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Gabby Douglas Thanks God… Why is This News?

By Anthea Butler

…s professor, I can tell you that proselytism is a serious issue around the world. People have died for doing it. It can be very harmful, especially to close families when one person converts and sends an army of their new religious friends to convince family members. What Gabby Douglas did was share her beliefs on Twitter and Facebook. She’s a 16-year-old. She’s not knocking on doors selling Bibles, or preaching on a street corner. She is doing wh…

Sharbat Gula’s Experience Exemplifies the ‘White Savior’ Lens Through Which Most Americans View Afghanistan

By Sara Kamali

…ceted lives of Afghans and women especially, her portrait only speaks a thousand words of media myopia, military arrogance, and cultural illiteracy. McCurry may have taken Sharbat Gula’s photo, but he failed to portray Sharbat Gula as a human being with all the complexities that we each carry. Sharbat Gula most likely never received—nor will receive—a profit from her own photograph. And while the subject of monetizing one’s own likeness may be an…

The Year in Religion: A Ray of Hope Amid the Usual Fecklessness

By Peter Laarman

…ased community organizing networks. We will all see more evidence of this fruitful connection during the crucial organizing year ahead. One might say that the younger activists are converting some of the long-time faithful to accept their proper calling, dangers notwithstanding. I also find good news in the fact that more and more white people, young and old alike, seem now able to see and even say that white privilege is a curse and a burden to t…

Josh Duggar Arrest For Child Sexual Abuse Material is Part of a Systemic Problem in Evangelicalism

By Chrissy Stroop

…same-sex relationships to alcohol addiction or murder—makes for a toxic brew in which the abuse and silencing of women and children is simply inevitable. The evidence of that is all around us. “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit,” Jesus is quoted as saying in the Gospel of Matthew. “By their fruits you will know them.” *CORRECTION: The original version of this article incorrectly took Jim Bob Duggar’s spin at face value. RD regrets the error….

To Fox News I’m Still a Jihadist

By Haroon Moghul

…st on The Kelly File, for a one-hour special on Islam called “Defying the Sword.” (Not followed by the unreleased documentary, “Begging the Question.”) And why? My Religion Dispatches review of Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s book, Heretic: Why Islam Needs A Reformation Now, that’s why. Host Megyn Kelly moderated the discussion. I went on because I think Ayaan’s book is self-defeating. First, because of Ayaan’s reputation in the Muslim communities, any and ever…

RD News Round-Up—Nov. 4, 2008

By Bill Berkowitz

…ted. “You’re describing the perfect storm,” Neil Calman, CEO of the Bronx, New York-based Institute for Family Health, a speaker at the event, responded to an audience member’s comment: “People are going to find the situation will get increasingly worse and government is going to have less and less. We have to pull from all resources. It will be the challenge of the coming years.” In the twenty-second meeting in a monthly series dubbed “Compassion…

The Demographic that Should Keep Rove Awake at Night

By Katherine Stewart

…rily in its members’ opposition to the toxic blurring of religion and government. But if trends continue, perhaps we can look forward to the day when the word “values” is no longer used in political campaigns as a code word for bigotry….

Fix the Economy GOD’$ WAY: Dave Ramsey’s Great Christian Recovery

By Paul Harvey

…ook The Total Money Makeover, in various editions now, is a fixture on the New York Times bestseller list; and personal financial blogs frequently discuss the relative merits of his seven-step “debt snowball” plan to get out and stay out of debt and thus gradually become wealthy. Putting the whole package together, Ramsey should be understood as far more influential than better known financial gurus like Suze Orman, while the friendly tone of his…

An Immigrant’s Tale: The Pull of the Homeland

By Shabana Mir

…ing about the bacon or alcohol content. It is comfort as well as luxury to live in country that is predominantly the same religion as you. In our new homes, the religious impulse cannot be let loose. The religious impulse is suspect, and many, many times over if it is Muslim. My religiosity can’t be a wild horse, galloping for joy around the island. Religiosity must be domesticated in the city for it to be kept safe, and so it can be performed as…

This Year in Satanism

By Joseph Laycock

…Supreme Court ruled in Town of Greece v. Galloway that the town of Greece, New York, could use explicitly Christian prayers to open its council meetings. For many the ruling represented an erosion of the establishment clause. Greaves rejoiced at another opportunity for public displays of Satanism and even composed a Satanic prayer for future council meetings. Also in May, The Satanic Temple drew national media attention after they announced plans…