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Now That ‘Serial’ is Over: 2014’s Best Podcasts about Religion

By Andrew Aghapour

…o-Simple Majority,” which documents a school board dispute in East Ramapo, New York. This stunning account of a political war between an Orthodox Jewish community and their Latino and African-American neighbors is a case study in religious pluralism (or the impossibility thereof). Our second category winner is the most popular podcast in history, the This American Life spin-off Serial, which just wrapped up its first season. Over twelve episodes S…

The Better Angels of Our Nature: The Need for a Third Reconstruction

By Eric Foner

…ud his finding inspiration in that oft-misunderstood era. It was in Reconstruction that this nation first attempted to come to terms with the destruction of slavery. Political leaders of rare vision rewrote the laws and the Constitution to embed the idea of equality among all citizens, a startling repudiation of the prior history of white supremacy. They implemented, for the first time, a functioning interracial democracy. North Carolina, as Rev….

Explaining Christian Zionism to Israelis

By Sarah Posner

…rters of continued settlement growth and of what they call an “undivided Jerusalem,” which would negate the possibility of a Palestinian capital there and thus a two-state solution.) Schlesinger said the relationship between Christian Zionists and settlers has also spawned a shadow tourism industry in the occupied territories. Evangelicals, said Schlesinger, enjoy visiting the West Bank, “they like to come to Ariel and ride in armored cars.” Ameri…

The Garden of Eden: A Dull Place? Paradise Lust Author Explains…

By Nathan Schneider

…ght to be reprimanded for his stupidity.” Others were more diplomatic. Gertrude Bell, who lived in Iraq for much of her adult life, only mentioned Eden once in her diaries: her friend William Willcocks had come to town, to discuss “Eden and other reasonable things.” She called him “dear old thing.” I feel like this kind of biblical musing was a creative canvas for men, but it brought out a certain practical streak in women. Then of course there’s…

Where Did White Evangelicalism’s Hatred of Critical Race Theory Really Begin?

By Andre E. Johnson

…, become this iniquitous thing ‘ruining’ America? In a recent essay in the New Yorker, writer Benjamin Wallace-Wells suggested that journalist and conservative activist Christopher Rufo invented the conflict we now have over CRT in the summer of 2020. The article traced Rufo’s own discovery of CRT from “leaks” he would receive from employees across the country enrolled in anti-bias or diversity training classes. From the material he received, he n…

The Conflation of Antisemitism and Israel Criticism Isn’t Unique, But It Is a Problem

By Elizabeth Shively

As a scholar of politics and religion I’ve been frustrated by the public discussion of Israel, Rep. Ilhan Omar and anti-Semitism. We are asked to take sides for or against Israel, for or against Ilhan Omar, and worst of all, for or against the Jewish people. How do we know if a sentiment or act is truly anti-Semitic or merely a critique of Israeli policy? Or the result of ignorance? It is difficult to know with certainty, and recognizing why is t…

Who Gets Paid to Make America Hate? The Roots of the Islamophobia Network

By Haroon Moghul

…n. Previously well known for his extremely well received play, “Domestic Crusaders,” Ali is now working with the Center to better understand “the Islamophobia Network.” The Well-Oiled Anti-Muslim Machine You might wonder if this industry has any relevance to you. Fair enough: I’m not just concerned about the misrepresentations of Islam, though as a Muslim that concerns me quite a bit. Beyond Islam, we should all be worried by how such small cli…

So You Think You Can Dance, Or At Least Lead A Populist Moral Movement

By Daniel Schultz

…ght be applied. It did spark national participation, and did bring in some new blood. But its decentralized structure hampered any kind of coordination, and its emphasis on process proved to be a barrier to ongoing participation. Some great things came out of Occupy, but in the end, it fizzled quickly and had only limited political effectiveness. (To be fair, it did inspire many in the Sanders wing of the Democratic party.) I can’t think of any le…

Sex Work: In Bed with the Religious Right

By Dagmar Herzog

Sex in Crisis: The New Sexual Revolution and the Future of American Politics By Dagmar Herzog (Basic Books, 2008) What inspired you to write Sex in Crisis? What sparked your interest? Sex in Crisis has a great deal to do with my prior book, Sex after Fascism: Memory and Morality in Twentieth-Century Germany (2005), which offered a major revision of our assumptions about the Third Reich’s sexual politics and its aftermath, including close attentio…

“Not a Christian Book”: The Perils of the Amazon Book Review

By Charlotte Gordon

…tant traditions and beliefs about God, worship, and how we should lead our lives. Those who espouse single faith politics hold that only one religious tradition is valid, and that the others are incorrect, and sometimes, even, evil. Sound familiar? Think James Dobson, Pat Robertson, and Ann Coulter vs. Rabbi Arthur Waskow’s interfaith movement, The Tent of Abraham or the Unitarian commitment to valuing all religious traditions. It is clear that Wo…