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Into the Darkest Moment of a Dark Year Comes the Saturnalia, a Time for Drinking, Swearing, Gambling, and the Circle of Life

…, and the mysteries surrounding the sun’s disappearance from our lives. It promoted role reversals, free speech, and libationary merriment of Dionysian proportions involving drinking, swearing and gambling, with banquets and food sacrificed to deities. It even marked a truce period; no wars could be declared during the Saturnalia (but occasional murders occurred taking advantage of the distractions). On 19 December, gifts would be exchanged. Green…

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Robbing Peter to Give Charity to Paul: The Dirty Secret Behind American ‘Giving’

…th equity so that children’s chances in life no longer depend on their ZIP codes, universal child care support for working families, and the progressive taxation needed to pay for all of it. Truly generous people will demand social systems in which all can flourish. Utah, are you listening? More than 50 years ago, MLK dismissed the idea that private charity can ever substitute for public justice. Dr. King said that when we Americans finally get ou…

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UNESCO on Religion, Culture and SOGI in Asia; Orthodox Family Sues to Stop Cremation of Israeli Trans Woman; Struggles of Iraqi Queer Activists; Global LGBT Recap

…uential in the region, particularly in forms of Christian values and penal codes introduced to the region by missionaries during the colonial periods. Historical texts suggest that Christian missionaries were opposed to the sexual and gender diversity in many cultures of the region, and the influence of Christianity in the colonial periods has already been discussed. This opposition is still in place in some settings as demonstrated by the active…

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It’s the Theology, Stupid: Why the Shocking SBC Report is Anything But Surprising

…doubt that the use of “Letters of Good Standing” and the adoption of new “Codes of Conduct” (why either term is capitalized in the report is a mystery to me) will have much impact. Under the white supremacist patriarchy that still shapes so much of the American experience—not least in the SBC and similar churches—predatory white men will always be able to find people willing to attest to their “good character.” I’m reminded of Supreme Court “Just…

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Bill Gates’ Comments on Covid-19 Vaccine Enflame ‘Mark of the Beast’ Worries in Some Christian Circles

…982), popularized the idea that the Uniform Product Codes (i.e. UPCs or barcodes) were the mark of the beast and would one day be tattooed on human bodies. A trend of ironic barcode tattoos popular in the early twentieth century nods to this idea while commenting on western consumerism. Microchip technology has since replaced the UPC as the most likely candidate for the introduction of a cashless society and thus the mark of the beast. While there…

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DeSantis’ Religious Exemption Will Kill—And it Violates the 1st Amendment

…hurches from cramming too many people into a building in violation of fire codes. The congregants’ right to gather and worship is limited by the government’s need to protect those congregants from being trampled to death and the community from a fire. Preventing large gatherings at this moment is even more crucial. It’s hard to imagine a clearer need for prohibiting church services and gatherings than a highly infectious global pandemic. More impo…

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Will the US Naval Academy Grant The Satanic Temple Equal Rites?

…rried out aboard an aircraft carrier. And the U.S. Navy’s Faith and Belief Codes list other religions that are either polytheistic or non-theistic. The website Task & Purpose aptly summarized the issue: “The [USNA] has a message for the burgeoning satanists in its ranks: you can study Satan as a midshipman, but you sure as hell can’t hail him.” The reasoning behind denying TST their rites appears to be political. According to the USNA, TST cannot…

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Toni Morrison, Prophet of America’s Demons (1931-2019)

…acteristics extend into the twentieth century, reproduce the necessity for codes and restriction.” That “race” is a pseudo-scientific social construct is besides the point, Morrison would remind us. Of course race is a pseudo-scientific social construct, but that doesn’t mean that real people don’t live with and suffer under the legacies of racism. Playing in the Dark is a helpful rejoinder to every self-satisfied prig who sanctimoniously informs…

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How a Bill O’Reilly Bestseller Helps Explain the Anti-Semitism Behind the Poway Shooting

…ng Jesus conveys the same conservative politics, but with different racial codes. O’Reilly served as an Executive Producer for the film, which was made by Ridley Scott’s production company as Fox was absorbing National Geographic in 2015. Importantly, this was one of Scott’s first projects after receiving substantial criticism for hiring white actors to play Egyptians in Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014). In response to this criticism, Scott hired act…

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The ‘Pro-Family’ Movement Has Little to Say About Family Separation

…l likely have longer-term effects, possibly even on the children’s genetic codes. Yet one group has remained largely silent: the “pro-family” movement comprised largely of conservative white evangelicals. Many evangelical leaders, such as Paula White, who chairs the White House Evangelical Advisory Board for Donald Trump, claim the tearing apart of families is justified by blaming the parents as criminals. White went so far as to claim that Jesus…

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