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Rick Warren Busts a Gut Over Cultural Revolution

By Rob Shryock

…while the disciples were undoubtedly giggling! Warren, possibly America’s most influential evangelical, clearly views his sense of humor as a crucial part of his pastor persona (his defensiveness even echoes comedian Daniel Tosh’s in the wake of an incredibly insensitive rape “joke” last year). At any rate, Warren, who is on the cusp of opening an international branch of Saddleback Church in Hong Kong (as well as one in Berlin and one in Buenos A…

Growing Up Gay in 666: Fred Phelps in Retrospect

By Scott Blaine Swenson

…n again, I spent most of those 18 formative years hiding from Topeka’s foremo*]}*st biblical authority, the infamous anti-gay funeral picketer, Reverend Fred Phelps. As a child I had a secret buried deep within and was convinced if what Rev. Phelps said was true—that “God Hates Fags”—then I must be the Antichrist. The fact that the US Postal Service assigned “666” as Topeka’s zip code prefix the year I was born underscored my destiny as ultimate evil;…

“That Guy In Rome”: A Catholic Town in Idaho Where The Pope is a Heretic

By Jason Wilson

…cs every year are moving here to be a part of a form of Catholic life that most of the Church left behind half a century ago.” Along just 35 miles of U.S. Highway 90, between Spokane and the well-kept, lakeside tourist town of Coeur d’Alene, there are more than 3,000 people attending Latin Mass each week. Among them we can see the full spectrum of lasting reactions to the modernizing reforms of Vatican II, including the new Mass. Father Gordon and…

Spinning Ft. Hood

By Hussein Rashid

…professionals “describe crushing schedules with 10 or more patients a day, most struggling with devastating trauma or mutilated bodies that are the product of war and the highly advanced care that kept them alive.” Islam Responsible? Even with all this background information readily available and a call from Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) “that we take the time to gather all the facts, as it would be irresponsible to be the source of rumors or inaccurate…

Response to Daniel Philpott: the Politics of Religious Freedom

By Elizabeth Shakman Hurd

…RD essay—that religious freedom is a singular achievement, an easily understood state of affairs, and that the problem lies in its incomplete realization. Our collaborative project has sought to understand the different conceptions of religious freedom at play in the world today, their different social and political contexts, and their varied histories. Neither my work nor our project takes a position for or against religious freedom. To assume t…

Mormon Tabernacle Choir Will Usher In the Trump Era

By Benjamin E. Park

…uitting in protest) the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ famed Mormon Tabernacle Choir will perform at Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration today. And its performance couldn’t be more prominently placed, “sandwiched,” as a headline in Deseret News announced this week, between Pence’s oath and those of the new president. But there were moments in the last year when it seemed the Mormon community might take a stand against Trump’s pr…

Old Sins Cast Long Shadows: America’s Enduring Fascination with the Ten Commandments

By Jenna Weissman Joselit

…in the United States of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. What’s the most important take-home message for readers? What a country! The stalwart, enduring presence of the Ten Commandments—and within every nook and cranny of American daily life—is something to behold and interpret. So, too, is the porousness of the divide between religious and cultural expression and, most especially, the vitality and interpretive utility of things. Is there a…

What’s So Troubling About Funding a Playground? How Trinity Lutheran Undermines the First Amendment

By Elizabeth Reiner Platt

…olicy imposes a penalty on the free exercise of religion that triggers the most exacting scrutiny.” The Court further held that Missouri’s stated reason for the policy—to avoid potential Establishment Clause violations—was insufficient. The Court’s opinion stands in stark opposition to earlier religious funding decisions, and especially its 2004 opinion in Locke v. Davey. In Locke, the Court upheld a state scholarship program that prohibited recip…

Boo! Trump’s Lead With Religious Voters Not As Bigly As You Might Think

By Daniel Schultz

…he Barna definition of “evangelical” is fairly restrictive, more like what most of us would call “fundamentalists.” Among the broader “born-again” segment, Trump still leads by eighteen points, 49-31. But then there’s this: Like her GOP opponent, Clinton claims the allegiance of several faith segments. Among them are notional Christians (i.e., people who consider themselves to be Christian but are not born again – the largest of the three Christia…

Trump with back to camera stands before a frenzied crowd with raised fist.

With ‘Vermin’ Remark Trump Crosses Fully into Nazi Territory

By Robert P. Jones

…the sheer volume has made us, collectively, comfortably numb. But Trump’s most recent comments should jar us back to our senses. They signal something new, even for Trump—that he has now fully embraced the rhetoric and strategies of the Nazis. If we care about democracy and the safety of all of our neighbors and fellow citizens, we can’t dismiss these comments as typical bluster or with a wave of the hand because “Trump is just being Trump.” Here…