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Reading Beinart and Lerner as Gaza Burns

By Ira Chernus

…he [imagined] danger through aggression and power.” As Beinart argues, the number of American Jews who act out of fantasied oppression is declining. But their political strength remains much greater than their numbers. Yet curiously Lerner, the professional psychologist, downplays this and the other psychological wellsprings of support for militant Zionism. Instead he focuses time and again on compassion for the very real historical sufferings of…

Orthodox Rabbi Imitates Pat Robertson

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…of the military, cause many to leave the army, and dramatically lower the number of recruits, perhaps leading to the reinstatement of a compulsory draft.” However, that belief runs counter to many studies already done that show lifting Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell would not adversely affect the military in any way. In 1993 RAND Corp. concluded that openly gay people in the U.S. military do not negatively impact unit cohesion, morale, good order, or mili…

Is LGBT-Muslim Clash Aiding Rise of Right in Europe?

By Peter Montgomery

…ty was approved unanimously on its third and final reading in the House of Representatives. ABS-CBN News reports: The measure prohibits and penalizes discriminatory acts by a fine not less than P100,000 and not more than P500,000, or imprisonment of not less than one year but not more than six years, or both. It mandates existing women’s desks in police stations to be renamed as Women, Children, and LGBTQ++ Protection Desks, to attend to complaint…

Where Polls and Surveys Fall Short: A Conversation with Robert Wuthnow on “Inventing American Religion”

By Andrew Aghapour

…out religion in the news? Well, first and foremost, remember that the poll numbers being reported may be in the general ballpark correct, but probably can’t be interpreted very precisely in terms of the small trends that are being reported. For instance, if somebody reports that American religion is declining because church attendance is down a percentage point this year from last year, don’t pay much attention to that. Secondly, pay attention, sk…

Why Bill Maher Gets a “C” in My Introduction to Religion Class…

By S. Brent Rodriguez Plate

…pages I’ll confine myself to Religulous.) This is the kind of thing a fair number of my students, raised in the Protestant-dominated United States (even Catholics and Jews have assimilated this definition), come to university thinking about religion; the two key components of which are “belief” and “God.” Religion is some cryptic interior, individual thing that exists in one’s own head, and is only understood in relation to a God. I don’t blame my…

Fact-checking Scripture: “Those who do not work should not eat.”

By Daniel Schultz

…salonians 3-10, was a rebuttal to one of the hearing’s expert witnesses, a representative of the Jewish anti-hunger group MAZON. (He referenced Leviticus.) It is also a familiar refrain to anyone who has watched past debates about SNAP. House Republicans have historically cited the verse — “if a man will not work, he shall not eat” — as justification for cutting some adults’ SNAP benefits. Arrington referenced the verse in a discussion about incre…

Don’t Be Fooled By Trump’s Acceptance of Marriage Equality: Here’s What to Expect

By Sunnivie Brydum

…ious First Amendment Defense Act sponsored by Utah Sen. Mike Lee and Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador. Although Rep. Labrador amended the legislation in an effort to protect all religious beliefs about marriage and sexuality, Desanctis frames the Act as one that would “protect from government discrimination those religious Americans who believe that marriage is a union between one man and one woman.” She makes no mention of the religious Americans whose f…

Wiccan Prayer in Iowa House Highlights Religious Freedom Problem

By Joseph Laycock

…Some members of the Iowa house boycotted her prayer by arriving late, and Rep. Rob Taylor (R-West Des Moines) actually turned his back to Maynard claiming it was a form of peaceful protest in response to a practice he perceived as spiritually evil. This incident occurred almost one year after the Town of Greece v. Galloway decision in which the Supreme Court ruled that “sectarian” prayers before government meetings are constitutional, so long as…

Hobby Lobby, Bill Gothard, and the Submission of Women

By Sarah Posner

…His organization and its teachings made national headlines in 2010, after Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) aired them in a campaign advertisement criticizing his opponent, now-Rep. Dan Webster (R-FL), calling Webster “Taliban Dan.” In the ad, Webster is shown saying, “wives submit yourselves to your own husband” and “she should submit to me, that’s in the Bible.” Although many evangelicals adhere to what is known as complementarian marital roles, Gothard…

Academic Freedom Bills

By Lauri Lebo

…lutching slightly tweaked versions of these bills. The title “Academic Freedom” sounds noble enough (how could a freedom-loving American oppose such a thing?) but the bills’ basic gist is this: “Evolution is a lie! Evolution is evil! If your children learn we came from monkeys, they will go to hell!!!!!” This month, Mississippi lawmakers introduced in the House the first anti-evolution bill of 2010. The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Gary Chism, an…