…erusalem 1000-1400” runs until January 8; “Faith and Photography” until February 5. Salzmann runs until until February 5th. A Christian-themed vase with painted enamel agricultural scenes. Two-handed steel swords. A 1274 marble plaque from the tomb of Abu Hurayra, a companion of Muhammed. An Egyptian-made brass pen box inlaid with gold. A page from a 1232 Bible in Samaritan Hebrew. The show opens with images of the famous rooftops of present-day J…

Katy Perry’s Siren Song to Conspiracy Theorists

By Joseph Laycock

…ity. The most vocal critics of “Dark Horse” aren’t establishment conservatives but millennials armed with social media and Illuminati conspiracy theories. By assigning religious significance to the symbols in Perry’s videos, they seek to appropriate some of her celebrity. Whereas formerly pop stars repurposed religious imagery to create art, now consumers can repurpose artistic imagery to create an apocalyptic cosmology….

Hopping on the Meditation Brandwagon: “Heartfulness” Makes Landfall in Los Angeles

By Anita Little

…e of a good inner life that must be experienced to be appreciated.” USC, a world-renowned research university, seems to be an odd choice for the Heartfulness organization to make its West Coast landfall. But as Varun Soni reminded the audience, citing recent Pew statistics, young people are increasingly looking outside of organized religion for spiritual meaning. And it appears the on-campus conference dedicated to the Heartfulness brand of medita…

Facebook Doesn’t Kill Churches, Churches Kill Churches

By Elizabeth Drescher

…ust probably not on the John Paul II Facebook page. The page, which offers videos highlights from the life of John Paul II, has garnered an impressive amount of global traffic. Alas, the fact that more than 13,000 around the world “liked” the page in the first days it was up does not mean that it is enriching or extending relationships. It’s cool to see people offering shout-outs to the late pope in just about every language you can think of, and…

Pro-Gay Marriage Mormon Keeps Faith Despite Church Pressure

By Joanna Brooks

…er people marriage?” Her two-minute video made the website, then the local news in Salt Lake City, and within days an official at LDS Church headquarters placed a concerned phone call to Melanie S.’s local clergy. Three times her bishop met with Melanie to discuss the video. Because she had affiliated with “Mormons for Marriage,” he questioned whether or not Melanie and her husband should be allowed to keep their temple recommends—certificates tha…

Focus on the Family’s Conversation Starter a Non-Starter

By Sarah Posner

…Church officially forbids the use of contraception, even in marriage. The National Association of Evangelicals last year advocated for the use of contraception — but only in marriage. Indeed Planned Parenthood, currently under assault by the anti-choice movement and in the Republican Congress, provides family planning and contraceptive services — not to mention cancer screening and other life-saving services that people concerned about the “sanct…

For Love or Threat: Pro-Life Prayer Includes Names, Photos of Abortion-Rights Advocates

By Alana Massey

…d into humbly, seeking the Holy One’s will and guidance, not assuming we already know what it is.” Campaigns like PLAL’s, with their use of names and photographs, are potential catalysts for harassment according to Reverend Knox. “Creating what looks like a wanted poster, then asking people to pray for those shown, is just hate in love’s clothing.” Eric Scheidler proved himself to be an exceedingly gracious person in our conversation, so it would…

Republican Lauren Boebert Jokes About AR-15s and Jesus — And Yes, She’s a ‘Real’ Christian

By Chrissy Stroop

…s Boebert recently made to a church audience that have circulated in viral videos, prompting many Twitter users to insist that her views fall afoul of “true” Christian beliefs. In the first instance, Boebert told the church crowd at Charis Christian Center in Colorado Springs that she prays Psalm 109:8 for President Joe Biden: “Let his days be few, and let another have his office.” Although at least one journalist claimed to be “shocked” by this b…

Loughner Admired Conspiracy-Minded Zeitgeist Film

By Sarah Posner

…omparative Religion, Central Banking, Financial Reform or the like. In the world today, many are active in these areas and work to resolve them on a per case basis. TZM is not interested in this – its function is to find the ‘source’ of problematic social phenomena and act to resolve it at its core. This is why a completely new social system is expressed in the Movement’s materials. The site attempts to rebut religious critiques of the films: Sadl…

What We Saw in the Eyes of Koko the Talking Gorilla (1971-2018)

By Ed Simon

…be—a chimp and a bonobo. Worthwhile to remember, lest we fall prey to the crudest affirmations of social structures as if they were simply part of the natural world. Therein lies the madness of pretending that lobster serotonin has anything useful to say about gender justice, as Jordan Peterson has alleged. Other animal studies scholars have tried to reaffirm what’s helpful about a certain kinship with animals, perhaps recalling theologian Martin…