Religion Dispatches
…tually outperformed polling expectations, and won by over two points. (New Mexico appears to be the only other state where Clinton’s polling numbers were under her actual totals. Everywhere else, it was the opposite, with wildly divergent projections versus actuals). Most of the West, excluding the Mormon belt, gave Clinton large margins of victory—even the historically Republican state of Nevada. Just as significantly, Senator Michael Bennet, the…
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…ter than their northern counterparts. In the lightest of them—Arizona, New Mexico, Texas(!), and Florida—Democrats did much better than anticipated this year. That’s of course due to the rising presence of black and Hispanic voters in those states. But those same voters are significantly more religious than their white counterparts, which means that if by some miracle the Democrats win back the White House in 2020, we might be talking about the Ra…
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…ned to ramp up immigration enforcement and enable the building of the U.S.-Mexico border wall he promised during his campaign. Muslim and immigrant groups, especially youth, are mobilizing against these actions, with a major protest taking place last night in New York City’s Washington Square Park. To combat the continued vilification of Islam in the American public sphere since September 11th, American Muslim houses of worship and organizations h…
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…the 1800s. Moreover, lest we forget, the entire Southwest was once part of Mexico. By idealizing a heteronormative white Christian state, Trump is embracing a view of America that never existed, and is assuring a large swath of the country that it can avoid diversity and demographic change. In doing so, he is also denying the legal and symbolic citizenship of millions. While legal scholars—and many in Trump’s own party—affirm the steadfastness of…
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…ed for Trump’s anti-abortion bona fides, including a dramatically expanded Mexico City policy and the measure that would allow states to withhold funding from Planned Parenthood: I couldn’t be more proud to serve as Vice President to a President who stands without apology for the sanctity of human life. … Since day one of this administration, President Donald Trump has been keeping his promise to stand for life, and life is winning in America agai…
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…dhood I remember scholars, scientists, and artists travelling from Europe, Mexico, and the United States to participate in “shamanic” trance workshops under her leadership. My grandmother inspired me to become a scholar, but I was always skeptical of spirits, and moreover I was doubly skeptical of the notion that the modern Western world had lost its magic. I found myself shifting gears and looking at America and Europe through the eyes of an outs…
Read More…is C.K. is an acerbic comedian from Boston who grew up speaking Spanish in Mexico and has made a career out of being an awkward and offensive comedian. Despite their differences, these two men have arrived at starkly similar situations in the #MeToo era, with jobs lost, reputations destroyed, and a trail of hurting women in their wake. Both, too, are depending on cultural narratives of forgiveness to revive their careers and rescue a bit of their…
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…person image, as in the recently released transcripts of phone calls with Mexico and Australia, is all too apparent as a dominant and guiding focus) or a problem with those picked to actually “communicate” on behalf of the White House (from a Press Secretary who hid “among” bushes and banned cameras from press conferences to a Director of Communications who, in the early and yet also late days of his short-lived job accused one upper administrati…
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…d 1947’s widely reported crash of a mysterious object outside Roswell, New Mexico, was full of sightings of odd flying objects and occasionally of their pilots. Reflecting the optimism of the early nuclear age, a good number of these experiences portrayed these extraterrestrials as comical, or even friendly. A journalist named Frank Scully wrote a book claiming that aliens dressed in “the style of 1890” had been recovered from a saucer crash in th…
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…ge equality is a commitment of the state, not just the current government. Mexico: Marriage Equality Legislation Introduced in Sonora Marriage equality legislation was introduced in the parliament of the state of Sonora. Mongolia: ‘Epic’ Pride Celebration Follows Recent Passage of Hate Crimes Legislation Gay Star News reports that the country’s pride celebration was kicked off with an “epic” parade that included “locals, dignitaries and expats.” I…
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