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New Research May Explain the Weakness of Centrism and the Religious Left

By Daniel Schultz

…life candidate (or even conceding too much ground on the issue) would be a net loser: you lose about 6% of Dems by ticking off pro-lifers, and 17% by cheesing off the pro-choicers. As the party includes more religiously unaffiliated voters, these numbers only increase. It would be a terrible mistake for Democrats to follow Day’s advice and seek a “big tent” on this issue to defeat Trump. They need to keep their 94% fired up and ready to ride, not…

Trump’s Abortion Gag Rule Is State Violence

By Sikivu Hutchinson

…in the streets because of the neoliberal destruction of the social safety net. In a 2014 discussion between feminist cultural critic bell hooks and trans activist and actress Laverne Cox, hooks argued that folks who are against reproductive health care can’t be considered feminists. In this era, when women’s right to self-determination is under siege on multiple levels, being for reproductive justice is nonnegotiable for a feminism based on econo…

Atheists of Color Transcend Opposition to Religion and White Atheist Privilege in Working for Social Justice

By Sikivu Hutchinson

…nd whites has increased, straining an already frayed social welfare safety net, people of color are seeking faith-based assistance in greater numbers. In many respects, Trumpian right wing religious attacks on the Johnson amendment, public education, abortion rights, reproductive justice and LGBTQI rights have re-energized secular activism. Yet Black secularists in poor and working class African American communities are especially disdainful of li…

GOP Education Bill Would Radically Rewrite Religious Freedom and License Virtually Any Form of Discrimination

By Patrick Hornbeck

…ts, beliefs, or teachings, and any policies or decisions related to such tenets, beliefs, or teachings.” (A later section of the bill specifically shields religious institutions from the effects of losing accreditation for reasons related to mission.) The drafters of the PROSPER Act appear to be embracing a theory of religious freedom that seeks to exempt religious individuals and institutions from generally applicable laws and regulations. It is…

I Always Knew Santa Was Make-Believe: A Retired Pastor on Losing Her Faith

By Anne Grant

…one-quarter-mile on a half-inch cable 1500 feet in the air with no safety net. “Thank you, Jesus,” he said, his words recorded. “Lord, help this cable to calm down. I command it in your name. Praise you, praise you, Jesus.” I grew up talking to Jesus like that. Nik grew up walking on high wires since he was two like his mother, father, and extended family. Despite his strong belief, I knew Nik could not walk on water across the Colorado River. He…

Shameful GOP Tax Plan Taxes Reality

By Peter Laarman

…new suffering among people with disabilities, the elderly, vulnerable children, etc. Because as sure as the sun rises in the east, GOP leaders will use the new deficits their own plan creates to demand huge cuts in the social safety net: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and everything else. Oh, and did I mention Fun Fact #3: the GOP plan, for all the pro-worker verbiage attached to it, actually raises taxes for the lowest-income workers? Hey,…

Is the Francis Era Ending the Catholic Bishops’ Cozy Ties to the GOP?

By Patricia Miller

…y criticized the budgets put forward by Ryan because they would gut safety net programs for the poor. But this isn’t surprising given the enduring ties between institutional Republicans and the conservative wing of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Dolan and his ilk have been cozy with the leadership of the GOP since the Bush administration, when a number of archbishops and cardinals openly campaigned for Bush. It was in the bishops’ intere…

Will Dems Find Moxie to Resist Immoral GOP Tax Plan?

By Peter Laarman

…in the deficit, will be used to further reduce public services and safety net benefits in the usual pincers-like operation. I could go on, but you already get the point: as with Obamacare repeal, what unites Trump, McConnell, and Ryan on the subject of tax “reform” amounts to a vast tissue of lies. Cruel lies, when you consider the new economic violence against the weakest and most vulnerable that they portend. What is actually at stake here is t…

Prosperity Gospel Is Not the Only Problem with Joel Osteen’s Harvey Response

By Brie Loskota and Peter Gudaitis

…to address the great needs of his neighbors. Houston’s Joel Osteen has a net worth over $50m and a church that holds 16,800 but this is all he’s offering. pic.twitter.com/rmhdWK6ZAO — Mark Elliott (@markmobility) August 28, 2017 What I mean is, Joel Osteen is not selling the preferential option for the poor. Your best life is not being flooded out of your house — ProfB (@AntheaButler) August 28, 2017 Whatever one’s opinion about Osteen, the Twit…

Jesus Said Punch Up, Not Down: Why William Barber’s Attack on the Religious Right May Not Be What It Seems

By Daniel Schultz

…ame thing I hear whenever I cite scripture in support of the social safety net: God never says government should provide for the poor! (Which is true, though she never says the opposite, either.) Like Harris, many conservative Christians believe—truly, almost as an article of faith—that government programs are an ineffective means of poverty relief at best, and at worst, a counter-productive or even predatory response to the poor. When I say “an a…