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Holey Holey Holey: The Problem with a New Study Valuing Religion at $1.2 Trillion Per Year

By Michael Schulson

…f the total revenue of American religious congregations. To get that final number, the Grims took one estimate of the total number of congregations in America (344,894) and multiplied it by another estimate of the average revenue of each ($242,910). Depending on how you look at it, $378 billion is a lot of money, or it’s not very much money at all. It’s more than the net worth of Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Warren Buffet, combined…

Just Like January 6, One of the Most Disturbing Aspects of the Right-Wing Coup Attempt in Germany is Who Was Behind It

By Annika Brockschmidt

…a left-wing terror group responsible for the destruction of property and a number of deaths in the 1970s. While teenagers were gluing themselves to the street in a desperate cry for climate justice, right-wing terrorists were plotting the overthrow of the German government and the execution of their enemies. Their preparations took at least a year—and included the establishment of a secure IT infrastructure, shooting exercises, the procurement of…

Why are Nuns and Monks in the Streets? (Parts I & II)

By José Cabezón

…s of Tibetan religion. According to the most conservative estimates, before 1959 monks constituted 10-12% of the total male population in central agricultural regions (the percentage of nuns being somewhat lower). Most Tibetans had close family members—children, siblings, aunts or uncles—who were ordained. Monasteries served as a focal point for many lay religious practices, including important village or regional festivals. Because of the importa…

A Startling Number Believe You Can Be Jewish Jesus Follower; Why It’s Not As Crazy As It Sounds

By Michael Schulson

…that number seems staggeringly high. A full third? Once you delve into the numbers, though, 34% doesn’t seem quite so high. Really, Pew has asked an excellent question—a question that reveals the full tangle of ambiguities and inconsistencies that surround the topic of Jewish identity. First, some background: when the researchers at Pew set out to conduct this survey, they quickly ran into a problem that’s been under discussion for at least two th…

There’s No Business Like the Bible Business: 200 Years of the ABS

By Paul Harvey

…hrough distributing Bibles, and “to build a Christian civilization.” At its 150th anniversary meeting in 1966, Billy Graham spoke on the need to “Return to the Bible,” and endorsed the ABS’s historic raison d’être of distributing scriptures. The ABS subsequently moved into a new building in New York City, and resumed its work: “Scriptures needed to be distributed. Morality needed to be restored. And the United States needed to be returned to its b…

Gay Rights, an Evangelical Thing?

By Janet Edwards

…ath and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ, and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It means that LGBT Christians have the same place at Christ’s table as anyone else. The chorus of the praise song, “We Are One in the Spirit,” echoes Paul (Galatians 5:22) when it repeats the refrain, “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” It is in this Spirit that we can “out-evangelize the ev…

‘Biblical’ Disaster in Haiti: Pat Robertson and the Curse of Unyielding Ignorance

By Matt Recla

…s, Presbyterians, and Methodists… Nonsense. I don’t have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist.” There are those who would disagree with Robertson’s picks for the embodying the spirit of the Antichrist. Fellow televangelist Robert Tilton declared Ole Anthony, founder of Trinity Foundation, to be the Antichrist. Then you have the Sex Pistols, who state that they are an Antichrist, as does “Antichrist Superstar” Marilyn Manson and lots of other…

Pat Robertson: No Longer a Relevant Player

By Becky Garrison

…sbyterians, and Methodists. . . . Nonsense. I don’t have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist.” There are those who would disagree with Robertson’s picks for the embodying the spirit of the Antichrist. Fellow televangelist Robert Tilton declared Ole Anthony, founder of Trinity Foundation, to be the Antichrist. Then you have the Sex Pistols, who state that they are an Antichrist, as does “Antichrist Superstar” Marilyn Manson and lots of other…

LGBT’s, Opponents Prep for Vatican Synod; UN Rights Council Adopts LGBT Resolution; Brazil’s Evangelicals Eye Presidency; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…by Catalan nationalists, but was backed by left-wing groups. Russia: Gov’t Cancels Exchange Program as Gay Teen Opts to Stay in U.S. The Russian government is up in arms about a teenager who declined to return home after participating in an exchange program. The student is reportedly saying with a gay couple that has other foster children. BuzzFeed’s Lester Feder reports that a Russian official has charged that the 17-year-old boy was illegally pu…

Newt Gingrich Visits the “Holy Ghost Bartender”

By Sarah Posner

…high-energy, racially-mixed church in Temple Terrace he founded in December 1996. Nearly 1,000 people spend about four hours in a service led by “the Holy Ghost bartender,” as he is known. Here, he serves the new wine of Christ, and they get drunk with joy. It’s not uncommon for worshipers to break into uncontrollable “holy laughter,” shaking with mirth, dancing in the aisles or falling to the ground. They say they are “slain in the spirit.” The m…