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Religion or Ethics at the Supreme Court?

…“Hypothetically speaking, how would you weigh the competing interests in a class-action lawsuit seeking an injunction against all future offshore oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico?”* To which the answer would be, “I don’t want to comment on any potential litigation that may come before me,” because our political process is stupid and nominees have to tap dance around what they actually believe lest somebody place an anonymous hold on them for pla…

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Glenn Beck’s ‘Social Justice’ Heresies

…using his anti-government heresies to produce a false, ahistorical civics class that distorts his viewers’ understanding of the role of government in serving the needs of its citizens. Beck is our 21st century red-baiter, our go-to guy to tar any government services as “socialism.” Beck didn’t invent this, and he certainly won’t be the last demagogue to pollute our airwaves. But as the Republican Party and the conservative movement have fallen of…

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Persecution of Ugandan Bishop Continues In United States

…RD’s Walton vows to continue the fight to keep gays and lesbians as second-class, and perhaps even dead, citizens: ”These same liberal Episcopalians and other U.S. religionists are often indifferent to international religious persecution, even when churches around the world are under attack. For them, seemingly sexual freedom is more important than religious freedom.” No, the freedom for all people to be treated with dignity and respect, regardles…

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The Heresies of Christopher Hitchens

…or example, the Baha’i and the Copts of Egypt, who are relegated to second-class status; the Ahmadiyya Community, a large Muslim minority victimized by Pakistan’s blasphemy laws; or revisionist legal scholars like Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, author of Islam and the Secular State. Their advocacy for equal treatment of the heterodox, if it succeeds, will improve the lot of unbelievers in the Muslim-majority countries, yet its animating, organizing pri…

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Who’s Afraid of Sacred Soccer?

…tualized—New Agers with crystals, meditation retreats for the professional class. Instead, both old and new media have lit up the religious landscape, illuminating what is still an unconventional, and nebulous, but certainly increasingly capacious, understanding of the sacred in everyday life. Rock and roll can be religious, according to The Hold Steady; a recent Los Angeles Times article explores how celebrity doctors blur the lines between faith…

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Does the Bible Really Call Homosexuality an “Abomination”?

…s, and Jebusites. So, toevah is serious, but it is serious as a particular class of cultic offense: a transgression of national boundary. It is certainly not “abomination.” Toevah is used four times in Leviticus 18—once to refer to male homosexual acts, and then three times as an umbrella term. As in Deuteronomy, the signal feature of toevot is that the other nations of the Land of Israel do them: “You shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgm…

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Obama Recognizes Gay Dads

…atement this past weekend in recognition of Father’s Day, he mentioned one class of fathers that no other president before him has acknowledged: gay dads. Nurturing families come in many forms, and children may be raised by a father and mother, a single father, two fathers, a stepfather, a grandfather, or caring guardian. His acknowledgement of the labor of love two men may put into their relationship with their children drew quick reaction from t…

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Seeking Jobs, Beach Clean Up Workers Come From All Walks of Life

…said. People seeking jobs have come from all over the Gulf region. Middle-class plant workers who lost their jobs in the recession and convicted felons recently released from prison. Mothers and sons and uncles and nephews. The work is hard. There is no shade and when the heat gets too unbearable, they can’t run into the water to cool off. They are black, white and Hispanic. I guess Kumrits and Jones fill the demographic of designated hippies. Th…

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“A Feminine Complaint Against Theologians”

…more; Saiving quotes Lionel Trilling as well: The American educated middle class is firm in its admiration of non-conformity and dissent. The right to be non-conformist, the right to dissent, is part of our conception of community. Everybody says so… Admiring non-conformity and loving community, we have decided that we are all non-conformists together. In the face of memory and nostalgia, what the phrase “I am a student of theology. I am also a wo…

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Closing with Gospel in Morocco

…why, but the Moroccan audience—and Bab Makina has a large number of upper-class Moroccans in attendance—really enjoy gospel. It’s an appreciation that appeared to cut across generations. Based on comments I heard, people are aware that many of the songs praise Jesus as the son of God, an idea that is anathema to Muslims. Unfortunately, I could not understand the appeal, outside of the aesthetic, but it was wonderful to see so many people apprecia…

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