Search for "cheap airline tickets from new york ny to grand rapids mi phone number 1-800-299-7264"

Creeping Shari’ah… Ahem, Excuse Me… Biblical Law

By Julie Ingersoll

…t but only restitution, God’s view of crime is that the act of crime is committed, not by a professional criminal, but a weaker man, who must restore the stolen goods plus at least an equal amount, the potentially habitual criminal is to be executed as soon as he gives plain evidence of this fact (Deuteronomy 21:18-21 – see also Proverbs 30:17).. …In Deuteronomy 19:21, the general law of justice is stated: the punishment must fit the crime; there…

Cruz and the Evangelical Illusion

By Sarah Posner

…tial politics has been irrelevant or even detrimental, even if they long admired his family and childrearing advice. In 2008 and 2012, there were several Republican candidates who fit the conservative Christian mold, and who competed for the evangelical vote. None emerged as the eventual nominee, although both eventual nominees played lip service to evangelical concerns. This cycle, as I wrote on several occasions last year, Donald Trump has scram…

The End (of Religion) is Near, Scientists Say

By Louis A. Ruprecht

…tionary theory it seems to presuppose, then a better way to read this data might be to suggest that a number of recognizably religious traditions are undergoing some significant modern mutations, such that the affiliations into which they are turning bear only a partial resemblance to what preceded them. Dinosaurs don’t just go extinct, they became birds—that’s the idea. But dinosaurs as dinosaurs did die out, and that’s what these scientists are…

National Review’s Kevin Williamson Comes Out Against Daughters, Misunderstands Science

By Sarah Morice-Brubaker

…ero daughters. Romney has 18 grandchildren, and they exceed a 2:1 ratio of grandsons to granddaughters (13:5). When they go to church at their summer-vacation home, the Romney clan makes up a third of the congregation. He is basically a tribal chieftain. Professor Obama? Two daughters. May as well give the guy a cardigan. And fallopian tubes. Fallopian tubes and a cardigan? Ewwww. Why not just replace the Constitution with a Talbots catalog? Clear…

Why Religious Exemptions Matter

By Sarah Posner

…s organizations, it clearly looks like the administration is trying to maximize the number of women who have coverage. Women who work for religious employers, such as universities and hospitals, that have a separate tax-exempt existence from a church, will have access to contraception coverage separately from their employer’s plan. But Catholics for Choice is raising a broader, long-term question: under what circumstances should religious exemptio…

Church of Pain: Religion, Ritual, and the Body in the New Serial Spin-Off, “S-Town”

By Spencer Dew

…ativity they demand to be heard. Amanda Hess, reviewing the series for the New York Times, calls McLemore, “the peppiest pessimist south of the Mason-Dixon line,” noting his “talent for profane rants about civilization’s downfall that he delivers in an Alabama drawl.” There is more than a touch of exoticism in S-Town. The weird old south gets trotted out for display: a secret segregated room with an empty stripper pole, full of casually racist dru…

Rand Paul’s Messianic Campaign Video Shouts “Yes I Can!”

By Gareth Higgins

…recites his mild variation on the usual rote declamation: “It’s time for a new way, a new set of ideas…and above all it’s time for a new president.” We’re invited to “Join the movement.” The latter notion worked so well for candidate Obama, although his campaign struggled to figure out how to translate the energy of so many young people into practical action after the inauguration. But the key difference between Paul’s rhetoric and the last succes…

Let us Pray for the Jews

By Pamela Eisenbaum

…ell as the appeal to “remove the veil from their hearts.” According to the New York Times, the new prayer may be translated as follows: “Let us pray for the Jews. May the Lord Our God enlighten their hearts so that they may acknowledge Jesus Christ, the savior of all men.” The prayer also expresses hope that “all Israel may be saved.” What many may not realize is that both the old and the new Good Friday prayers are citing the apostle Paul. The re…

The Omission of the “New” Evangelicals

By Tom Davis

…on of Focus on the Family and Pat Robertson of the Christian Coalition. Prominent ministers, most notably Rick Warren of the Saddleback Church in Orange County, are far more interested in issues of poverty and the environment along with the so-called liberal evangelicals like Jim Wallis who also focuses on the problems of the poor. Both Warren and Wallis skillfully employ the numerous biblical references to the poor, a number that dwarfs reference…

Shutdown is Over, But There Will Be a Next Time

By Diane Winston

…cial nets frayed and paeans flowed to America’s religious liberties. For many who opposed the New Deal and now stand arrayed against Obamacare, the message is the same: Jesus is the root of American democracy and capitalism. Christianity bestows freedom from big government, market regulations and sin. The message may be exploited for political or economic purposes but don’t discount the many true believers: Ted Cruz, Mark Meadows and Michele Bachm…