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The Problem with the Discussion of Race and the Tea Party Movement

By Julie Ingersoll

…to them (with individual views of racism) when we say that current social problems in the United States are rooted in slavery, abolished nearly 150 years ago. But we’ve all seen the ugly, explicitly racist signs at Tea Party events; there’s not much argument to be made there. And many blog comments on the controversy between the Tea Party and the NAACP had, what seemed to me, to be racially based, angry undertones. A representative composite: “We…

Who is God? Can You Trust Him?

By Daniel Schultz

…acts on a personal level in your life. It’s a fair point. There are other problems, though. Biblical literalism unnecessarily ties the hands of God in a couple of ways. For one, creationism limits understanding of God the creator. It’s possible to be faithful—to trust in God’s promises—without holding a literal view of Genesis, as John Haught demonstrates at that last link. (Contra RD’s own Davidson Loehr, Haught thinks that there’s room for chan…

Glenn Beck’s ‘Social Justice’ Heresies

By Sarah Posner

…still the idea that one-on-one evangelism—not government—will solve social problems like poverty. At the core of social and economic success is the “traditional” family, the church, and a government that does little more than ensure “an overall environment of safety, order, freedom, and peace.” This view lies at the heart of why anti-government conservatives and the Christian right make common cause: the conservatives are happy to slash the govern…

“Professor” David Barton On Immigration: God Drew Our Borders

By Julie Ingersoll

…alysis of the “volume of prayers being offered” is overlaid with data on a number of social problems, to compare the “prayer years with the post prayer years.” The removal of prayer from public schools lowered the amount of prayer being offered to such a degree that its impact was felt, not just in the schools, but in every aspect of our national life! Never mind that just because two things seem to happen at the same time doesn’t make them causal…

Conviction of FLDS Leader Warren Jeffs Overturned

By Joanna Brooks

…Arizona community of Short Creek, as well as with the movement of a select number of FLDS members to the faith’s remote compound in Eldorado, Texas. Jeffs will stand a new trial in Utah scheduled to begin on August 23, and he faces extradition to Texas. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff is also being pressured to review state rape statutes to better deal with the situation of arranged underage marriages in polygamous communities. Two days after…

Religion and Science: Busting Assumptions

By Annie Hardison-Moody

…hiz” culture that assumes scientific discovery is a quick fix to society’s problems. Participants also highlighted the heated debate around particular issues that sit at the crossroads of religion and science: evolution, stem-cell research, abortion debates, genetic testing, sexuality and reproductive health. Given the embattled language of these debates and the abundance of promised miraculous answers to complicated questions, participants wonder…

Rebranding the Mormons

By Joanna Brooks

…entic, and relevant.”) It’s also clearly an effort to address the major PR problems facing the Church as it continues to contend with century-old stereotypes about Mormons as clannish polygamists as well as with recent fallout from its heavy involvement in California’s Proposition 8 campaign. The Church is struggling to retool its approach to missionary work away from the time-honored tradition of door-to-door tracting as growth rates flatline wor…

Christian Astronomer Sues University over Creationist Belief

By Lauri Lebo

…, Gaskell has written that evolutionary theory has “significant scientific problems” and includes “unwarranted atheistic assumptions and extrapolations,” a statement that certainly makes one question whether he has the critical thinking skills to lead an observatory. Additionally, he wasn’t fired, merely passed over for the position. Obviously, an astronomer shouldn’t be passed over for a job solely on his religious beliefs – unless of course thos…

Dancing in the Streets, and Ending Women’s Segregation in Israel

By Ruth Tsuria

…After all, in this era of multiculturalism, who are we to judge right from wrong? And, it’s only happening in their neighborhoods, inside their own communities — so why should we intervene? Indeed, why should we? Are we even allowed to intervene? My answer: ‘Yes, we can.’ Even in a diverse society, all of us, secular, liberal, and post-modern “believers,” can and should voice their opinions, even if that means that the majority, secular cultural m…

NYPD Lied About Islamophobic Third Jihad

By Hussein Rashid

…e NYPD has been engaged in spying, they deny it, simply stating that AP is wrong, offering no proof of their innocence or rebuttals. Then their claim was that Third Jihad was only shown a couple of times and that Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly’s appearance in the film was not intentional, but was recycled footage. But now the Brennan Center at NYU discovered that it was on permanent loop during trainings, actively shown to over 1300 police offi…