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Rebuilding the Wall of Separation: A Progressive Discussion on Church & State

…ess creativity of the universe and the objective validity of human rights. Promoting and accepting religious images as universal will help heal culture war divisions and promote the formation of a broad-based progressive coalition. Frederick Clarkson: Thanks for hosting this discussion, Linell. I think these matters are integral to the functioning, the advance, and indeed the survival of Constitutional democracy. But I think that in order to give…

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Gun Ownership as Sin—A Strategic, Secular Proposal for Gun Reform

…they drew much more on the Arminian sense of a sin as a morally wrong, but freely made, choice. Today’s gun controllers would surely agree that obeying or disobeying the law is a free, individual choice. To use this Arminian sense of sin in the gun control debate may come perilously close to the pro-gun argument that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” But we are heirs of the progressives as well as the 19th-century reformers. We don’t h…

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Will a New Dawkins Foundation-Sponsored App Help Atheists Talk to Believers?

…nality.’” Of course, Richard Dawkins himself wasn’t sitting around writing code and coming up with reasonably civil responses to hypothetical religious proclamations for Atheos (although some less famous but equally antagonistic thinkers like David Silverman did contribute to the app’s content). And for many atheists, even those not prone to Dawkins’ venomous outbursts against religious people, his name lends the app credibility. He remains a figu…

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Sharing Many of the Same Flaws as its Subject ‘The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill’ Podcast Puts Blame Anywhere But Where It Belongs

…Six—”The Brand”—but there’s no discussion of the work done to prop up and promote this charisma by the throngs of volunteers who provided free labor by serving the church as team members in worship; technology; media production; marketing and publicity; community groups; children’s ministry; women’s ministry; men’s ministry; security; building maintenance; facility multiplication; and hours spent outside of formal church service in a variety of w…

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Christian Media Battle Over Controversial Figure

…nd exaggerations; one of his sources, Hokuto Ide, a reporter for Christian Today—a Jang-affiliated publication in Japan not to be confused with Christianity Today—describes CT’s articles as “predatory efforts by those with commercial interests,” and suggests they’re motivated by “trying to break Olivet’s deal to purchase [the] Glorieta [Conference Center].” I asked Jonathan Park via email why he thought Christianity Today put so much time and effo…

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The Return of Government as “Idolatry” and the “Second Amendment Remedies”

…, New Hampshire, and Iowa) promoting a creationist film called The Genesis Code, and holding fundraising receptions. The moralistic film follows an unbelieving hockey player and a Christian journalism student who struggle with “reconciling their scientific studies and what’s taught in the Bible” as he falls for her and she uses their relationship to “guide” him “toward God.” You can read a “pro-family” review here that warns of sex (kissing) and n…

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NPR Gives a Free Pass to Biblical Literalists

…ndment while mentioning that Jesus had nothing at all to say about what we today call homosexuality. This material is there in black and white: it’s not “between the lines.” Perhaps Ms. Hagerty accepts at face value the wildly inaccurate statement made to her by conservative pastor Rev. Tony Evans that the Bible is “clear… that sexual relationships are to be between men and women in the context of marriage.” Perhaps Ms. Hagerty, like Rev. Evans, i…

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Blankets, Booties, and Jesus: Spiritual War on the Uterus in Rick Perry’s Texas

…ders must meet are “maintain[ing] a pro-life mission and agree[ing] not to promote, refer, or counsel in favor of abortion or abortifacients as an option to a crisis or unplanned pregnancy” and “agree[ing] not to promote the teaching or philosophy of any religion while providing services to the client.” Yet most, if not all, of the centers maintain that Christian faith is central to their mission. Many are affiliated with Care Net, which describes…

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Rage or Courage?: YouTube Terrorism Take Two

…well as their bodies and their polities, are shackled; they will never be free unless or until they embrace freedom as an absolute, unqualified good. In light of this genealogy, one must recognize the beguiling simplicity of the blame game—that ‘rage’ is entirely the problem of those enraged. They are not like us. They take religion to be a sacred cow, while we know that freedom of expression is the first, fundamental, basis of democracy, and tha…

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Jewish Studies Is a Free-Speech Zone, and It Needs to Stay That Way

…ing Jewish life on college campuses. While I was aware of their efforts to promote certain discourses and to curtail others, I largely left them alone. This was perhaps made easier on my campus because Hillel does not really bring in speakers—on top of the fact that I have the privilege to teach some of the brightest students I have ever encountered. Many of my Jewish students here are searchers, trying to make sense of their religion and to make…

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