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American Jewish Leaders Get Gaza Wrong

By Sarah Posner

…ed today. And so must the Israeli shelling of civilians in Gaza (the death toll there is now at 13). It’s not a war game, or an occasion for the cold, sophomoric tweet of the IDF spokesperson (or the tweet back by the Al Qassam Brigades). Yousef Munayyer provides some history of the numbers from Gaza at Open Zion: For example, in 2011, the projectiles fired by the Israeli military into Gaza have been responsible for the death of 108 Palestinians,…

Why We Won’t Let Jonestown (Or 9/11 or Sandy Hook) Die

By Kelsey Osgood

…rust in its government; the culture was transforming from an atmosphere of free love and pacifism into one of Technicolor consumerism. So while the Manson Family murders and the events at Altamont might have been blows to the hippie ethos of the ’60s, it was Jonestown, the utopian dream gone terribly, terribly wrong, that was its death knell. One of the more poignant aspects of the trauma of Jonestown is that Jones and his followers held strong be…

SoulCycle Looks to Sell its Soul

By Michael Schulson

…for-profit company that sells New Age values and ethical lifestyles to its customers. Like SoulCycle, it does so in an openly commercial context with high cost barriers. And, as Yale religion scholar Kathryn Lofton has argued, Oprah has built a (privately owned) empire, in part, by developing a powerful hybrid of spirituality and consumerism. So who cares? If the market can deliver spiritual or ethical goods, then shouldn’t it do so? And aren’t mo…

Hookers for Jesus: Sex and Salvation on the Strip

By Nicole Greenfield

…pping to prove her worth. And before long, she fell in love with a regular customer who, after they moved to Las Vegas, eventually became her pimp. “I never knew when I got older that I would be a prostitute,” Lobért says. “I wanted to be like the stars. I wanted to have happiness like they did… I thought the casinos looked so beautiful, the glamour and the glitz of it all, the showgirls and the shows, and the movie stars… that was so alluring to…

A Libertarian Split Over the Hitching Post Case

By Sarah Posner

…nt as part of the business. They similarly added a new Employee Policy and Customer Agreement stipulating that the Hitching Post will only perform unions ‘between one biological male and one biological female.’” Additionally, while the Hitching Post used to offer “wedding ceremonies of other faiths,” as Jeremy Hooper documented, the website was recently changed to offer only “a traditional Christian wedding ceremony.” Sarah Jones of Americans Unit…

Lincoln, Clinton, and Trump: From Strategy to Spin to Straight-Up Bullshit

By Martin Jay

…n: The Backwoods Boy, Lincoln walked a long way to return a petty sum to a customer who had been inadvertently defrauded in a store where Lincoln then worked. Despite his reputation, in his own day Lincoln was criticized by his opponents for lying. He could certainly spin the truth for political gains. The historian Richard Hofstadter included him “among the world’s greatest propagandists.” An image of absolute honesty is, of course, a useful weap…

The Surprising Catholic Roots of the War on Xmas

By Patricia Miller

…o take action.” Then in 2005, Donohue struck gold when a Wal-Mart customer service employee emailed a woman who complained about the store changing “Merry Christmas” to “Happy Holidays” and told her: “The majority of the world still has different practices other than “Christmas” which is an ancient tradition that has its roots in Siberian shamanism. … Santa is also borrowed from the Caucuses [sic], mistletoe from the Celts, yule log from the Goths…

America, the Mythical: “Mother of Exiles” or Denier of Safe Haven?

By Ed Simon

…that vessel is framed above the establishment’s urinal for any intoxicated customer to peruse. It would, perhaps, be just as well to say that the Mayflower Pub in London is the place where “America was born” as Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts. Of course there is no real moment when “America was born.” That a pub in South London is as suitable a christening place as a beach in New England speaks to the arbitrary power of myths. As concerns the relig…

Dear Amazon Prime, I’m Not a Racist, But Why Are You Destroying My Precious Middle-Earth With Black Hobbits?

By Mary Rambaran-Olm

Dear Amazon Prime,* As a loyal customer I’m appalled at your latest WOKE stunt and have some questions for you before I cut to the chase. I’ve been watching the new Rings of Power series based on the works of Professor JRR Tolkien who was a medievalist, philologist, and fantasy author of The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and other works. Let me explain why your casting choices in this latest series are WRONG. I’m an amateur histori…

Advice from a Disaster Pastor: Open Your Wallet, Not Your Closet

By Carlos Wilton

…delivering it to Chico: who then turns around and uses it to scam the next customer. How many of our charitable contributions are like that? Even after we’ve handed over the money, there’s a part of us that still wants to give a yank on the line. ___ The church I serve is located near ground zero for Hurricane Sandy. Nearly five years ago, half our town was flooded, upending our lives and displacing many of our church families. It’s taken us years…