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Our Failure To Understand Ferguson: A Cognitive Explanation

By Andrew Aghapour

…explaining a small group’s behavior,” he said, “like a team or a string quartet.” Larger collectives, like government agencies or corporations, are where it gets tricky. “First of all, we don’t even know who is in the institution,” he continued. “Who is a member and who is not? Who plays what role? What causal contribution do they make?” These questions were familiar to me—I’d been asking them about Ferguson lawmakers and JetBlue customer service…

The Contested Religious Powers of Baseball on Display in Cuba

By Sean O'Neil

…er, a status bolstered by Netflix and its ilk. One of the film’s most popular characters is a Cuban exile named Pedro Cerrano, who crushes fastballs but is sent into histrionic tailspins by curveballs. He thus pleads with a rum-drinking, cigar-smoking deity named Jobu to help him with his hitting. Jobu is the most prominent figure in Cerrano’s religion, a system of symbols and ritual devotions which the film ominously introduces as “Voodoo.” Viewe…

Mormon Women Knock at the Door, Are Turned Away

By Holly Welker

…y from the priesthood session, many women viewed the action as a success. Margaret Toscano, a prominent LDS scholar excommunicated in 2000 for her writings on gender, was buoyed by the experience. “I feel that the spirit of God is moving among us and people’s hearts are being opened,” she said. “There is much cause for hope.” Like this story? Your tax-deductible $5 or $10 will help us pay writers, coders, interns, and editors. And will earn you o…

Blame Series Bonus: Why We Want That Dish For Free, an Uncut Interview with Bertram Malle

By Andrew Aghapour

…at is given, how much is given, under what circumstances, and so on. There are larger social problems than missed flights, like racist policing or the legacy of segregated housing. Major events and systemic problems are very difficult for us to understand and attribute blame to. How could the psychology of blame help us to be savvier in the way that we blame institutions? I think I would probably start a step before that. Rather than waiting until…

Paranormal Vodka, Exorcists and a Demonic Doll: Welcome to Paracon, Based on the Work of the Demon-Hunters Who Inspired the ‘Conjuring’ Series

By Eric Harrelson and Joseph P. Laycock

…hunting to bath bombs shaped like horror movie icons. There are psychics, Tarot card readers, a shaman reading bones, and a ghost-hunting professional wrestler, right alongside various exorcists, including a self-proclaimed archbishop and a reiki-practicing nun. Any and all spiritual beliefs seem to be welcome, even though Ed Warren constantly warns about the dangers of meddling with “the occult.” According to Ed, demon possession doesn’t just hap…

Pope Praises ‘Complementarity’ & Resists Gay Ambassador; Irish Religious Leaders Spar Over Marriage; Colombian Atty Gen Cites ‘Bogus’ Study Opposing Adoption; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…ing their imaan [religious belief] in an attempt to overcome them. The men are part of a small support group which began on a web forum. Some of the members now meet every few months to discuss how they are managing their sexual feelings. In some British Muslim communities, homosexuality can be a controversial issue: some believe the act counts as a form of “zina” – an Arabic term referring to “unlawful” sexual activity. Many imams were uncomforta…

Spiritual Unplugging, Or What to Do When There is Wifi at the Ashram

By Matt Hamilton

…cake baker. No sour taste there. I replaced the church with journalism—two arenas which share many traits. A journalist, like a priest, is often thrown into extraordinary situations—fires, shootings, political campaigns and interviews with high-ranking officials. The priest stands in for God. The journalist stands in for the community at-large. The latter just felt more honest. Coming back to a spiritual community felt familiar, yes, by which I me…

Pop-Culture Angels Are More Than Just Embarrassing Kitsch

By Ed Simon

…his career resuscitated by a starring role in Pulp Fiction, plays the titular archangel. Largely critically panned, Michael presents its antagonist as a drinking, smoking, swearing, overeating slob who (it is Travolta after all) dances. The film’s tagline declares that “He’s an angel, not a saint,” though of course the mythological being was both. Angel spawn Among the most audacious and idiosyncratic of twentieth-century comics, the seventy-fiv…

How Much Did Jesus Care About Sex?

By Peter Laarman

…sives, after all, are the ones who have tried to enrich, not degrade, the marriage sacrament by arguing that God blesses all deeply committed marriage bonds, not just marriages made by heterosexuals. What progressive Christians won’t do, however, is renounce all sexuality or follow people like Dreher in imagining that sexual desire is always and simply the enemy of godliness. Yes, as far as we know, both Jesus of Nazareth and Saul/Paul of Tarsus…

Beyond Alarmism and Denial in the Dominionism Debate

By Anthea Butler

…workshops were very strong, and the coupling of these with the spiritual warfare component enabled him to retire and build an empire in Colorado Springs to train those involved in the New Apostolic Reformation movement. It also bears saying that none of what Wagner has touted as new, is new; rather, it is the recapitulation of old Pentecostal teachings—and actually heresy to some Pentecostals (like the Latter Rain and Shepherding movements). The…