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Faith for Fuck-Ups? A New Book Explores a Broader Vision for Christianity

By Jason J. Stellman

…vangelical or post-Christian altogether. I want them to know that a bit of free thinking and iconoclasm never hurt anyone, and that God can handle our occasional wrestling against him. He’s not nearly as petty as many of his spokespeople portray him! Are you hoping to just inform readers? Entertain them? Piss them off? I know that my book will be a bit scandalous to those who are theologically uptight, but that’s fine. I spent so much of my life s…

The Awkward Silence in the Wake of Jacob Neusner’s Passing

By Laura S. Levitt

…ment was the greatest gift. Because he never claimed me as his, I remained free. In the years after I entered the academy, Jacob Neusner never acknowledged or responded to any of my scholarly work, although there were many times when I would have loved a response, any sliver of recognition. But in the end, I was one of the lucky ones. I’ve had a career all my own. Since I left Brown, I’ve been beholden to no one. Without him, I’ve been free to cul…

Conservative Catholics Try to Domesticate Laudato Si

By Patricia Miller

…concentrate on—wait for it—sex and marriage-related issues and “religious freedom,” which is also focused on the pelvic zone. And as if to prove how tone-deaf they are, on Sunday the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops kicked off its fourth annual “Fortnight for Freedom” religious liberty extravaganza, which runs through July 4. Surprisingly (for an event that marries an archaic English expression to a vague nod to American Independence and Catho…

As Catholic Bishops Punish Dissent, Rosemary Radford Ruether’s Life and Legacy Show the Way Forward

By Lauren Barbato

…bortion.” Sponsored by Catholics for Choice (then known as Catholics for a Free Choice), the full-page New York Times advertisement declared “a diversity of opinions regarding abortion exists among committed Catholics.” Many theologians, the statement read, believed abortion “can sometimes be a moral choice.” Feminist theologian Margaret Farley, novelist Mary Gordon, and then-New York Gov. Mario Cuomo were among the signers. More than two dozen or…

Because We Dared to Exist: After Generations of Trauma Black Gun Ownership is on the Rise

By Josiah Daniels

…dy lost much. Those losses live in our bodies, reminding us daily that our freedom is not yet. Added to our daily trauma is the curse that we are always seen as armed and dangerous. Cellphones, toys, wallets, all of these objects become guns to the racialized eye. And if we are damned to always be seen holding a gun, why not actually hold a gun in hopes that our curse may become our enemies’ undoing? Owning a gun is a risk, but it’s a calculated o…

Searching in Vain for a “Pure” Elie Wiesel

By Martin Kavka

…th leftist intellectuals who reject it. Perhaps another generation will be free enough to criticize Israel; I cannot. [Italics added.] Was this a betrayal of his other broadly humanist commitments? Absolutely. There is no reason why critics should not continue to take Wiesel to task for what he said about Palestinians, or why they should not point out how especially unprepared Wiesel was for the recent growth of Israeli racism. But if we have anyt…

In Speech to Religious Broadcasters William Barr Warns of Secular Tyranny, Promotes Christian Tyranny

By Chrissy Stroop

…s focusing on “religion, the decentralization of government power, and the free press,” all of which, Barr claims, have “have eroded in recent decades.” But today I’ll focus largely on Barr’s view of religion and its ideal place in society and the public sphere. Barr’s exposition weaves together a variety of reactionary tropes, many of which have roots in the nineteenth century. (While it would be impossible to tease them apart and trace their rel…

The Islamophobia Dodge of the Religious Freedom Pledge

By Sarah Posner

…s money so “You can send light to dark places in the Muslim World.” You’re free to be Muslim, but it would be better to be Christian. What’s more, though, is how Christian candidates who’ve done much to promote a lack of religious freedom for other religions (e.g., Michele Bachmann’s worry that sharia will “usurp the Constitution” or Newt Gingrich’s calls to ban sharia law because it is “a comprehensive political, economic and religious movement t…

Why Scientists Should Be Agnostic: Or, Why Lawrence Krauss Is Still a Windbag

By Andrew Aghapour and Michael Schulson

…re, he argues, nothing is sacred): No ideas, religious or otherwise, get a free pass. The notion that some idea or concept is beyond question or attack is anathema to the entire scientific undertaking. This commitment to open questioning is deeply tied to the fact that science is an atheistic enterprise. Krauss is right to draw the connection between science and the concept of a secular public square. Both emerged around the same period in history…

Is Pope Francis Yogaphobic?

By Andrea R. Jain

…lity courses, yoga courses, or zen courses, but none of those things would free the person to be like a child of God. Only the Holy Spirit, according to Francis, has the power to break the hardness of the heart and make it docile toward God and free to love. Given the frequent Catholic and evangelical yogaphobic moments in recent history, I asked myself if the Pope’s remarks were yogaphobic, but I concluded that yogaphobia did not appear to be at…