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“Tell Me What You Believe About Ferguson, and I’ll Tell You What You Believe About God”: A Missouri Pilgrimage

By Anita Little

…r. This type of environmental neglect isn’t just happening in Flint. For decades, chemical companies have been using poor areas in Missouri as dumping grounds for radioactive and nuclear waste. Missouri State Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, an environmental activist, has long been a voice in the wilderness regarding this issue and says she often explores the St. Louis area with a Geiger counter. “Flint is everywhere. There are cancer clusters appearin…

Houston’s Pastor Subpoenas: A Meme Made for Fox News

By Sarah Posner

…process. But on Twitter, Greg Scott, ADF’s vice president for media communications, cautioned his followers not to believe that the city would narrow the subpoenas. Scott pointed to a Parker tweet time-stamped around midnight today, reading, “If the 5 pastors used pulpits for politics, their sermons are fair game. Were instructions given on filling out anti-HERO petition?-A,” suggesting that the city was attempting to discover whether the petition…

Rage Against the New Age Machine: Three Days at the Osho International Meditation Resort

By Diane Winston

…s to cover the class’ costs, a serene blonde volunteer taxied me to an off-campus cash machine. Each time the ATM refused my request, my adrenaline surged. I knew Citibank could be unreliable, but why was a peace-and-love retreat tormenting me? Returning empty-handed, I vented loudly in the crowded check-in area. Eager to calm my rising and very public ire, the registrar allowed us to check in and told me to come back in the morning. But before we…

NPR “Ex-Gay” Report Neither “Fair” Nor “Balanced”

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…people for “therapies” that can destroy them psychologically, while buying tickets to Toscano’s shows might result in some good belly laughs, but no pressure to convert. What makes this story so shameful, though, is how the true message is completely glossed over in the pursuit of finding out who is “right” and who is “wrong.” Both Wyler and Toscano are Christian men who were given the message early on in their lives that being gay or lesbian was…

Is Joel Osteen, Success Mag Cover Boy, Really “God’s Best”?

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…good things. In his comfort, he encourages others to get theirs while they can, because he thinks this is “God’s best.” The rich man has a message for Osteen and other positive, prosperity, preachers, and their eager followers. There’s a lot of talk these days about who’s going to hell and who will end up in heaven. Some are certain of who is going where. But, if we’re talking about what “God’s best” is really all about—I have a feeling that has l…

The Prophet Amos on Unemployment and Our Leadership

By Peter Laarman

…e in eight workers can’t find any job; among younger males, especially African-Americans, the number is much higher—in many areas one in two workers is without work. Yet Congress, with a Democratic majority, can’t get it together to extend unemployment benefits. Our solons just flew out of town for a weeklong holiday vacation. Republicans, joined by Democratic deficit hawks, insist that any extension be “deficit neutral” and come out of unspent…

Give Me That Old-Time Ex-Gay Snake Oil

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…nce in acting out our frustrations. Early death, though, for our community can be caused by any of these problems … and sometimes violence from those outside our community who believe the world would be a better place without us. So, no, LGBT people are not addicted, depressed, violent or checking out early because of who we are. What really “tears at the soul” is how we are treated by people who believe, and preach, and attempt to legislate that…

Some Thoughts on Richard Dawkins’ Terrible Tweet

By Haroon Moghul

…tacks, but paling in comparison. The Russian and Soviet expansion into the Caucasus eliminated whole peoples. There are, for example, no Ubykh speakers anymore. Most Circassians live in Turkey, Syria, Jordan, or anywhere but Cherkessia, which is their homeland. In a history of the past two centuries, one cannot worry much about the Muslim failure to ‘catch up to’ or copycat Western science, and never mind if this is a fundamentally Islamic goal—it…

Why The Book of Mormon (the Musical) is Awesomely Lame

By Jared Farmer

…itive feel for heartland Mormons. The main character, Elder Price—though a caricature—felt real to me (I was born and raised in Utah). All of the Ugandans felt fake. To be fair, The Book of Mormon intends to lampoon neo-colonial cultural products like The Lion King and celebrity do-gooders like Bono who proclaim “We’re all Africans.” And to the extent that the musical forces its audience to think about Africa in the present rather than a nostalgic…

End-Times Watcher Sees Satan in an Energy Drink

By William R. Black

…the world. This was ultimately a religious, not political, idea. A similar case can be made about Christine Weick. At first glance you might consider her a right-winger, but a lot of what she says—that evil corporations are manipulating us with products and advertising—could have come out the mouth of anti-corporate leftist. For Weick, such political labels are probably beyond the point. What is the point is that this world is ruled by a satanic c…