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Prisoners In the Hands of an Angry God: A Conversation About Religion and Reform

By Andrew Aghapour and Stephanie Gaskill

…ur criminal justice system. It’s not just that American prisons hold disproportionate numbers of African Americans. It’s that this racial composition created public support for, or at least indifference towards, “tough on crime” and “law and order” policies. Politicians have been able to pass harsh sentencing laws and build more prisons in part because deeply entrenched racial prejudices make the general public less likely to sympathize with the l…

Warships, Animals, Pubs Eligible For Blessings From Church of England, But Not Same-Sex Couples; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…t more likely that a marriage equity bill could be brought forward soon, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. The report from a group of legislators recommends protections for celebrants with religious objections to performing weddings for same-sex couples, but not the “sweeping” religious exemptions that appeared in draft legislation that had previously been put forward by the attorney general. Croatia: Zagreb Pride warns of ‘increasingly aggressiv…

What do the January 6 Commission, Covid Deaths and Gun Massacres All Have in Common? God’s Chosen

By John Stoehr

…commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection; the disproportionate number of Covid deaths in states run by Republican governors; this week’s shooting massacre in San Jose, Calif., and every other one like it; and, let’s see, what else? Well, feel free at the end of this piece to add your own examples. There are plenty more. All have in common the political concept that God divided the world between the elected and the unelected, that is, b…

Now That ‘Serial’ is Over: 2014’s Best Podcasts about Religion

By Andrew Aghapour

…it the You Made it Weird channel at Nerdist.com to pick from any of a wide number of fun and thoughtful interviews. For a crash course on Holmes’ own religious beliefs you can listen to this interview with Emergent Church pastor Rob Bell. Category Winner. When it comes to conversations about religion, Krista Tippett’s On Being is the gold standard. The Peabody Award-winning radio program is also available as a podcast, and subscribers can access u…

Is Twitter Doing Enough to Remove Extremist Content? An Ex-Employee Weighs In

By Sofi Hersher

…g to identify potentially radical organizations and individuals. The Green Number, or Numéro Vert, is a private telephone hotline in France where family and friends can report someone they fear may become radicalized. And in the U.K., Prevent is a program that essentially creates ‘trigger warnings’ for teachers and institutions to report the potential for radicalization. I do not mean to condemn or even criticize these programs, merely to point ou…

Turkish Police Move Against Activists Who Defied Pride Ban; And More in Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…in a Pride event on Saturday, June 24, “under heavy police protection,” reports Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which reported no serious incidents in spite of “a small number of counterdemonstrators from the Serbian Orthodox Church holding a sign reading ‘No to Sodomic Revolution.’” But bigger news may be just ahead: Meanwhile, the Serbian parliament convened to launch proceedings needed for the election of Ana Brnabic as the new premier. If el…

Mike Johnson isn’t Just Your Average Christian Right Avatar — He’s Influenced by Fringe Movements Unfamiliar to Most Political Analysts

By Annika Brockschmidt

…ased. “You helped lead the effort to overturn the election results,” ABC reporter Rachel Scott said at a press conference, directed at Johnson. Elected Republican representatives gathered behind him began jeering, with North Carolina Republican Virginia Foxx shouting “Shut up!” Johnson smiled in response, serenely shaking his head, and called for the next question. The case of Mike Johnson shows that a theocratic worldview isn’t merely the provinc…

The Next Big Religion Issue: Immigration

By Daniel Schultz

…ording to a new poll from Public Religion Research Institute, a surprising number of religious Americans are behind immigration reform. With that broad support and a progressive base that seems reenergized by the success of health care reform, this really might be the best shot for new immigration policy in a long while. I suspect that the question will turn on whether opponents can appeal to a certain xenophobic, authoritarian streak in voters. T…

“As Orthodox As They Come”: A Backstage Conversation With Rob Bell

By Andrew Aghapour and Michael Schulson

…re so fantastic—brought the idea that the whole thing is static. I think a number of people picked up over the past three hundred years that space is empty, we move things around in space, and there are levers and pulleys and buttons. I think for a number of people, atheism is simply the rejection of somebody sitting on a cloud somewhere with a beard who might intervene from time to time. I think quantum physics, the little I know, it just intuiti…

Episcopal Conference Lives Up to Episcopal Jokes

By Julie Ingersoll

…ons in the US with over 2 million members, though the significance of that number is unclear since, as the priest in the church where I was baptized once teased me: “when you’re baptized we have you; you’re ours and you don’t have much to say about it.” Recent reports indicate that about 350 congregations have departed to affiliate with more conservative Anglican Bishops outside the US. Whether the remaining congregations are better off or not…