Search for "airline tickets to st louis cheap phone number 1-800-299-7264"

The End (of Religion) is Near, Scientists Say

By Louis A. Ruprecht

…especially applied to arenas of social life that don’t lend themselves to statistical or quantitative analysis. Like health care. Like education. Isn’t this what we who are educators or health care professionals grapple with on a daily basis? The number-crunchers are forcing us to speak their language and play their game, though they make no parallel effort to learn ours. And that is precisely what this not-so-benign linguistic analogy suggests….

To Be Queer, Gifted, and Black: A Conversation with Theologian Pamela Lightsey

By Nyasha Junior

…ell. I’m thinking especially about Traci Blackmon, who was in Ferguson and St. Louis. I’m also thinking about Willis Johnson and Starsky Wilson who were also in that area. These clergy have been integral parts of Black Lives Matter and integral parts of the protest against militarized police and excessive police force against citizens in the Ferguson area. There are other clergy nationally who have been involved, and I think that needs to continue…

Hajj Journal: Door Number 89: The Door with No Name

By Amina Wadud

…y eke out a space behind some men. But the rudeness of the removal is so disturbing, I just do not want that encounter. But I do want to pray where I can see the Ka’abah. That is only possible from the first floor, and if you are right by the railing on the upper floors. So, I have missed this opportunity after that first day, when we did our tawaf, followed by two rakaat at the maqam Ibrahim. As I circled around inside the mosque one day, I came…

The Problem with Pew’s Science & Religion Poll

By Andrew Aghapour and Michael Schulson

…fuel internet hot-takes rather than productive public discourse. This is just one study, of course, but it matters for two reasons. First, Pew’s study manufactures and reinforces a narrow view of religion and science, while claiming to objectively measure public opinion; and second, the study’s extensive and largely uncritical media coverage is emblematic of the dysfunctional relationship between pollsters and reporters. The basics Pew surveyed 2,…

Lying About Our Religion, And Other Problems With Polling

By Michael Schulson

…ants. It’s disappointing, then, that Wuthnow does not venture a more activist stance. After laying out an extended case that pollsters are marketing misleading results—a process called, in less polite company, “deception”—Wuthnow ends with a mild call for “closer and more critical scrutiny” of polls. Hasn’t he just written an entire book doing exactly that? The final line of Inventing American Religion—“much more about religion remains to be under…

Is It OK To Use a Cellphone in Church? Pew Surveys the New Etiquette

By Michael Schulson

…phone use in church (cf. Matthew 7:5). But it’s also possible that the question was just confusing. The problem here is that when Pew asks questions about how people use their cellphones, they’re entering vague territory, because there’s no agreed-upon definition of “use.” I’d wager hard cash that if you asked the exact same question about churches after priming people to think of Bible apps, those opinions would be very different. “Oh, that kind…

Vatican Considers ‘Disordered’ Language; HBO Doc on LGBT Persecution in Russia; Nigerian Bishop Shifts on Anti-Gay Law; Arson at ‘Open Mosque’ in South Africa; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…nesian gay rights activist interviewed by the Jakarta Globe. Another activist insisted the punishment belongs in the Middle Ages. “Gays and lesbians are human beings also,” said a female Indonesian lecturer from Aceh in an interview with GlobalPost. “Who are we to go against God’s creations?” Africa: ‘Conversion Therapy’ as Political Weapon Political Research Associates’ Kapya Kaoma reports on conversion therapy in Africa, and the ways American re…

Godly Game or Godless Satire? Countering Biblical Ignorance with Heretical Humor

By Betsy Shirley

…me for Good Christians, released earlier this year, offers a scriptural twist: most of the material from its 300-card deck has been lifted directly from the Bible, with chapter and verse to prove it. The results fall somewhere between playful irreverence and flat-out blasphemy. For example, if the card “A woman must quietly receive ________ with full submission” is played, it could be paired with response cards that include “Crotch-less pants (2 S…

Gay Marriage Opponents Running on Empty

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…ltimore. At the first, about a dozen volunteers spent the night making almost 300 phone calls and collecting pledges of volunteer support and contributions from 50 new supporters. Add that to the five other locations holding similar phone banks or collecting post cards of support, and I’m sure we easily got our 300 today. In addition, Equality Maryland hosted an interfaith meeting to mobilize supportive faith leaders. It was so great to see such a…

A Tale of Religious Tolerance… On Reddit

By Joanna Piacenza

…anyone else who might have taken offense to his posting. Reddit in search of mindless memes beware: between the cat videos and bizarre news stories you might just find some religious tolerance….