Religion Dispatches
…protein is responsible for creating the shell. So, it’s not all that groundbreaking, despite the breathless claims of the news stories. As a matter of fact, the evidence remains quite clear on this one. Chickens, as did all birds, evolved from dinosaurs. Dinosaurs laid eggs. Ergo, the egg came before the chicken. But why such defensiveness from folks like Myers? I mean, yes, it’s kind of a lame story. But it’s summer. It’s hot. And all that scienc…
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…ristianity. Let’s not bother to acknowledge that the writer lobbing the accusation is a columnist for the evangelical publication Christianity Today and a contributor to the outright reactionary American Conservative, so she might be just a little biased with respect to what Christianity requires. And speaking of The American Conservative, it recently treated readers to yet another example of the “why kids these days are leaving the evangelical ch…
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…here is no such thing as abuse of power when one has been chosen by God to rule. There is no such thing as obstruction of justice when God alone decides who is worthy of justice. Since God chose Trump, only God can end his presidency, and any attempt to impeach and remove him is, by consequence, a sinful attempt to obstruct God’s will. That white evangelicals genuinely believe this to be true should not in any way be mistaken for religious sentime…
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…ligious reality, choosing to focus instead on a legal fiction. Courts have ruled that the phrase “In God We Trust,” which only expresses a religious sentiment, no longer has any “theological or ritualistic impact.” It’s secular to adopt a motto that not only expounds a belief in a god, but claims all citizens “trust” in him. Courts have upheld other religious rituals and phrases using this same rationale; government prayers, “In God We Trust” as a…
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…ormally certifying the Electoral College vote, a process already being obstructed by Cruz and some other Republican lawmakers. And, given that these pro-Trump terrorists carried not only American, Confederate, and Trump flags, but also explicitly Christian symbols along with signs and flags bearing anti-choice, QAnon, and right-wing Christian slogans like “The Children Cry Out for Justice” and the not-so-apolitical after all “Jesus 2020,” the rele…
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…ed in a 2018 investigative piece looking at Bethany in the context of the Trump administration’s cruel policy of separating the children of asylum seekers from their parents at the border, and of America’s history of predatory and harmful adoption practices. Now, as Ruth Graham reports for The New York Times, Bethany takes the position that “Christians of mutual good faith can reasonably disagree on various doctrinal issues, about which Bethany do…
Read More…mmoral people seek out positions in the clergy or whether clerical life corrupts people, but that debate misses the point. Most crimes are crimes of opportunity, and churches are ripe, unguarded fruit. And that is the central problem: Churches are not required to report any financial information to anyone. Financial transparency is critical to preventing fraud and abuse. That’s why nonprofits file financial information with the IRS every year. Cha…
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…th campaign to reduce maternal mortality worldwide is drawing a broad spectrum of support. But the road to consensus on other sexual justice issues, including reproductive rights, will be longer. While conservative clergy and politicians dig their heels in on birth control and abortion rights, it’s young women, and the poor, who suffer the most when they are denied safe, affordable methods to prevent unwanted pregnancy—or, if necessary, to termina…
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…iversity: Is a Faculty Purge Imminent? A few days after I published “The Struggle for LGBTQ Inclusion,” an Azusa Pacific faculty member reached out to me with some disturbing information, encouraging me to publicize it, though requesting anonymity out of fear of retaliation from the university administration. Azusa Pacific does not offer its faculty tenure, but it uses a system of “term tenure” that includes the possibility for rank promotion and…
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…g to look at is how, at just 14.5% of the population, white evangelicals delivered about one-third of Trump’s support. 84% of them voted for Trump in 2020—that’s seven points above the 2016 level—so they are clearly punching well above their weight in a fair way, in a way that is consistent with democracy in that they are turning out at very high rates. And every group has this same right to participate, to show up. In 2016 white evangelicals made…
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