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Do Space Aliens Need Baptism? The View From Gliese 581g

By Paul Wallace

…s grown enormously since Brahe’s time, and with every step the earth has become tinier, its inhabitants more inconsequential, and, paradoxically, more ignorant. And with every outward step, as our universe and our ignorance grows, so do the number of potential space alien hideouts. So does the belief that there must be someone out there. So every time I read about the discovery of a new Earth-like planet or read about NASA’s upcoming Kepler planet…

Commies, Blacks, Jews, the UCC and Other Threats to America

By Daniel Schultz

…Mother A.M.E. Zion Church Lemeul Haynes Congregational Church Jewish Labor Committee Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral United Church of Christ American Muslim Association of North America (AMANA) Beulah Church of the Nazarene Bethel Tabernacle AME Church, Brooklyn Pax Christi USA Tikkun-Network of Spiritual Progressives Jewish Funds for Justice Disciples Justice Action Network Sojourners Scary people, al…

Halloween, Evangelicals, and the Macabre

By John W. Morehead

…orrectly understood as pagan, but the possibility that not everything that comes from paganism must be evil is ignored; as is that fact that Halloween incorporates a number of elements and influences that have accrued during its journey through various cultures. In truth, some of these elements are Christian, like the feast of the dead that attempted to maintain communion with the saints, both living and deceased. The Roman Catholic Church continu…

Why Anti-Gay Bullying is a Theological Issue

By Cody J. Sanders

…ting messages of affirmation are overpowered by the religious rhetoric of hatred. Silence only serves to support the toleration of bullying, violence, and exclusion. In the face of what has already become the common occurrence of LGBT teen suicide, how long can we wait to respond? *Young, Justice and the Politics of Difference. p. 61 **Copeland, Enfleshing Freedom. p. 82…

Special Hell: Progressive Catholics Reckon With the Rise of Trump

By Patricia Miller

…e best political way forward for the Democrats is what he calls a “50-state/all constituencies” strategy that includes a strong Catholic outreach component. He notes that Hillary Clinton’s outreach to Catholics was notably less robust than Barack Obama’s. She didn’t recruit prominent Catholic backers the way that Obama did and skipped important Catholic outreach opportunities like a Saint Patrick’s Day event at Notre Dame when the campaign decided…

Jesus Christ and Super Stars: How The Holy Rolled Mainstream in Pop Music

By Alana Massey

…n/I’ll be sent to/Is when I’m alone with you/I was born sick, but I love it/Command me to be well/Amen. Amen. Amen,” he sings to a lover, worshiping her as he might a god. This is the language of blasphemy and of a kind that still acknowledges the sin at its core as a force in the world, even as it challenges the notions of it. St. Vincent (a.k.a. Annie Clark) kicked off her career in a similar fashion, with the cheekily titled, “Jesus Saves, I Sp…

More Than Big Hair and Money: Jim, Tammy Faye and the Media “Holy Wars” of the 80s

By John Wigger

…some of Jim and Tammy’s appeal. PTL was all about images so there were any number of options. Too bad books can’t come with a dozen different covers to choose from. Is there a book out there you wish you had written? Which one? Why? I love the writing style of Lawrence Wright and Hampton Sides. They are both masters at weaving nonfiction into a page-turner. Anything half as good would be fine with me. What’s your next book? I’m not sure yet. Hopef…

Holy Father, You’re Not Helping: The Problem with the Pope’s Plan to Consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

By Katherine Kelaidis

…r or opportunist. This history begins roughly in 1054, the formal break in communion between the Latin Western Christian Church, headed by the Roman papacy, and the four historical patriarchates of the Eastern Church. The split was preceded by a series of disputes concerning both church governance and theology, chief among them contention over the pope’s claim to universal authority. A number of violent incidents over two hundred years, from both…

Glenn Beck’s Salvation Army

By Peter Montgomery

…faith through a prism of American nationalism? Not to mention the growing number of Americans without any religious commitment? Beck tells us, “you must fall to your knees and you must reconnect with God. He is not asking you. He is commanding us as a people to get behind Him. He will right the wrongs. We will have to pay a price because we lived outside of His laws. We will have to pay a price, but every day we don’t get behind Him, the price ge…

Orthodox Jews Begin to Reckon with Sexual Abuse

By Paul Berger

…munity’s reliance upon beth dins is one of the central stumbling blocks to combating sexual abuse. Typically comprised of three rabbis, they rule on family and business disputes such as divorce, inheritance, and contractual disagreements. Small Jewish communities usually have a single beth din while larger communities, like those found in New York and New Jersey, may have many. These include beth dins that specialize in sexual abuse, though they a…