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DADT Repeal: The New “Religious Freedom” Issue

By Sarah Posner

…, “social conservatives are not enraged about the end of DADT.” If that’s true, then halleleujah. But just one month ago Sekulow wrote in the same pages, “If DADT is repealed, the American Center for Law & Justice is committed to advocating for the ability of military chaplains to do their job according to the dictates of their faith. The ACLJ has a long history of defending military chaplains.” And he had previously told readers, “Take your head…

Women’s Equality in the Church is No Longer Negotiable

By Mary E. Hunt

…aim, as in the well-intentioned but naïve and patronizing editorial in the New York Times, that “Pope Stops Investigating the Good Sisters.” No, if anything the women religious and their colleagues stopped the pope’s men. I have every confidence in the integrity of the LCWR women and their commitment to function on their own terms but I think the whole church needs to set the bar higher on what equality, a “discipleship of equals,” looks like. We…

Just Your Average Teenage Muslim (Shapeshifter) Girl From Jersey

By Saadia Faruqi

…world. But Pakistan does have the second largest Muslim population in the world, so the probability of a new Muslim superhero being Pakistani are much higher than, say, Palestinian or Jordanian. Like everything else remotely related to Muslims, female Muslims, or Pakistan, Kamala will no doubt have her naysayers. The negativity is already on the rise, with Pakistani Muslims in particular remaining skeptical about this latest attempt to make a her…

Latest “Religious Freedom” Bills Reveal a New Strategy

By Sunnivie Brydum

…ucky law makes no explicit mention of LGBT people, nor does it include the words “sexual orientation” or “gender identity.” Instead, in what critics see as an effort to shield such laws from legal scrutiny, the law positions itself as “viewpoint-neutral,” suggesting that “no recognized religious or political student organization is discriminated against in the ordering of its internal affairs.” While that language sounds innocuous, it doesn’t take…

The War on Terror is Over; Tahrir Buried It

By Mark Juergensmeyer

…erhood is the most visible sign of a possible role for religion in Egypt’s new political landscape. There are, however, several factions within the Brotherhood, and serious divisions on strategy. The old guard does not want to form a political party, for example, but the new Freedom and Justice Party is largely made up of independent Muslim Brotherhood members, and younger Brothers have sought to form other political parties. There is also an indi…

Birthday Blog

By Amina Wadud

…eacher. I mean, I would not want anyone I cared for to become a penniless drug addict in order to surmise that drugs are no good. But still, when you have experienced some things, the impression the experience leaves is more certain, less deniable. In the Qur’an there is this idea about ‘ilm al yaqin: certainty. There is recognition, there is understanding, there is knowledge, and then there is certainty. We know things, even if we don’t know how…

The New “Values Voters” Mantra

By Sarah Posner

…ontend, are not granted by either document, only recognized in them; these rights exist only because they were granted by God. That “endowed by the Creator” argument has been made repeatedly by Republican politicians in speeches lately, including Mike Huckabee, Michele Bachmann, and Newt Gingrich. That’s the new “values voters” rhetoric: government is a tyrant, disobedient to God. Sure, all the anti-gay, anti-abortion, and anti-secularism stuff i…

Exodus “Ex-Gay” Ministry Closes Up Shop

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…tfit that has done much harm to the LGBT community in the past. But if the new iteration of Exodus is truly committed to dialogue—which invites both sides to be open to changing opinions and ideas—they will be a welcome partner in fostering understanding of LGBT people both inside the church and out. However, my own suspicion as a theologian is aroused by the new Reduce Fear’s reliance on the Prodigal Son parable as the foundation for its mission…

New Reports Reveal Global Persecution of Nonbelievers

By Austin Dacey

…ts Issue,” criticizing atheist activists in the U.S. for comparing their struggles to the struggles of women, African Americans, and GLBTQ citizens. On a global scale, however, secularism most certainly is an issue of civil rights and of human rights. And it’s important to note that the suppression of religious dissent online is being carried out not just by government authorities but also by private corporations. During the Innocence riots, for…

New Poll: Evangelicals Backing Trump

By Daniel Schultz

…ed build. That seems right, especially since their followers’ support for Trump is even deeper than it was for Romney: 36% of white evangelicals strongly support Trump, compared to 26% for Romney. And there Lucy goes again, except this time she’s pulling the football out from poor old Russell Moore. Journalists and even many religion analysts seem to have a hard time reconciling themselves to the idea that these days, “evangelical” is as much a po…