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Contrary to Claims of Anti-Trans Muslims, LGBTQ+ Acceptance is Widespread in the History of Islam

By Ali Olomi

…fahani we read of al-Dalal, ibn Surayj, and al-Gharid—all mukhannathun—who lived rich lives in early Muslim societies. Notably absent from al-Isfahani’s records is any state-sanctioned persecution. Instead, the mukhannathun are an accepted part of society. In the Abbasid caliphate many mukhannathun would become personal companions and courtiers of the caliph. Trained in the art of music, poetry, astronomy, and wit, no court was complete without th…

The Mystic in the Rye: JD Salinger’s Religious Fiction

By Louis A. Ruprecht

…words. He was a writer-in-residence at a small women’s college in upstate New York. Boo Boo was a married mother of three, and the twins, Walt and Walker were, respectively, an accidental casualty of the occupation of Japan and a Jesuit priest working in South America. Zooey (Zachary Martin Glass) was an aspiring actor in 1955, and the youngest daughter, Franny, was on leave from her college due to a spiritual malaise that brought her to the brin…

Science Mike Building a “Christian Science” Liturgy for the Nones

By D. Ashley Campbell

…rgy, culture, and science. Put it in a blender and see what comes out. Sometimes it tastes terrible. We fail at it sometimes,” admits McHargue, referring to the rituals of the Gathering. Indeed, the liturgy incorporated meditation and a drum circle. Gungor led everyone in prayer during which people assumed different physical positions⎯seated, standing and kneeling. He then engaged the room in reflection on the connection between body and spirit, q…

Ask the Dust: Do Queer People Have to Explain Themselves to Religious Conservatives?

By The Editors

…e. The Dust resonates with the idea that we are each obligated to make the world a better place in some way. However, the way in which you improve the world need not include rescuing people from outmoded and harmful points of view, especially if they wish to cling tightly to them. There are no standard guidelines for how to harmonize these differences and there is an added layer of complication when dealing with your own family. Sadly, the unfair…

Without Bev Shea, No Billy Graham

By Douglas Harrison

…eputation as a professionally successful gospel singer to his work on the Crusades. So the international fame he achieved as Graham’s soloist was, in its own way, wider (though not necessarily deeper) than Graham’s. That’s because, while Graham had faithful followers, Shea had product-buying fans. Even before, and certainly after, his death, it has been a commonly cited indicator of his success that Shea sang to over 200 million people through th…

Noah’s All-White Ark, and Other Odd Directorial Choices

By Wil Gafney

…t transparent enough to see their lily-white skins. Noah speaks of the destruction of the whole world and eventually, with great reluctance, the re-peopling of the world—which seems to be all white. As origin stories Genesis and Enoch are not scientific texts, but they do have their own logic: earth brown humans are crafted from the brown earth humus and from them descend peoples of all nations. The ancient Israelites who crafted and preserved the…

Embryo Men — Decades of Conspiracy, Christian Nationalism, and Fear Led Us to The End of Roe v. Wade

By Carmen Celestini

…ti to destroy America, God, and all that was good in the world to create a New World Order, where Christians, capitalists, and true Americans would be enslaved. If you hope to shrug this off as ancient history take a look at Tucker Carlson’s 2022 “documentary” The End of Men, about which Annika Brockschmidt writes, “For Carlson, the alleged decline of conservative values, and thus the decline of America, can be explained directly by the effemini…

State of the Union Stuck in that Olde-Time Semi-Niebuhrianism

By Ira Chernus

…ians groaning from their graves in disbelief. But, hey, this is the New World where the frontier has traditionally offered the eternal lure of new beginnings and limitless wealth, even for the poorest-born. At the core of the American belief in social harmony is the myth of a classless society. Other nations are still caught in the snares of age-old class conflict while we have only the one great class: the middle. That economic fiction has…

Beyond Christianity or Creed: Religion of Realism from a Chicago Cop

By Spencer Dew

…led with a persistent sense that only a select few are able to handle the truth of the world as it is. To embrace Preib’s realism, then, “You just have to be tough enough to ride it out.” Preib is, to borrow his description of Whitman, “a tough motherfucker.” His prose has the blunt gait of an incident report, yet deeply measured, contemplative, each clean sentence clearly the work of lengthy reflection. His interest is not just in the facts, afte…

Frodo and Mormon Share Stage in South Park Mormon Musical

By Seth Perry

…st moments and for what will most likely be perceived as its deepest incongruities. The incongruity comes from the ease with which the Ugandans and eventually the missionaries embrace this metaphorical model of religion. The central female character, Nabalungi, takes Cunningham’s stories literally, and against the backdrop of her blighted village sings a wrenching song about reaching the storied paradise, Salt Lake City, where, she imagines, the w…