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

By Andrew Aghapour

…based on counting members of those denominations within] the National Association of Evangelicals. In addition to changing the numbers, polling also changed political perception, [by implying] that evangelicals were a voting bloc. That made sense to journalists because Catholics were a voting bloc for John F. Kennedy in 1960—so surely evangelicals must have been a voting bloc for Jimmy Carter. That wasn’t the case at all. Some of the leading, most…

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

By S. Brent Rodriguez Plate

…nese, Professor of American Religious History at the University of California at Santa Barbara, and Columbia University’s Chair of Religious Studies, Mark C. Taylor: Religion can be understood as a system of symbols (creed, code, cultus) by means of which people (a community) orient themselves in the world with reference to both ordinary and extraordinary powers, meanings, and values. (Albanese) Religion, I would argue, is a complex adaptive netwo…

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

By Amina Wadud

…or number 89,” literally. The door with no name. Facing the mosque at door number one, bab maalik ’abd-al-’Aziz, this door is off to the left. Looking at the mosque floor plan, this is where the building structure of the mosque is deepest. This is “the women’s section.” I noticed as I was walking through the first floor toward door number one, the kings’ door, on my way out after zuhr prayer one day. There it was: a whole section with all women in…

The Problem with Pew’s Science & Religion Poll

By Andrew Aghapour and Michael Schulson

…l surface of each graph lie a series of filters, amplifiers, and cultural biases that mediate any representation of public opinion. Digging in The Cubit has recently discussed, at length, the inherent limitations of polls and surveys when it comes to religious belief. Some of the nuts-and-bolts methodological limitations are relevant here—in particular, the poll obscures the views of religious minorities, and it doesn’t report its response rate, w…

Cloverfield: Sin & Redemption, with Monsters

By Gabriel Mckee

…ides that humanity isn’t necessarily worth protecting. After all, his official title is “Guardian of the Universe,” and if humankind is going to harm the universe with wars and pollution, then why should he bother with us? We’re not quite the threat that other, evil giant monsters are, but if we get in the way of a stray fireball here or there, it’s no concern of Gamera’s. This cynical philosophy is embodied in the form of a 10-minute rampage thro…

How Does an Atheist Come to Believe in God?: An Interview with Jacob Needleman

By Lisa Webster

…I. But I honorably tried to prepare myself. It meant I had to read theologians, Christian writers like St. Augustine—whom I had hated. You see in my book where I talk about burning the pages of the book, that’s exactly what happened. I’m not exaggerating. I was so happy to see it go up in flames; I had suffered so much from that book. And later I read it and I loved it—a great, great man. So it forced me to read and prepare myself, and I couldn’t…

Gay Marriage Opponents Running on Empty

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…derfully diverse group of religious folks. We had Unitarian’s and Episcopalians and Presbyterians and Baptists, and we even had a Catholic priest and some interfaith organizers. We had African American faith leaders from 4 different counties in the state along with Latinos and Anglos. This really is a big tent movement. The poll released last week from Public Religion Research Institute showing growing acceptance among people of faith for marriage…

Yes, It Can Be Hard to Be an Atheist in America; Now We Have the Data

By Chrissy Stroop

…t use the language of coming out, its framing is recognizable as that associated with social justice advocacy. The report’s inclusion of intersectional analysis is also particularly noteworthy for an atheist organization, but is unsurprising given the diversity of American Atheists’ national staff and the organization’s willingness to partner with religious organizations to work toward the common good, as the pluralism inherent in democracy demand…

My Lowest Point

By Amina Wadud

…ace. We’d made plans to meet up in case we got separated and had exchanged phone numbers. In the middle of the tawaf, the call to prayer came. The guards stopped the tawaf. Some people complied and started to form lines. I found a spot between two women, each with their husbands, and sat down on the line. This seemed an ideal spot until a woman in black niqab squeezed in on my left just as we started the prayer. Okay then. Before we had completed…

The Real Story Behind Rick Perry’s Secret Meetings with Pastors

By Sarah Posner

…can Leadership, and Harry Jackson, who relentlessly opposed D.C.’s gay marriage law; religious right historian David Barton; Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention and Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council; Rod Parsley, who, like John Hagee, is apparently making a comeback after being rejected by McCain in 2008; Jerry Boykin, the retired general who was found to have violated Pentagon rules in 2004 for giving a speech in uniform in…