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Did the Pope Embrace the Prosperity Gospel?

By Sarah Posner

…f declared that “the miracle of unity has begun.” “Let’s give each other a spiritual hug and let God complete the work that He has begun,” said Francis. The Trinity Foundation, the Dallas, Texas-based Christian watchdog group that monitors and investigates televangelism fraud, has questions, asking why the Pope would meet with religious leaders “who engage in the same kind of excesses he’s been preaching against.” In a statement, the Trinity Found…

Are Atheists Taking 1st Amendment Suits Too Far?

By Gordon Haber

…it also helps wealthy pastors line their own pockets. For example, between 1993 and 1995,Saddleback Church paid Rick Warren a housing allowance of around $80,000 per year, which (probably not coincidentally) was most of his salary. The IRS guideline, however, was that clergy can only claim “fair market value” of the home, and the rental value of the house in question was $60,000 a year. The IRS wanted Warren to cough up the taxes on the differenc…

Violent, Genocidal Anti-Palestinian Rhetoric Moving to US?

By David Sheen

…in Israel and the US, are legendary. The former Chief Rabbi of Israel and spiritual leader of many Middle Eastern Jews, said, among other things, that Palestinians “should perish from the world” and that “it is forbidden to be merciful to them”; of non-Jews in general, he declared that “Goyim were born only to serve us.” Despite comments like these, his funeral last October was the largest in the country’s history, with 800,000 Israelis attending…

Boy Scout “Perversion Files” Raise Questions about Abuse in Mormon Contexts

By Joanna Brooks

…some victims and accusers. In 1995, the Church established stronger guidelines and new protocols for reporting abuse, including a 1-800 number for local clergy. …

Awakening, Counter-Awakening, and the End of Church

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…nd are willing to take the risk, freeing themselves up and exploring their spirituality in different ways.’ I think eventually a large number of those people will re-affiliate in some way, shape, or form—but when they do, the actual institutions of religion will be very different because of the demands those people make on new kinds of churches. I look at that whole arc of people who are leaving church because of the failure of the institution, an…

None Means None (Not Atheist, Agnostic, Unbeliever…)

By Elizabeth Drescher

…epeating: 68% of the Unaffiliated in general believe in God or a Universal Spirit Among those who self-identify as Atheist/Agnostic, 38% say they believe in God or a Universal Spirit Among those who self-identified as “Nothing in Particular”—the majority of Nones (71%) in general—some 81% say they believe in God or a Universal Spirit Survey says: Nones are by and large not unbelievers. Not atheists. Not secular humanists. Not anti-religious. Given…

Excommunicated For ‘Grave Scandal’ of Ordaining Women

By Roy Bourgeois

…Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel and lay missioner Jean Donovan. On November 16, 1989, six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper, and her 15-year-old daughter were massacred by the Salvadoran military. When U.S. congressional leaders announced that those responsible for the slayings had been trained at the U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA) at Fort Benning, Georgia, I and a small group of friends returned to Georgia to investigate the SOA. In 1990,…

From Shofars to Hammers: The Spiritual Warriors of MAGA are ‘ReAwakening’ to Political Violence

By Mark Clatterbuck

…nges of American religious and political life. The tour has already visited 16 US cities, drawing sold-out crowds at every stop, with regularly priced tickets ranging between $250 and $500. It is arguably the dominant brand of today’s Republican Party. For good reason, a growing number of expert observers have begun sounding the alarm. I suggest it’s time we hit the panic button. The rally featured plenty of repugnant elements—from the relentless…

The Harlot Shall Be Burned with Fire: Biblical Literalism in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

By Sarah Sentilles

…confusing. Which is troubling for a film being shown in a country in which 1 in 5 women will be raped in her lifetime, in which 84,767 rapes were reported nationwide in 2010. The violent images weren’t necessary. The rapes could have happened behind closed doors; or with Lisbeth’s clothes on; or the camera could have been kept on her face rather than on her lifted backside. To communicate the terror of the rape scenes all you need is a good actor…

Even After an Obama Victory Reports of the Death of the Religious Right are Greatly Exaggerated

By Bill Berkowitz

…ase “values voters”—even though he put Sarah Palin, an evangelical, on the ticket.” Boston pointed out that he expected that the major religious right organizations “will, in concert with secular far-right groups, attempt to destabilize the Obama administration early on by raising some contentious ‘culture war’ issue. This will be similar to what they and their GOP allies in Congress did to Bill Clinton over gays in the military back in 1993. The…