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Are School Districts Getting the Message on Government-Sponsored Prayer?

By Lauri Lebo

…ally permitted,” said Fairfield Community Schools attorney Tim Shelly. The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana sued the district in federal court on behalf of a New Paris Elementary School first-grader and his mother. The suit alleged the boy was left unsupervised in the hallway when his mother opted him out of the weekly 20-minute Bible class. He later was sent to the school library. The suit said the boy was being deprived of educational i…

Something So Broken: What’s Frightening About Beasts of the Southern Wild

By Michael Pasquier

…a hurricane pounded his home in the coastal village of Cheniere Caminada in 1893. He was swept out to sea and rescued eight days later by the crew of a pilot boat 18 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River. Upon his return to what was left of Cheniere Caminada, he discovered that his parents and brother had died along with 800 other residents. Those who survived the flood moved “up the bayou” (as they still say in Lafourche Parish) to to…

Racist Remarks by popular BYU Religion Professor Spark Controversy

By Joanna Brooks

…for sale in LDS bookstores and on the shelves of LDS homes. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, when questioned about the ban in public, LDS Church leaders continued to sidestep its origins and rationale. Mormons hungry for a more direct approach welcomed LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley’s 2006 address, “The Need for Greater Kindness,” as a long-awaited denunciation of racism: “Racial strife still lifts its ugly head. I am advised that even ri…

World Congress of Families Blessed By Georgian Orthodox Patriarch and George W. Bush; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…ide behind colourful rainbow flags are preparing to have an event from June 10th to 18th, and before that they’re preparing to try and legalise faggot f**kery.” “Faggot activities aren’t legal. Let’s take the law into our own hands. If the police aren’t going to do anything about it our community is ready to do it ourselves. We will not let these mother f**king dogs to ruin our culture. Ladies and Gents of Sinhale, join us on the 28th to look at t…

Gingrich Downplays Adelson Money, Stokes Fear of “Second Holocaust” at Florida Church

By Sarah Posner

…t-out-the-vote drive for the general election and beyond. Don Wildmon, the American Family Association founder, bankroller of Rick Perry’s The Response rally, and now-endorser of Gingrich, introduced the list of registrants at The Response to United in Purpose, writing at the time that “research has shown that it takes only 5 million voters to influence the outcome of an election. This is a do-able goal, and Champion the Vote is seeking Champions—…

Pentecostal Prayer Gangs: New Film Documents Religion in a Brazilian Prison

By Nick Street

…each job skills and do Bible study—outnumbered Catholic volunteers by about 15 to 1. Also in the city I was in the vast majority of inmates were from the poorer parts, where there are more Pentecostals. But the main reason for the dominance of Pentecostalism was because they believe in the potential for God to radically change a person’s life. The once-I-was-lost-but-now-I’m-found narrative in Pentecostalism really resonates with inmates. That’s w…

Why Crux‘s Knights of Columbus “Partnership” is Problematic

By Kaya Oakes

…s have not remained politically neutral, and have often worked against the American separation of church and state. According to Christopher Kauffman’s book Faith and Fraternalism, lobbying from the Knights helped get the phrase “Under God” inserted into the Pledge of Allegiance and led to Columbus Day being recognized as a federal holiday. More recently, the Knights contributed over a million dollars to Proposition 8, which temporarily overturned…

What To Do When Fred Phelps Arrives in Your Neighborhood

By Susan Henking

…l or fantasy football, I thought this sport could become a virtual part of American civil religion. The Holy Trinity of American Sports as Craig Forney has phrased it in his book (subtitled Civil Religion in Football, Baseball, and Basketball) are everywhere in their fantasy forms these days. Since each can each be seen as a core part of American civil or cultural religion, why not their fantasy versions? And, since dissent is a crucial aspect of…

New Poll: Repeal DOMA

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…s, but the numbers [pdf] show that the sample actually skewed right. Of the 800 registered voters polled 38 percent were strong, weak, or independent-leaning Democrats with 41 percent identifying as strong, weak, or independent leaning Republicans. Conservatives outweighed liberals by 38 to 18 percent, and a full 74 percent of those polled identified as religious. Some 40 percent claimed the moniker of “born again,” and 33 percent said they attend…

Colorado’s Personhood Initiative Fails—For Now

By Sarah Morice-Brubaker

Colorado’s fetal personhood ballot initiative petition failed to get enough valid signatures, and so the measure will not appear on the ballot, Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler announced this morning. According to the Denver Post, some of the signatures were deemed invalid, so the petition was found to have only 85,800 valid signatures—305 signatures short of the required 86,105. Jennifer Mason, speaking for Personhood Colorado, said tha…