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Prominent Russian Orthodox Church Rejects Pro-Putin Patriarch Kirill, Raising Tensions Within Orthodox World

By Katherine Kelaidis

…me allied with the Russian state which has, in turn, deployed it as an instrument of Russian soft power around the world. Particularly under the circumstances, we would be remiss to forget that one of the reasons the Ukrainian government petitioned the Ecumenical Patriarch with such diligence for an independent Ukrainian church is because of suspicions that Moscow Patriarchate churches were being used by the Russian state for espionage. Furthermor…

Burning Down the Temple: Religion and Irony in Black Rock City

By Sarah M. Pike

…an into a consumer event could add this sale to a long list of complaints: rules and more rules, opaque finances, increasing law enforcement presence, and more “spectators” in RV comfort palaces running noisy generators. Burners are a suspicious lot and many of them believe the Borg has caved in to the very values of corporate America that it seeks to challenge. Before entering the city I was reminded about why there is so much criticism of the or…

The Folly of Arab-West (Elite-Elite) Dialogue

By H.A. Hellyer

…, is that the West tends to act before it listens. This is a new day, in a new world, and it’s not entirely clear that Western actors are properly prepared or informed. Some will inevitably rush in, and try to do all sorts of good, but fail miserably without realizing the local context. This cuts across business, media, and diplomatic sectors, and is invariably due to either the outside actor attempting to interpret what the local scene is all abo…

The Americans Season Finale: Teach Your Parents Well

By Cathleen Falsani

…middle of the night? Was anything they told her or taught her about life true? Paige’s new-found religiosity startles her parents, who, unbeknownst to their daughter, are atheists, Communists, and basically hostile toward the whole opiate-of-the-masses God notion. Paige’s spiritual explorations, which began last season, prompt a number of difficult, intriguing conversations between parent and child, and the parents themselves about identity, valu…

American Conservatives, Jewish Law, and Israel’s New Abortion Policy

By Sarah Posner

…actual murder.” A week later, Benny Lau, the religious Zionist rabbi of Jerusalem’s Rambam Synagogue, retorted that equating abortion with murder was “irresponsible” and that “‘abortion is murder’ is neither rabbinical law nor Judaism.” He added, “Taking our Torah in the direction of Christian Catholic canon law is a terrible mistake.” (According to Haaretz, Efrat’s director denied the organization had ever used language equating abortion with mu…

Christianity Without the Cross

By Rosemary Ganley

…connection that one hundred years later, Pope Urban 11 launched the first crusade promising Christian warriors paradise after death? “But the death of Jesus was not a key to meaning, not an image of devotion for the Christians of the first millennium,” Parker and Brock write. “He was risen, a healer, baptized, a shepherd, a teacher, and a friend.” This book is a rock-the-foundations work. Christians have been thoroughly taught that the crucifixion…

Cozy Cottage or House on Fire? Thomas Kinkade’s Theo-Aesthetic Legacy

By S. Brent Rodriguez Plate

…ist has garnered a significant write-up in both Christianity Today and The New Yorker. He called himself the “Painter of Light” and then trademarked the phrase. He includes a Christian fish (ichthus) above his signature—but he’s also alleged to have urinated on a Winnie the Pooh figure at Disneyland, among other socially unacceptable activities. The paradox of Kinkade and his impact on culture is encapsulated in a posthumous statement by Ester W…

The Shared Fantasy of Redemptive Violence Between ISIS and the Islamophobic Right

By Donovan Schaefer

…sist. He answered the call for global Islamic jihad to shed the blood of “Crusader states.” By “some people,” I mean two very different groups, with seemingly opposite sets of interests, who nonetheless offer the same answer to this question of Why did he do it? On the one hand, you have the global Islamophobic right—those (mostly) North American and European politicians who immediately labeled the truck attack as an act of Islamic terror. Newt Gi…

Jeb Bush’s “New Way” Of Talking About Gay Marriage

By Sarah Posner

…re looking for the candidates to describe how to protect them in the brave new world of two-bride wedding cakes. “This is not about serving a cupcake to someone who’s gay, of course you have to do that, obviously,” Brody offered. “This is more about the vendor issue as it relates to do they want to provide a service for same-sex weddings. Are you okay if they don’t provide those types of services? Is that okay?” “Absolutely,” Bush replied, seguein…

A Catholic House Divided Over Reproductive Health Care: Bishops Launch a New Campaign

By Frances Kissling

…h processes and to help women and men lead healthy sexual and reproductive lives. Catholic hospitals are, at times, caught between the devil and a hard place; between the bishops and the state. And so, I have been trying to understand why the CHA, which knows full well that opposition to providing contraceptive and sterilization services is not the same as insuring those services, has joined the bishops in this fight. More importantly, it remains…