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Sex and Civilization: The Body as Battleground

By Jay Michaelson

…ural) is that which curbs what we today might call “nature” in the name of spiritual discipline. Yes, Paul replaces physical circumcision with spiritual, but in doing so he creates a far more insidious apparatus of control. This is a nature of anti-nature. Ironic, then, that many of today’s anti-gay voices call homosexuality “unnatural” in a pseudo-scientific sense. They are wrong; Paul is right. Homosexuality is entirely too natural, found in ove…

Indonesia: As Volcano Erupts, a Spiritual Loss

By Mark Woodward

…ng of a folk hero for his courage and was widely believed to have enormous spiritual powers. He appeared in advertisements for a popular brand of sports drink together with nationally known athletes. The advertisements suggested a relationship between the athletes’ physical prowess and Mbah Marijan’s spiritual power. I met Mbah Marijan only once, less than two months ago. He was a very deeply religious man in a very Javanese way. He was a pious Mu…

A Life After Death Double-Feature: Eastwood’s Hereafter and Noe’s Enter the Void

By Jay Michaelson

…ome Sugarcandy Mountain in the next. I’ve heard some people say they’d despair if they didn’t believe in a World to Come, and I’ve often wondered whether that would be a good thing. Maybe the despair would cause them to change their lives, act more justly, and treat every day as a gift. Or, who knows, maybe my own skepticism is really some deep-seated guilt left over from my childhood, when I was told I’d be spending eternity in hell for rejecting…

On Death and After-Death

By Amina Wadud

…ure, imagine that! We also have the notion of resurrection but not just in spirit, but in body too. In fact, the Qur’an says, even if you take the dead and throw pieces hither and yon, the pieces will all come back together to face the Judgment. But again, every one will be brought to final Judgment, no gender distinction. Now, you’d think it would be like passing an algebra test, but it’s not. Because there are things that weigh in here, unlike y…

Gospel and Soul Lose a King and Queen

By Anthea Butler

…st gospel singer in the world.” For all that, she didn’t win a Grammy until 1995 for her album “Songs of the Church.” Walker’s voice and presence filled many a church, but it was her generous spirit that supported the careers of many singers that made her an exceptional woman and gospel singer. Burke’s influence on country western music, as well as the Rolling Stones, Al Green and others, was a seamless marriage of the sacred and secular. Burke, o…

Religious Right “Compassion” and Other Lies

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…Church in America, and other denominations, have come to realize that the spirit of the law in their Holy book is one of love and acceptance of everyone instead of the bullying, compassionless, soul-killing, letter of the law. Mr. Sprigg, when Jesus looked out on the crowds that followed him, that book you love more than your fellow human beings, tells us that he had compassion on them. What did he do then? Did he tell them to change? Did he bull…

Open Letter to Creflo Dollar

By Lerone A. Martin

…church but to return and support their pastor. Perhaps you did this in the spirit of looking out for your friend and clerical colleague. But view this as a parent Reverend Dollar: Would you send YOUR kids back to a summer camp where one of the key officials was shrouded in the “wreckage” of sexual abuse? Or would you keep your kids home that summer? Would you send YOUR kids back to a mentoring program where the leading mentor privately settle…

Dan Webster’s Gothard-Speak

By Sarah Posner

…d “one-accord power” is when believers are in covenant with God, united in spirit and soul, with the power to reproduce (here Gothard appears to be referring to discipling, not sex). The believers must have no “competing affections” with their love for God, because “if we have any competing affections, God describes us as adulterers and adulteresses.” That power is broken by, well, the devil, who else? “One-accord power is extremely difficult to a…

Spiritualism and Sex Meet Evangelical Censorship, 19th-Century-Style

By Leigh Eric Schmidt

…onals. This is a project at an early stage for Princeton University Press. The second is a history of atheism in the United States, with a particular emphasis on the period after the supposed “golden age of freethought” in the late nineteenth century. At this point I see the 1920s and 1930s as a watershed moment. Again, that’s quite preliminary. The third one is a reflection on the quest for perfection in American culture. I take this to have sign…

Tim Pawlenty, Bad Fundamentalist

By Michael J. Altman

…tive of someone who says that faith is separate from public law and public service; it really isn’t. We have, as a country, a founding perspective that we’re founded under God; our founding documents reference and acknowledge God, and acknowledge that our rights and privileges come from our Creator. For those who have an interest in or passion about an issue, being involved in the political process is important. It isn’t for everybody; there are o…