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Diplomatic Suckerhood: Why Israel Is Fighting Toward its Own Demise

By Ira Chernus

…ous as far back as the Persian Gulf War of 1991 when Israel was hit with a number of Iraqi missiles the Israeli government, which always boasts that it will respond harshly to any attack, did nothing because Washington put up a big red light. Washington appears to be flashing the red light once again. According to the Washington Times, “a senior Israeli official said that Israel has not asked for US aid or permission [to attack Iran] because the N…

The 17th Century Roots of Roy Moore’s Refusal to Concede the Election

By Karen E. Park

…clear violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment and any number of Supreme Court cases. He was removed again last year for refusing to uphold federal law on same sex marriage, on the grounds that it was in violation of God’s law as found in the Old Testament. Like Winthrop, Moore believes that the Old Testament should order American society, whether Exodus or Leviticus. The ancient Israelites in these societies either adhered, or…

Another Manufactured Outrage: Rep. Ilhan Omar Did Nothing Wrong in Listing Hamas, Israel, and U.S. Together

By Joshua Shanes

…anything positive or negative. Perhaps she said something truly wrong this time, perhaps it’s manufactured outrage, or perhaps it’s something in between. We all need to avoid the common fallacy of stretching to find any excuse to defend one’s “own side” no matter how implausible the interpretation, while stretching to find any excuse to convict the “other side,” even when the outrage seems manufactured or unfair. I know I can be as guilty of this…

American Christianity Is Changing Fast: Five Stories to Watch in 2016

By Richard Flory

…ken a much more adversarial stance to LGBT acceptance. However, increasing numbers of evangelical churches are accepting LGBT individuals as members. This development is not without its opponents, however. Many evangelical organizations—most significantly colleges, universities and seminaries—are mobilizing to retain their “religious right” to discriminate against LGBT individuals. More than 30 evangelical higher education institutions have petiti…

Why Don’t White People Show Up For Juneteenth The Way They Showed Up For George Floyd?

By A. E. Brooks-Key

…is that White people do not attend Juneteenth festivals in any appreciable numbers. This month I attended two Juneteenth festivals in the Columbia, South Carolina metropolitan area and the results were the same: minimum White attendance. Both events were free to the public, with ideal weather and plenty of good food and entertainment. Whereas a cross-section of Black America was in attendance, Whites stuck out like rice in chocolate pudding. But t…

The Year of the Abusive Priest

By Anthea Butler

…uits against the Vatican in Oregon and Kentucky to proceed. So whatever sentiment Pope Benedict was attempting to convey in his Palm Sunday homily, he succeeded in showing a profound insensitivity at a time of public moral outrage. By saying that the revelation of fact is gossip, he is accusing the press and media outlets of insufficient morality to judge the church. Unfortunately for the church, there are laws for each country the church operates…

An Unholy Holy Week: Is the All-Male Rule of the Roman Catholic Church Self-Destructing?

By Anne Eggebroten

…this mess. Nuns now report not challenging priests when they spent unusual time alone with children. John Conway, supervisor of a vocational rehabilitation program in Wisconsin in the 1970s, heard from deaf men about sexual abuse and collected affidavits, but he trusted Archbishop William F. Cousins to take care of it. Priests where Fr. Peter Hullermann worked in Essen sent him to Munich for treatment and trusted the office of Archbishop Joseph Ra…

Americans Say Religion is “Losing Influence”

By Diane Winston

…ic discourse and rendered our nation ungovernable. Worldwide, religious sentiments have been mobilized to torture and murder. I understand that religion itself is not to blame; followers can distort religious teachings and politicians can cloak ethnic hostilities and turf wars in religious language. Yet even so—people believe that they are acting in God’s name. Second: Gallup speculated that the growing sense of religion’s decline has less to do w…

55% of Utah Mormons Believe LGBT People can “Change”

By Joanna Brooks

…her thing that has not happened yet in most LDS communities is a frank and searching discussion of the scriptural and doctrinal basis for opposition to the full equality of LGBT people. Are we still holding on to Old Testament stories about Sodom and Gomorrah which have been reexamined by Biblical scholars and found to be at their ancient textual roots not a condemnation of homosexuality? Yes, Mormons are. Are we still holding to Levitical prohibi…

Special Hell: Progressive Catholics Reckon With the Rise of Trump

By Patricia Miller

…grant, and prominent support of immigrants, as vice president. At the same time, says Krueger, the bishops are “acting in a very pragmatic way to develop a relationship with the Trump administration [at the expense of] losing their prophetic voice.” The U.S. bishops see Trump not merely as a potential ally in appointing a conservative justice to replace Antonin Scalia (who would help roll back abortion rights) but also in an aggressive expansion o…