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“Traditional values.” Tom DeLay. Jesus loves low, low prices! Just another day in Texas.

By Sarah Posner

…zation.” If you can leave LGBT people out of that, too, all the better. In classic Texas Republican politics form, the executive director of both groups, John Colyandro, is an indicted former associate of disgraced former House Minority Leader Tom DeLay. Colyandro is the former executive director of DeLay’s Texans for a Republican Majority, and DeLay’s co-defendant in that notorious campaign finance scandal in which DeLay et al. were accused (and…

Can a Progressive Atheist Defeat the Democrats’ “Family” Man in NC?

By Sarah Jaffe

…uld not support any legislation that ‘classified’ the LGBT population as a class of citizens with protected rights. When asked what reason he had for not wanting to give LGBT citizens protections under the law he answered, ‘My beliefs.’” She continues, “North Carolina deserves to have someone in Washington who does not discriminate against a segment of the population he or she represents due to his or her religious ‘beliefs.’ Rep. Shuler has sho…

Women and Children First: Syria’s Day of Dignity

By Mohja Kahf

…rsary of Kurdish deaths at state hands in 2004 and 2008. Wielding the microphone over the throng of fifteen hundred was a woman, Harvene Awsi, a representative in one of Syria’s Kurdish parties. In ringing tones, she called for repeal of emergency laws, release of prisoners, and freedom. The crowd chanted—The people want! To topple the regime!—presaging masses who would pick up that song in twenty-nine Syrian cities on Dignity Friday, March 18. Tu…

The Jersey Shores of Tripoli: MTV and Arab Revolution

By Haroon Moghul

…white Americans, to me and to themselves. Their subcultures were formed by class, music, sports, and other local criteria, and rarely by either faith or ethnicity. Here’s a secret, white people: For us brown people, you were long part of a magical, all-powerful civilization, and we had no idea how in the hell you did it (these days, it seems, you’re desperately wondering the same thing). Everywhere whites went, they prospered, dominated, succeeded…

Day of (Anti-Bullying) Silence Shows “Pro-Family” Activists to be Anti-Gay Bullies

By Julie Ingersoll

…to protect them from being “sexually indoctrinated” in schools where their classmates will remain silent. Moreover, SaveCalifornia’s response seems decidedly like bullying. Since the school funding is based on attendance, they advocated keeping students out of the classroom for the explicit purpose costing the school money to “prevent the Day of Silence” and/or “punish” school administrators that “allow” students to remain silent. Calling the even…

The Princess Bride: Royal Weddings for Everyone

By Katy E. Shrout

…a.k.a. “Here comes the bride”)—not only for English royals, but for middle-class folks, too. After Victoria’s wedding, etiquette books began to refer to the “white wedding” as a kind of ritual marked by formality, the symbolic color white, a certain measure of expense, and an emphasis given to the bride herself. In 1841, some observers wondered why egalitarian Americans, who ought to know better than to admire the foolish trappings of monarchy, we…

Scopes Redux DOA Pending Expert Input

By Lauri Lebo

…g.” Scientists say the wording is a ploy to sneak creationism into science class. Once again, the bill’s language is based on sample legislation proposed by the Seattle-based Discovery Institute. The bill is not yet officially dead, however. According to the Sentinel, “the Senate Education Committee wound up adjourning Wednesday night with some other bills left hanging, raising the possibility of another meeting where Watson could revive the measu…

By the Numbers: New Poll Says Capitalism and Christianity Are Incompatible

By The Editors

…of all religious groups except white evangelical Protestants, who are evenly split) agree that it’s fair for wealthier Americans to pay more taxes than the middle class or those less well off, why is neither party willing to shift the tax burden to the wealthy? …

Texas Board of Education to Review Intelligent Design-Promoting Materials for Science Classes

By Lauri Lebo

…us that they had no intention of trying to sneak creationism into science class. In 2009, when the board approved its revamped science curriculum standards that critics feared would pave the way for the adoption of creationist supplemental material, its members took umbrage at such accusations. As former Board President Don McLeroy said at the time, “Creationism and intelligent design don’t belong in our science classes. Anything taught in scienc…

Why the World Needs Religious Studies

By Nathan Schneider

…can be of mutual benefit. As a journalist, I’ve found that epoché is rule number one for reporting among people different from you. Lawyers often have to do something similar. It’s a basic part of how business works. For much of history, traders, rather than scholars, have led the way to discovering foreign cultures. Christians and Muslims were trading with each other during the Crusades, and Marco Polo made it to China centuries before Matteo Ri…