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Conservative Christians Insist the Toxic Theology Portrayed in the Duggar Family Doc is ‘Fringe’ — But is it Really All That Different?

By Caroline Matas

Conservative Christian social media influencers have an important message to deliver after a new documentary about the Duggar family thrust the conservative Christian Institute in Basic Life Principles into a mainstream spotlight: We’re not like them—they’re a fringe organization. And if we are like them, it’s only in the good ways that are being purposefully obscured and maligned by bad-faith actors. But how “fringe” is an organization that purp…

How the Study of Evangelicalism Has Blinded Us to the Problems in Evangelical Culture

By Christopher D. Cantwell

…armed takeover of the Capitol, and President Trump’s second impeachment trial on his role in the riot is over, the sense of shock over the prominent participation of evangelicals in the January 6th insurrection remains fresh. “How did we get here?” evangelical leader Ed Stetzer asked, after images of rioters carrying Jesus is my Savior, Trump is my President and other such banners filled the news. “What happened? Why were so many people drawn to…

New Pope Accused of Conspiring in Kidnapping

By Nicole Greenfield

…, was announced earlier this afternoon, the excitement could hardly be contained. The first pope from the Western Hemisphere! The first Francis! An advocate for the poor! A defender of human rights! Wait. Bergoglio, a defender of human rights? The idea that anyone would characterize the new pope as having a solid record on such issues is laughable. One needn’t look further than his staunch opposition to LGBT rights and his flagrant attacks on wo…

Turn On The News: This Isn’t a Split, It’s a Tiny Sliver of Conservatives Walking Out the Door — Introducing A New Media Criticism Column

By Daniel Schultz

…news article less challenging to the cultural hegemony of conservative straight white Christian men than focusing on the plans of a bunch of conservative straight white Christian men to start a new and stricter denomination. Fortunately, we don’t have to imagine. This Religion News Service piece by Kathryn Post serves it up on a platter, discussing the breakaway aspirations of the Alliance of Reformed Churches. Helpfully, the article includes the…

Catholic Church is Lucky it’s Just Same-Sex Marriage

By Marian Ronan

…Catholic sisters continues, with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith condemning, as Mary Hunt points out, a book by the highly regarded nun-ethicist, Margaret A. Farley, and representatives of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) flying to Rome to defend themselves from accusations of “radical feminism.” One of the meanings of this “radical feminism,” in case you’re wondering, is that the LCWR “never revoked a statement f…

Supreme Court Rules Religion is Special… This Time

By Katherine Stewart

Is religion special? In its recent decision on Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. E.E.O.C., the Supreme Court indicates that it is. That may be the one thing that they got right in this case. The U.S. has on the books a number of valuable laws against discrimination in the workplace, and all organizations (businesses, nonprofits, schools, governments) are expected to abide by these laws. Except religions, or so it now seems….

New Reports Reveal Global Persecution of Nonbelievers

By Austin Dacey

…who the true God is?” Alber Saber Ayad’s question was answered by the Egyptian government last week when the 27-year-old computer science student was convicted for “contempt of religion” in Cairo. Saber was taken into custody on September 13 by the police after an enraged mob stormed his house, beating him and threatening his mother, a Coptic Christian. Saber was rumored to be circulating the Innocence of Muslims film trailer on his Facebook page….

The Threat to Democracy Runs Deep, But Mathematics Could Address the Abominable State of Representation and Voting

By Ismar Volić

In November 1990, an election took place in Bosnia, my home country, that changed the course of my life. I had no idea that it would; at sixteen, I was too busy growing out my hair, playing in a band, hanging out with my friends, and being hopeful about my all-consuming (and generally nonmaterializing) romantic pursuits. I’m not sure I even noticed that an election was happening around me. Making Democracy Count: How Mathematics Improves Voting,…

Glenn Beck’s Salvation Army

By Peter Montgomery

…recent moves to transform himself into a religious leader as well as entertainer and “educator” has been his intense attacks on President Obama’s theology of salvation, which he has called “evil” and “satanic.” The nature of salvation is not typically the topic of choice for political pundits. But Beck has latched onto it with a fury because he insists that President Obama’s liberation theology-influenced view of salvation is not only unchristian…

Obstacles for Secularists

By Sarah Posner

…rote one on the prospects for a secularist political movement for the Guardian. Waldman observes: But it won’t be easy for secular Americans to become better organized as a political force, even as they increase in number. The major impediment to that kind of organization is the fact that it is very difficult for secularists to conceive of themselves in tribal terms. Most tribes, whether of nations or ethnicities or sports fandom, can easily dema…