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Progressive Faith Leaders Rally to Keep Heat on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

By Alex McNeill

…w, the way forward for the Obama Administration is politically murky, said New York magazine writer Chris Rovzar in a September 10 analysis. “If the Justice Department simply doesn’t appeal the case after this ruling, ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ might just go away. If Obama waits for Congress to address the issue, a Republican-led house might reject an overturn,” wrote Rovzar. For Knox, the way forward is clear, and the faith communities he represents…

Islam in Conflict with Democracy? A Response to Stanley Fish

By David True

…rts. A week earlier, literary theorist Stanley Fish penned a piece for the New York Times exploring the conflicts that emerge when Muslim immigrants to Western nations “evidence a desire to order their affairs, especially domestic affairs, by Shari’ah law rather than by the supposedly neutral law of a godless liberalism.” Fish is well-known for exposing the tensions between our political ideals and the practical demands of life in a pluralistic so…

Beloved Immortals: Science, Miracles and ‘Jellyfish Time’

By Beatrice Marovich

…ng. The novelist Nathaniel Rich recently published a charming story in the New York Times about one such scientist. Japanese researcher Shin Kubota, Rich tells us, is the only scientist who maintains a captive population of the jelly called Turritopsis dohrnii, also known as the “immortal medusa” or, more simply, the “immortal jellyfish.” This species is able to—crudely speaking—reverse the aging process, returning to its earliest stage of develop…

Is It the Job of Religion Journalists to Define “Religion”?

By Ann Taves

…fectly reasonable) definition of religion. When Linker asks “why can’t the New York Times’ religion columnist define religion,” the answer I think is three-fold: First, Oppenheimer was writing as a journalist, who covers religion for the NY Times, much as journalists, such as Joe Palca, cover science for NPR. Just as Palca reports on research in the sciences that he finds interesting, so too Oppenheimer in the column in question was reporting on a…

The Cult of Kurzweil: Will Robots Save Our Souls?

By Robert M. Geraci

…ers in the Apocalyptic AI movement receive attention or accolades from the New York Times or Time the more we can expect their movement to grow. This will present a serious challenge to traditional religious communities, whose own promises of salvation may appear weak in comparison to the “scientific” soteriology offered by Kurzweil. If Moravec was right in proposing that we will upload our minds into machines, then traditional offers of heavenly…

Anthony Weiner’s Achilles Penis

By Donna Schaper

Anthony Weiner has been a great congressman to New York and beyond. He can stir a crowd. He is unpopular with the moderate Democrats. He is prophetic on the matter of immigration (as well a Queens congressman might be). If only his power and passion could have turned to prophecy, instead of pettiness, we could still have the leader we need. Because he twittered his power away, we might lose this good leader. Lying is not leadership, nor is person…

Premature “Gay Marriage Defeated” Post Removed from National Review

By Peter Montgomery

…nd boasting about the coalition that had defeated marriage equality in New York. Strangely enough, no news outlets were reporting the defeat of marriage equality. A few hours after NOM’s claim, CBS news reported that negotiations over the scope of the religious exemption—reportedly the sticking point for a number of Republicans in the state senate—were still moving forward. Looks like NOM’s eagerness to declare victory got a bit ahead of the facts…

“I’m a Creationist,” Says Former Times Tech Writer, Heffernan

By Michael Schulson

…ming evidence for evolution. Science writer Carl Zimmer—who writes for The New York Times, as Heffernan did for years—engaged her in some Twitter sparring. To summarize: Heffernan was not raised a creationist. And her opinion about the world’s origins owes more to postmodernism than it does to John Whitcomb and Henry Morris. Heffernan describes learning about the Big Bang as a child, and then comparing it to the Biblical stories she knew. “I was……

Would Gandhi Disband Occupy?

By Ira Chernus

…lternative economic and social institutions while actively resisting the dominant, dominating institutions. Where better to start brainstorming and experimenting for a new society than in Zuccotti Park and the dozens of other urban spaces where occupiers are building real 24/7 communities? Split those communities up into little teams of volunteers and their creative energy would soon be gone, which is no way to fulfill our responsibility to transf…

Muslim Boycott of Bloomberg’s Interfaith Breakfast

By Hussein Rashid

…is hosting his annual Interfaith Breakfast on Friday, December 30, and the New York Times is reporting that Muslim leaders will be boycotting the event. I do know that the request for a boycott was initiated by Muslim leaders, but was sent to leaders from several faith communities. I was invited to the breakfast and to participate in the boycott. Based on what we know, I find the spying program deplorable and the interfaith boycott important, but…