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Tweeting ISIS Attacks: A Lesson in Not Learning a Lesson

…ear. The Islamic State began in 2004 as al-Qaeda’s Iraq affiliate, not because its then-leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, discovered that female motorists populate America’s highways, but because America had just invaded Iraq. We can and must fight back against ISIL. We have a moral obligation, not to mention a national security obligation. But we must be careful in that response that we do not fall prey to ideas that have already failed before (and i…

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So What if Psychedelics Are ‘Just’ Spiritual?

…it’s pretty much a commonplace among many researchers that the intentional use of psychedelics in certain environments (what users and researchers refer to as “set and setting”) can mimic and perhaps even produce authentic mystical experiences. Indeed, many who take psychedelics do so mainly for what they consider to be the spiritual benefit of the experiences they offer. Using psychedelics isn’t so much recreational, in this sense, but a controll…

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Douthat, Dionne Push Wrong Lesson on Religious Exemptions

…revious precedents that had been set, or the bishops’ long-term efforts to use conscience exemptions to beat back efforts to expand access to contraception. It was their off-the-cuff, emotional responses to the mandate, which they perceived as an attack (Winters accused the administration of “punch[ing] us Catholics in the nose” while Dionne wrote that “Obama threw his progressive Catholic allies under the bus”) that made the original exemption po…

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If Something About Trump’s Bible Photo-Op Felt Familiar There’s a Good Reason

…lliance, also slammed the gesture, calling it “one of the most flagrant misuses of religion I have ever seen.” Witnessing the sacred word of God used to prop up and justify racism, authoritarianism, violence, and death by one of the most dangerous and unethical men on earth was profoundly disturbing on both theological and moral grounds. But what struck me as I watched, was Trump’s awkwardness with the Bible as an object. He doesn’t even know enou…

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New Poll: Americans Disagree with Hobby Lobby

…g at Democratic respondents. Just 30% said businesses should be able to refuse service to LGBT people (vs. 67% who disagreed), while 68% said trans people should be able to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity (27% were opposed). In fact, when respondents were separated by religious affiliations, a majority of Catholic, Jewish, Black Protestant, and unaffiliated Americans said businesses should be required to serve everyone…

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Why Christian Fundamentalism Is Still a Big Deal in U.S. Politics, And How It Got That Way

…force that crushes the dreams of small business owners, the relationships between individuals and doctors, the rights of parents, and the freedom of religious believers. At the same time, he spoke of “millions of courageous conservatives” and “born again Christians” whose votes could restore an idealized constitutionalism and drive the big-government bureaucrats out of the American temple. Part of my goal in Superchurch is to help us better under…

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Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s Legacy of Eugenics and Racism Can’t Be Ignored

…I urge people to consider in their mystical insights into the relationship between nature and divinity. Bishop Curry’s use of Teilhard’s vision of “fire” at the Royal Wedding comes largely from The Mass on the World, completed in 1923! Sadly, it also seems indisputable that the mature formulations of some of Teilhard’s most famous ideas—e.g., the Noosphere, the Omega Point, the divinization of the species—rest upon philosophies infused with concep…

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Trump is a Nightmare, Sure, But Can He Actually Do Anything?

…call attention to things—that’s part of the strategy. In other words, you use everything you can use.” There’s no question that Trump has thus far leaned heavily on executive action to advance his policy goals—which is not uncommon for presidents faced with a divided (or, in this case, deeply dysfunctional) Congress. And while Trump has signed more executive orders to date than any president since Harry Truman, the actual policy impact of those o…

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6 Overlooked Takeaways From a Reviewer of Controversial Texas Textbooks

…Under Fire for Suggesting Moses Influenced Founding Fathers.” The media focused on the Culture Wars aspects of the controversy, which isn’t surprising. Back in 2010, in what RD’s Lauri Lebo aptly called the “Texas Textbook Massacre,” a Christian Right bloc on the SBOE pushed through curriculum standards promoting Christian Americanism, an ideology claiming that, as Mark Chancey writes,1 “America was founded to be a Christian nation governed by Bib…

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Islam in Conflict with Democracy? A Response to Stanley Fish

…seeks as a religion,” only heightens this possibility. It also further confuses matters because it ignores the differences between two very different religious cultures, the United States and Britain. The United States remains a proudly religious nation, while Britain is significantly more modest in its observance and public expression of religion. This much is bothersome as a wide range of culture warriors, from those who insist that this is a “C…

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