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‘Murder Among the Mormons,’ Latest True Crime Doc From Netflix, Highlights Issues of Faith, Skepticism, and Authenticity

By Benjamin E. Park

…divert attention and buy more time. Instead, the deaths brought his half-decade career to a deadly halt, and insurmountable trauma to several families. Murder Among the Mormons spends most of its time on the resulting investigation, including the mistakes Hofmann made that led to police suspicion and the brilliant work by forensic investigators to uncover his forgeries. Hofmann was arrested in January 1986, pled guilty in January 1987, and sentenc…

Are We Entering the End Times for Mainline Seminaries?

By Elesha Coffman

…change, institutions must. Although the current rate of change in theological education is exceptionally high, seminary identities have not been set in stone. As Andover-Newton’s name indicates, the institution was already the product of a merger. Its history includes relocations, too. Andover was founded in Andover, Massachusetts, in 1807 by Congregationalists who feared that Harvard had become overly Unitarian. About a century later, Andover re…

Blood and Politics — Christian White Nationalism in the Age of Obama

By Bill Berkowitz

…s a White Christian republic rather than a multiracial democracy. And in a number of cases they turn their conviction that White Christians have superior civil and political rights—over those they deem “Fourteenth Amendment” citizens (everybody else)—into fraudulent schemes with fake money. In other instances, they establish “Christian” courts and militia groups that act as if they are legitimate arms of “lawful” government. In this belief system,…

RD10Q: The Fight Against Feminism

By Kathryn Joyce

…contraception had become an important issue among Protestants and evangelicals in addition to traditional opponents among Catholic and LDS churches. Looking into some of the groups that were supportive of the pharmacists’ movement, though, I came across a surprisingly well-organized coalition of evangelical anti-contraception groups, some of whom were arguing that Christians should leave their family size and spacing in the hands of God. As I beg…

How to Make Nones and Lose Money: Study Shows Cost of Catholic Sex Abuse Scandals

By Kaya Oakes

…aled that, unsurprisingly, “a scandal causes a persistent decline in the local Catholic affiliation and church attendance.” “Some Catholics join other religious denominations during the first three years after a scandal,” they write. “But these individuals later end up with no religious affiliation.” They end up, in other words, as Nones. The economists involved in this study focused on the zip code where a clergy sex scandal had occurred. They fo…

Despite Conflation of Israel with Judaism, Anti-Zionism is More Kosher Than You Think

By Seth Sanders

…ditional readings of the Torah, it even goes back to God himself. Indeed a number of biblical books go beyond merely denouncing or delegitimizing Israel’s “right to exist.” At the time of the original covenant, God threatens that, if Israel disobeys His teaching, the people of Israel will “flee in defeat before your enemies; you may make a unified stand against them but you will run away in every direction; and you will become a horror to all the…

Resurrection of ‘Comstock Laws’ Would Threaten Access to Abortifacients — But Even That Fear Misses Bigger Picture

By Gillian Frank

…e anti-vice organizations he collaborated with, confiscated and burned thousands upon thousands of books and persecuted authors and vendors. These censorious actions were points of pride in the 19th century, so much so that they were emblazoned on the emblem of The New York Society for the Suppression of Vice. But Anthony Comstock and his ilk weren’t just targeting the written word; they also targeted information, medicine, and devices that might…

The Story Behind the Catholic Church’s Stunning Contraception Reversal

By Patricia Miller

…ce on the issue of family planning dated back to 1930 and the papal encyclical Casti Connubi (On Christian Marriage), which was written to address the growing acceptance of birth control throughout the Western world. The tipping point was reached in 1930, when the Anglican Church officially approved the use of birth control by married couples. Other Protestant denominations soon followed, signaling that contraceptives had gained moral and social l…

“Can You Tell Me Who The Villains Are?”: Rock and Religion, Irish-Style

By Lisa Bitel

…e Saw Doctors were not the only bunch to take the piss out of the hypocritical Bishop Casey. Christy Moore, the famously political folk singer, did his bit with a cover of Martin Egan’s song, “Casey”. But everybody was used to Christy’s whingeing about politics. The Saw Doctors, with foresight formerly reserved for prophets and druids, captured public reaction with the upbeat “Howya Julia”, skewering episcopal hypocrisy and clerical cover-ups. In…

Review: Is the Religious Right Dying?

By Laura R. Olson

…o-moral concerns. In the baffling 2008 presidential primary season, Republican candidates aligned with the religious right failed to make much headway, but Democratic candidates made concerted efforts to reach out to people of faith. Should we interpret all of these facts to mean that the religious right is indeed dying? In his new book, Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith and Politics After the Christian Right (Princeton University Press, 2008), politic…