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Thanksgiving Reveals More About Us Than About 17th Century Events

By Ed Simon

…that happened in the 17th century than the ever-regenerative work of constructing what exactly it means to be an American. Like anything religious at its core, Thanksgiving invites skepticism as well as orthodoxy, yet that’s always been intrinsic to what makes the holiday, and the country which it embodies, so fascinating, as these pieces spanning a decade of Religion Dispatches can attest to. *** How Thanksgiving Became All Dinner, No Worship Re…

The ‘Pro-Family’ Movement Has Little to Say About Family Separation

By Sophie Bjork-James

…pite the absurdity of this claim (Jesus was, after all, a refugee who was crucified for breaking the law, as noted by Talking Points Memo and numerous others), the dangerous logic in White’s statement is that those dubbed criminals are equated with sinners. According to this logic, criminals deserve punishment, not compassion—even, as it turns out, when children are involved. James Dobson, a founder of the pro-family movement, recently stated that…

A Shame-Positive Case for Keeping the Heat on Trump

By Daniel Schultz

…re able to absorb a dual-track message than some politicians believe: the Trump-led GOP is deeply corrupt, and they want to gut Social Security, the ACA, and whatever other pieces of the safety net they can get their hands on. This is not difficult. Finally, like Amanda Marcotte, I believe that a long-held goal of at least parts of the conservative movement has been to create cynicism in the media and among voters, which ultimately enables lawless…

Open Carry Racism: The Right Wing Fever Dream that Predates Trump

By Jason C. Bivins

…ck mold” in the basement. But what needs to be acknowledged is that while Trump is truly exceptional in his disregard for laws, norms, and institutions, he’s also a recognizable product of a half-century’s con game. Significantly, it was with Ronald Reagan’s endorsement of conservative evangelicals that the link between personal religion and politics was cemented firmly in ways we currently recognize. Rather than simply a lens through which people…

Just a Mirror of a Mirror of Myself: Episode Three Recap of Preachers’ Daughters

By Sarah Morice-Brubaker

…he future. (At the moment he’s not even returning her calls or texts.) The news is discouraging to them both. There’s nothing they can do to guarantee the biological father won’t show up in a few years and disrupt their family’s stability. Olivia, though, handles the situation with maturity, and her parents commend her for it. But when a friend drops in from her party days and she has lunch with him, her parents fear that she might start using dru…

Updated: Dr. Oz Thinks Anti-Muslim’s Sugar-Daddy Sheldon Adelson is “Not So Bad”

By Garibaldi

…Israel, none other than Rabbi Shmuley Boteach interviewed Dr. Oz for the Jerusalem Post. Asked why he chose to come to Israel Dr. Oz replied that it was “an effort to better understand the source of the universal Jewish values that have so positively impacted on the world and the place from which they stem.” Is it really necessary to visit Israel to better understand Jewish values? Can’t one just as easily become acquainted with Jewish values, rig…

Atheist Monument: Proof of Unintelligent Design

By Gordon Haber

…ristian religion.” On the back of the pillar is a list of “Punishments for Breaking the Ten Commandments,” such as Deuteronomy 13:10: “Other gods: Thou shalt stone him with stones that he die, because he hath thought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy god.” The intention, obviously, is to demonstrate that atheists, as opposed to Bible-thumpers, are ethical souls, and that America is not a Christian nation. Atheists have every right to express t…

How a Powerful ‘Ex-Gay’ Pastor is Chasing the Latino Vote

By Katherine Stewart

…tor who is among the small number of Anglos at the gathering explains that breaking the news to congregants about the “biblically correct” way to vote can be a delicate business. “They came up in tears and said, ‘I was born in this political party and I’ve always voted in this political party. But now I understand I have to vote on issues.’ Or: ‘My husband has always told me who to vote for. But, before God, I can’t vote for a candidate who believ…

How Long Does It Take a Man of God to Admit Child Rape is Wrong?

By Joanna Brooks

…aised consciousness and created critical mass among Catholic laity towards breaking the abuse scandal open. And it sure doesn’t take a degree in gender studies to see how a hierarchical patriarchal institution will protect its own before it protects children. Wrote one Los Angeles Times commentator: “If the Catholic Church had allowed women to become priests, would it even be having this ongoing sexual abuse problem? Maybe the Holy Spirit is tryi…

Corporation as ‘Citizen’ is the Next Anti-Black, Anti-Democratic Model that Needs to be Torn Down

By Peter Laarman

…th century ever really curbed this newfound corporate ascendancy. Even the breaking up of his gigantic Standard Oil Trust left John D. Rockefeller laughing all the way to the bank; it was ludicrously easy for him and his minions to continue to control the devolved smaller companies. This history is relevant now, in the Second Gilded Age, when we have become all too inured to the idea that we should be grateful when big capital throws some crumbs i…