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How Do Christians, Atheists Compare on Muslim Tolerance?

By Darren E. Sherkat

…l expression, and even the most obnoxious and ridiculous views must be tolerated. Bad ideas are best conquered with good ideas rather than with repression. Yet, the anti-civil liberties orientation of Christian politicians and pundits appears to be shared by several prominent atheists like Sam Harris and the late Christopher Hitchens. For them and their followers, as for Trump and Cruz, radical Islam is best countered through jailing imams, preven…

Defying Gravity Defies Sci-Fi Conventions

By Gabriel Mckee

…his is very much a primetime soap opera. The show’s Wikipedia page puts it best: “romantic entanglement will occur.” Come for the spacefaring science, stay for the melodrama. (Or is it the other way around?) But Defying Gravity isn’t just concerned with the characters’ “entaglements.” As in the work of Philip K. Dick, our earthborn religion is a concern as well, particularly in the pilot episode (available on Hulu through September 7th). As the sh…

How the Religious (and ‘Nones’) Vote May Tip 6 Swing States

By Daniel Schultz

…s yes, he’s got a pretty good shot of it. According to PRRI, he has decent numbers among the white suburbanites who will make up the swing vote of the election (to the extent that the “swing vote” is a meaningful category). That’s far from a guarantee, however, especially with a candidate this volatile. Democrats also have a realistic opening to deny Trump re-election. Let’s play faith outreach director in the six states PRRI mentions as toss-ups,…

Repent, Hillary: Trump’s Evangelical Backers Play the Sin Card

By Hollis Phelps

…er told us how to vote, he gave us all the good common sense to choose the best leaders.” It’s important to emphasize that best doesn’t mean perfect, as Abraham, Moses, and David would remind us. The assumption of God’s providence, however, doesn’t work both ways—that is, it can’t be positively applied to Trump’s presumed opponent, Hillary Clinton. That may seem inconsistent, at least on the surface: if God chooses imperfect people, then can’t God…

Falling in Love With the Earth: Francis’ Faithful Ecology

By Jacob J. Erickson

…biodiversity. (Yale’s Forum for Religion and Ecology assembles some of the best of that content here.) As I read through Laudato si I saw much of the speculation confirmed. Pope Francis reflects on our various ecological ills. He reflects on anthropogenic/human-caused global warming, water scarcity, biodiversity loss, the dangers of unlimited consumerism, the dangers of unlimited and overused technology, “a misguided anthropocentrism,” economic gr…

The Convergence of Passover and Easter Can Leaven (or Unleaven) the Interfaith Family’s Holiday

By Samira K. Mehta

…ply, a fun and frequent dessert offering. (To offer a personal example, my best friend, the linchpin of my chosen family, usually gives up alcohol for Lent, though he also makes every effort to come to my seder if I’m hosting one. And so, he gives up alcohol for Lent except for the 4 ritual glasses at the seder table.) Similarly, Jews who are observing Passover give up leavening and chametz (wheat, oats, barley, rye, and spelt) and Jews of Eastern…

AIG: On Charisma and Routinization of Greed

By Louis A. Ruprecht

…t simplicity and broad comparative reach. The prophet, Weber suggested, is best defined as the unique bearer of charisma. No sooner had Weber offered his “unified theory” of the prophet than he subdivided the essential concept again, noting that there were two very different kinds of charisma with which he had to deal. On the one hand, there is the charisma of personality; on the other, there is the charisma of office. The two forms rarely, if eve…

Irony Repeats Itself: Reconsidering Reinhold Niebuhr in the Trump Era

By Gary Dorrien

…battles to expel Communists from the trade unions and Socialist Party. The best anti-Communists were Socialists or former Socialists, because they hated Communism for ruining something they prized, and they knew how Communists subverted democratic organizations. They boasted that they were the experts on thwarting Communism. Niebuhr provided this group’s signature version of anti-communist ideology, an argument he developed in tandem with State De…

Céad Mile Fáilte: Open Hearts, Shifting Power Paradigms, and the Irish Same-Sex Referendum

By Gareth Higgins

…ance much in the way of beloved community. But if, as Rohr also says, “the best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better,” then Ireland’s ethically sensitive activists—of all faiths and none—have a beautiful opportunity. It’s simple—the best that we know of Irishness centers on one noble and vital gift: hospitality. Céad mile fáilte, we say— “a hundred thousand welcomes.” The invitation being offered to Ireland’s spiritually committed in…

In Defense of Clerical Celibacy, From a Protestant Liberal

By Kate Blanchard

…echoed this idea in 1 Corinthians 7, saying that he saw singleness as the best, most hassle-free way for Christians to serve God, “But if [people] cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn.” The message here is pretty clear: a few folks are gifted with the call and the ability to live lives centered on something other than married life, but most of us will need to marry if for no other reason than to kee…