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The Rise and Fall of an American Gang: Religion as Camouflage?

By Spencer Dew

…. There’s a series of huge stories here, and this book—while certainly the best resource on the subject—is hurt by the sheer range of material it has to address. The book is alternately fascinating and frustrating. What we learn of Jeff Fort’s childhood doesn’t mention religious upbringing, though he had siblings named “Maryam, Kadija… Kaaba, Akaba, and Aki.” Similar gaps riddle the narrative. “An Illinois politician invited Fort to attend the 196…

In Defense of Clerical Celibacy, From a Protestant Liberal

By Kate Blanchard

…echoed this idea in 1 Corinthians 7, saying that he saw singleness as the best, most hassle-free way for Christians to serve God, “But if [people] cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn.” The message here is pretty clear: a few folks are gifted with the call and the ability to live lives centered on something other than married life, but most of us will need to marry if for no other reason than to kee…

Personhood Ohio Claims Bible Dictates Criminal Penalties for Abortion

By Sarah Morice-Brubaker

…rpretation on the part of those who claim that the Bible is clear.) To the best of my knowledge—and I am no Hebrew Bible scholar—the Hebrew is something like “the baby comes out but no harm follows,” which some people interpret as meaning that the mother miscarries but is herself unharmed; and others interpret to mean that the baby is born premature but is unharmed. So they get in discussions, as people do about Bible translations, in which they m…

The Secret Life of Mormons: As Told by Prodigal Daughter, Novelist Judith Freeman

By Joanna Brooks

…always emphasized that we should tell faith-promoting stories and put the best spin on everything. I think the consequences of that can be devastating for individuals full of flaws and trying to reckon with their own stories. When I think about the girl I was—I was a thief, I was stealing things, I was having an affair—but in truth I was a very human, flawed, striving, seeking young woman. For a long time, I stole things in my life. And I really…

Trump In Colorado: When the “Facts” Are No Longer Checkable

By Paul Harvey

…at world. Any such claim is laughably unpersuasive, despite James Dobson’s best efforts. Rather, I mean “faith” not in any specifically theological sense, but more in the sense of the evidence of things not seen. (The “substance of things hoped for” is what Trump alone can provide, judging from his RNC address). Initially, this came in thinking about Trump’s RNC portrayal of an America in grave peril of mass death from drunk drivers who happen to…

Evangelical “Sexual Purity” Is Not About Sex—It’s About Power

By Sara J. Moslener

…nation in distress and claiming that evangelical Christianity can not only best explain the crisis, but save us from our demise. Is there anything you had to leave out? For a long time I considered writing an addendum about post-purity evangelicals. This is a concept introduced by Abigail Rine who wrote in The Atlantic about the growing number of evangelicals and former evangelicals who’ve been recounting their experiences with sexual purity. Many…

The Most Forgotten Queer Folks in the US are Fighting Back Against a Powerful — and Publicly Funded — Group That Discriminates With Impunity

By Chrissy Stroop

…this way. To take just one example, as you can verify by perusing ADF’s website, a number of staff lawyers at ADF have degrees from Regent University, a far right-wing interdenominational school founded by notorious culture warrior Pat Robertson himself. Regent is, naturally, a CCCU member school, which will bring us back around to the issue of why we should view ADF and the CCCU in a similar light. Most readers concerned with the power of the Chr…

Blank Sabbath: Sens. Sponsor Bill to Curb Wage Theft

By Peter Laarman

…anic model of social organization. Theologian Walter Brueggemann is at his best in describing Pharoah’s Egypt—and contemporary America—as a disordered place of unlimited exploitation and exhaustion. In this context the greatest blessing given at Sinai is the Sabbath principle and all of the related instruction about learning to share abundance. But of course the challenge facing those wandering Israelites—and still facing us—is the powerful appeal…

Pope Francis v. Kim Davis: A Vatican Game of Thrones

By Anthea Butler

…ived for his welcoming tone in America, the truth is more complicated. The best explication of what most likely happened has come from Charles Pierce in Esquire, who verified (correctly) that Archbishop Carlo Vigano, the nuncio, is the person who hastily arranged the meeting between the Pope and Kim Davis. Archbishop Vigano is a Pope Benedict XVI supporter involved in the Vatileaks scandal. Vigano has lied about his own brother, with whom he is in…

Is Monsanto Satan? The Pleasure and Problem of Conspiracy Theory

By Alan Levinovitz

…le, because the deceiver is so powerful that any contact risks corruption. Best to avoid it entirely, lest you end up like Bill Nye, the Science Guy, who changed his mind on GMOs after visiting Monsanto. Under most circumstances, the reasonable explanation would be that Nye was persuaded by argument and evidence. But for those who believe in Monsatan, the better—the only—explanation is that Nye was coerced, just as the best explanation for my skep…