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After More Mass Shootings It’s Time to Call Out White Supremacy in the Pews

By Peter Laarman

…what’s going on, but too few seem capable of saying it. We now have a fair number of political and civic leaders who are willing to say the word trauma and talk about the all-pervasive violence in this culture, not to mention the extent of mental disturbance and the fact that American civilians have more assault rifles in their possession than does the U.S. military. All well and good. But we have too few leaders who will talk about the deeper roo…

More Than Big Hair and Money: Jim, Tammy Faye and the Media “Holy Wars” of the 80s

By John Wigger

…the Bakkers flaunted their wealth. Bakker raised about $158 million between 1984 and 1987 from his “lifetime partners,” but still managed to leave the ministry teetering on the edge of bankruptcy when the scandal broke. But there was more to it than just big hair and money. Before PTL could become a front-page scandal it had to have an outsized presence in American culture. That largely happened through innovation, including the Christian televisi…

New Reports Reveal Global Persecution of Nonbelievers

By Austin Dacey

…atirizing religious rituals and sanctities and prophets” under articles 98, 160, and 161 of the Egyptian Penal Code. According to Egypt News Daily, the prosecution first sought to charge him in connection with disseminating Innocence of Muslims but when this accusation was proven false, they revised their strategy to target the content of Saber’s video blog. Though sentenced to three years and released on bail he was subsequently locked up due to…

The Only Common Denominator of American Conservatism is Anti-Blackness

By Yannick Marshall

…ness. The Confederacy wasn’t dissolved, it was sublimated The Compromise of 1877 brought white, anti-Black militia culture into the fold of the postbellum state. Confederate generals and other violent Southern Democrats agreed to accept Republican Rutherford B. Hayes’ victory in the 1876 election so long as the federal troops were removed from the South. After the federal withdrawal, conservatives quickly marshaled their racist street and electora…

How the Study of Evangelicalism Has Blinded Us to the Problems in Evangelical Culture

By Christopher D. Cantwell

…thought to date, has robbed the concept of both its analytical utility and spiritual vitality, suggesting that it should, for a time, be abandoned. Essays by noted minister Timothy Keller and Global Ambassador of the World Evangelical Alliance Brian C. Stiller, meanwhile, argue that “real” evangelicals in the Bebbingtonian sense need to differentiate themselves from their politicized brethren. But what if the evangelicals who voted for Donald Trum…

The Best-Laid Plans of Mice and Humans

By Amina Wadud

…ink I would just go out of my mind for some peace. This hotel is only about 15 floors high and pretty narrow, relative to what I’ve seen. That means, I would expect, a modicum of calm in the lobby, at breakfast and dinner (which are part of the tour package). I will have to make my own arrangements for lunch. I hope my room is on one of the higher floors, less traffic, and the elevators are the same from the 4th and the 14th floors. My room is sha…

Welcome to the Shari’ah Conspiracy Theory Industry

By Sarah Posner

…rom a single 20-year-old document written by a single Brotherhood member in 1991. In the controversial terrorism financing trial of the Holy Land Foundation, which first resulted in a mistrial in 2007, and convictions in a 2008 re-trial, federal prosecutors introduced a document, “An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America.” Gaffney and others have seized upon this document developing theories that the g…

Why Anti-Gay Bullying is a Theological Issue

By Cody J. Sanders

…y computer screen as news stories continued to appear about the suicides of 13-year-old Asher Brown, 18-year-old Tyler Clementi, 13-year-old Seth Walsh, and 19-year-old Raymond Chase. Today, it is very clear to me that profound sadness and stunned silence is no longer a suitable, appropriate, or adequate response. From Lamentation to Indignation My sadness began to change into something different with each successive news story about another gay t…

Sacred&Profane: Wilco Worship and the “Churn” in American Religion

By Gary Laderman

…Faith in Flux” open our eyes to a shifting and shifty religious landscape, spiritual ground not quite as stable and secure as theologians and statisticians would like it to be in the twenty-first century. Given the kind of map these surveys are drawing, there’s only one game in town for scholars of religion: the surge in no religion and non-affiliated statuses, and even more specifically, seeking signs of religious life among the increasing number…

Americans Say Religion is “Losing Influence”

By Diane Winston

…The last time religious influence was deemed to be in sharp decline was the 1960s. Political protests along with cultural upheavals left many wondering about the future of traditional institutions. But during the Reagan years, and especially following 9/11, the significance of religion—its association with social stability, community cohesion, and traditional values—raised appreciation for its influence. The upshot? The perception of increased rel…