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Jeffress is Both Right and Wrong on Religion & Politics

By Peter Montgomery

…k whether candidates who praise Barton’s work—such as Michele Bachmann and Newt Gingrich—share those opinions. Similarly, when a presidential candidate like Bachmann calls a Christian Reconstructionist thinker her “mentor” and declares that he has had a significant impact on her thinking, it is not religious bigotry to ask whether she shares his views about the Constitution and the roles of religion and government in society. But questioning the a…

We Shouldn’t Be Surprised Francis Met with Kim Davis

By Kara Loewentheil

…his politics. But in fact it’s a strange and artificial aspect of American politics—not the Pope’s politics—that understands concern for the disenfranchised and the marginalized to be incompatible with a deeply conservative view of religion’s place in the secular world and a commitment to a paramount religious authority. In America, conservatives want broad religious exemptions, tax breaks and policies that clearly benefit the wealthy, and border…

Mark O. Hatfield and the Politics of an Earlier Era

By David R. Swartz

…cals tired of his anti-war activism. A politicizing Bill Bright of Campus Crusade discontinued his advisory board, which Hatfield served on, partly because of complaints about “so-called Christians like Mark Hatfield.” Despite the animosity, Hatfield continued to cross the aisle. With Massachusetts senator Ted Kennedy, he sponsored nuclear freeze legislation, opposed Reagan’s invasion of Grenada, and was one of only two Republicans to vote against…

The Islamists vs. The Markets: Egypt’s Election Analyzed

By Haroon Moghul

…o another set of Islamic values, which lend themselves better to electoral politics and governance: clean politics, transparency, economic upliftment, and social welfare. It’s hard to see how the Salafist parties will get anywhere with rigid demands for imposition of (their narrow, unpopular, and historically uncommon) interpretations of Shari’ah. Predicting the Futures Realistically, I have no idea where these parties will lead their countries. I…

The Shari’ah Spring: Media Gets It Backwards

By Haroon Moghul

…ng the Islamic side of the Arab Spring through an outdated lens. Thus, the New York Times is reading things precisely backwards when it describes Tunisia’s Ennahda as aiming to “reconci[le] Islamic principles with Western-style democracy.” As far as Ennahda and others might put it, there is no contradiction between Islam and democracy. Democracy is part of the Islamic tradition, converging with core Islamic values of consultation, humility, a stro…

The Obama Paradox: Civility vs. Capitulation?

By David True

…o help us realize that while we may believe that civility is important, in politics, as in life, it must not be allowed to displace a party’s fidelity to its ideals. Integrity and fortitude are crucial if a party is to engage in principled compromises—rather than to simply be compromised. When the latter happens, a party often undergoes something akin to an identity crisis. While it certainly wasn’t spurred on by an avalanche of compromise, the Re…

Israel Under Bush: The Islamophobia Years

By Joel Schalit

…for better or worse, parroted a right-wing approximation of Jewish-Israeli politics, replete with the crude stereotyping, fearmongering, and incitement that are the hallmarks of right-wing rhetoric in Israel. But, along with the usual gestures toward peace in the Middle East, we also saw a remarkably high number of attacks on Islam, on Iran, and on Arab Americans. There was the Republican outing of Barack Obama as a ‘secret Muslim’ and the promoti…

Hagee Hangs On

By Bill Berkowitz

…agee’s assertion that ‘God sent Hitler’ and that Jews aren’t ‘spiritually alive’—are anti-Semitic, is a breakthrough moment,” Bruce Wilson told Religion Dispatches. “Tens of millions of Americans have seen my video on TV and read Hagee’s statements in newspapers, and the media treatment of Hagee’s statements has not been, for the most part, very favorable.” “The volatile views of Hagee and some other leading Christian Zionists have been an elephan…

Obama’s Pastor and the Politics of Patriotic Treason

By Jonathan L. Walton

…ged by the seemingly ubiquitous nature of injustice. This is particularly true among middle-class African Americans in the south side of Chicago. For those who have played by the social rules yet still feel alienated, angered, and victimized by racial disparities within the health, educational, economic, and criminal justice systems, Dr. Wright lets them know that they are not crazy. And while many (like Senator Barack Obama) may reject the politi…

Sacred Dimensions of the World Cup: State of Belief Radio

By The Editors

…RD Director Gary Laderman discusses the sacred dimensions of World Cup soccer with SOB host Welton Gaddy as well as the politics of what counts as religious, if losing is a form of bad religion, and how playing a game can have implications in national life….