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Sarah Palin and the Politics of Victimization

By Randall Balmer

…on the kitchen floor, eager for attention. The puppy piddled in the corner more than once, taking cheap shots at political adversaries (including McCain campaign apparatchiks) and using the annoying, sophomoric reference to the Democratic Party as the “Democrat” Party. But Going Rogue was not unpleasant. The second book in the Sarah Palin œuvre, however, America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag, crosses the line from cute puppy bou…

Noah v. Kitschy Jesus: A Tale of Two Movies

By Jay Michaelson

…bromides of politicians—I can’t quite pinpoint what all of these had in common, except that they were cheap, over-simplified, and kitschy. And thanks to Walter Benjamin, Clement Greenberg, the Frankfurt School, and a legion of writers and musicians allergic to the cliché, I came to reject kitsch and its quasi-fascistic associations. Feel this way, think this way, act this way—no! It took another several years before I really understood that some p…

Richard Dawkins’ Atheist Academy of Unguided Truth

By Paul Wallace

…now, and what Richard Dawkins appears not to, is that the idea of children moving through life without serious intellectual and moral direction—in this insane world, of all places—is a terrible joke and a recipe for social catastrophe. My wife and I are raising three Christian children. We take them to church at least twice a week. There, as at home, they are told exactly who they are, what exactly is expected of them, and why. We expect them to i…

Want a Slurpee with Your Birth Control?

By Patricia Miller

…ht special. More importantly, the bishops’ argument completely ignores the more expensive, and more effective, longer acting forms of birth control that insurance covers, such as IUDs and implants, that can cost upwards of $1,000 for initial insertion. Recent studies show that these types of birth control may well be the key to preventing unplanned pregnancies and breaking the cycle of poverty in populations that have a higher rate of unintended p…

‘We’re all in this together’: The Perils of Kumbaya Rhetoric

By Peter Laarman

…led “No Return to the ‘Old Dispensation.’” Cohen says we need to tame the “monster of modernity”—hypercapitalism—though he never gets around to telling us what’s specifically barbaric and cruel about American race-based capitalism. You can’t tame a monster that you don’t understand. And there’s no way to understand the extent to which this country leaves people to sink or swim on their own without an understanding of the centrality and continuing…

Must We Burn Something to Get Attention?: 50 Years After the Catonsville Nine

By Jason C. Bivins

…conscious, indeed religious tribute, to Caesar and Mars . . . And yet, and yet, the times are inexhaustibly good, solaced by the courage and hope of many.” Cynicism is understandable, and despair more so. But instead of siding with cheap, whitewashed nostalgia, let us note that certain moments in the past remind us of the future that may yet still be achieved….

Must We Burn Something to Get Attention?: 50 Years After the Catonsville Nine

By Jason C. Bivins

…conscious, indeed religious tribute, to Caesar and Mars . . . And yet, and yet, the times are inexhaustibly good, solaced by the courage and hope of many.” Cynicism is understandable, and despair more so. But instead of siding with cheap, whitewashed nostalgia, let us note that certain moments in the past remind us of the future that may yet still be achieved….

In a Time of Irrational Fear and New Media: The Deadly ‘Dance Plague’ at 500

By Ed Simon

…tide, the pre-Lenten season best known for wild Carnival celebrations, the most famous of which in the U.S. is Mardi Gras—which saw the ordination of an “Abbot of Unreason” or the coronation of a “Lord of Misrule.” Should it be any wonder then, this state of eternal carnival? For the subjects of Strasbourg, the Abbot of Unreason found a home within their very minds, the Lord of Misrule residing in their souls. A wake for the old world Collective d…

With Methodist LGBTQ Vote and GOP Support for Trump, White Protestantism Has Hit Bottom

By Peter Laarman

…ty of the white Protestant project for centuries now, to the point where almost all that’s left is canker. Some might wish to keen and mourn about this, but there’s a phrase that comes to mind: “By their fruits you shall know them…and every tree that does not bring forth good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the flames.” CORRECTION: This article has been updated to reflect the fact that it’s the American Baptists, not the Southern Baptists wh…

Is the Satanic Temple Just an Elaborate Prank? 10 Questions for the Author of ‘Speak of the Devil’

By Joseph Laycock

…this wasn’t just a daring rhetorical move but the birth of a new religious movement. What’s the most important take-home message for readers at this cultural moment? TST is changing the public conversation about religious freedom and religion itself. I see TST as testing America on the values we profess. Most Americans claim to value tolerance and religious freedom. But talk is cheap, especially if you have never seriously thought about what these…