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Corporations Have Consciences and Contraceptives Are Cheap: Hobby Lobby at the Supreme Court

By Sarah Posner

…Ginsburg, fired the most challenging questions at the companies’ lawyer, Paul Clement, confronting the essential underpinnings of his clients’ claims. In particular, they questioned whether RFRA was intended to cover corporations, whether a party can claim a religious exemption if granting it impacts the rights of others (in this case, the companies’ employees) and whether, as the companies assert, the Affordable Care Act’s regulation on coverage…

Our Failure To Understand Ferguson: A Cognitive Explanation

By Andrew Aghapour

In the latest addition to It’s Your Fault, The Cubit’s series on blame in contemporary society, RD associate editor Andrew Aghapour explores why it is psychologically difficult, but increasingly important, to blame social institutions for causing harm. For more on blame, read the introductory post or explore the full series. I recently found myself yelling at JetBlue from the backseat of an Uber. My wife Emmie was in the passenger seat, rifling…

Not Cause, But Effect: Jared Loughner and Tea Party Rhetoric

By Finbarr Curtis

…tators speculated about the political sympathies of Jared Lee Loughner. Because Representative Giffords was the previous target of heated Tea Party rhetoric, many wondered whether the shooter was driven by anti-government sentiment. But the gunman proved to be an enigmatic thinker and many reported that his bizarre ramblings reflected no discernible politics. Lost in the debate over what triggered Loughner’s actions is any meaningful defense of th…

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

By Andrew Aghapour

…y difficult, but increasingly important, to blame social institutions for causing harm. The article cites an interview with Bertram Malle, a professor of psychology at Brown University, which is available here in full. For more on this topic, explore It’s Your Fault, a series on blame in contemporary society by RD’s The Cubit. AA: Is it fair to say that the psychological mechanisms we use for blaming are tuned for judging human individuals? BM:…

The Contested Religious Powers of Baseball on Display in Cuba

By Sean O'Neil

…enthusiastic fan, exchanging pleasant smiles with his neighbor, President Raul Castro. If baseball can re-enchant our frenetic lives with a temporal frame that encourages deep reflection on the “blessings” of the American experience, what happens when the sport symbolically mediates an encounter with a country that supposedly fosters a very different way of life? Chris Archer, a 28-year-old pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays, and most voluble spokesma…

Mormon Women Knock at the Door, Are Turned Away

By Holly Welker

…ernoon in order to seek admission to the priesthood session of the semi-annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Calling itself Ordain Women, the group had already requested and been denied tickets to Saturday evening’s male-only priesthood session. Nonetheless the women and their allies walked to the Tabernacle on Temple Square to wait in the stand-by line for last-minute tickets. Instead they were met by chur…

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

…aine and current head of NESPR, the Paracon boasts the chance to see real haunted artifacts straight from the Warren’s now-closed Occult Museum. Joe and I jumped at the opportunity. We enter the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut, and follow the staggeringly long line as it snakes out the doors, into the Casino, past restaurants, conference rooms, and Native American-themed décor, finally ending just past the Michael Jordan Steakhouse….

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

…ntarity,’ does not accept gay ambassador Francis is making it harder for equality-supporting Catholics to maintain optimism about his tenure. We reported last week that the Vatican was refusing to accept the appointment of a gay man as France’s ambassador to the Holy See. This week, according to news reports, Francis met with the nominee, Laurent Stefanini, but there has still been no official action on the appointment. From Reuters: The Vatican h…

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

By Matt Hamilton

…is different? The staff—all devotees of the Ananda movement, a Hindu spiritual fellowship founded in northern California during the late 60s—only reinforced feelings of familiarity. There was Jemal, the dreadlocked, Yale-educated monk who waxed philosophic about the “sublime” benefits of a celibate lifestyle. There was Shivani, a Jewish girl from Ohio who joined the Ananda community in 1969 and never left. And there was Victor, the recent Stanford…

Pop-Culture Angels Are More Than Just Embarrassing Kitsch

By Ed Simon

…ared well among those who describe themselves as sophisticates or intellectuals. To many, angels don’t simply conjure superstitious beliefs, but embarrassing superstitious beliefs. Faith in God doesn’t quite raise as much opprobrium, if only because such beliefs may be recast in more intellectually sophisticated philosophical arrangements. But for those who affirm that they’re beyond such things, angels would seem to be beyond redemption, and beli…