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

By Peter Laarman

…d church tradition. They all say that Jesus stands for inclusive love: no one is to be regarded as “less than.” The United Methodist Church even bakes the concept of inclusive love into its slogan, “Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors.” Each of these bodies has now gone through decades of intensive internal conversations regarding sexuality and ethics in light of a changing culture that is vastly more accepting of sexual difference than the cultur…

The Problem with Christian Gentlemen: A Short Goodbye to Ted Cruz, the “Mr. Pecksniff” of Presidential Politics

By Peter Laarman

…ost horror toward sins of the flesh and the utmost contempt for fleshly sinners like Trump. Any hint of outward disloyalty or dishonesty likewise gives them the greatest alarm. But the very notion that there could be much more grievous sins of the spirit seems never to have occurred to either of them. I don’t know or care whether Ted Cruz has cheated on his wife. My guess is that he has not. But the mistake he makes, and that his conservative Chri…

On the 40th Anniversary of Hyde, A Theological Defense of Reproductive Justice

By Anita Little

…Bible out of which my conservative brothers and sisters pull these cheap one-liners to control the conversation about reproductive health also shows us the life and ministry of Jesus—whom we all claim to follow. The Jesus of the Gospel always treated poor people and people in crisis with compassion, never judgement. I don’t understand how you can claim to model yourself on Jesus while seeking to constantly judge and shame and limit people. This h…

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

By Paul Harvey

…aison 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 biblical heritage.” Into the 1970s, the ABS sought to “reassert its historical connection to Christian nationalism” by realigning itself away from mainstream Protestants and more towards conservative ev…

Despising the Holidays: When Christians Led the ‘War on Christmas’

By Ed Simon

…here) as both a Catholic and pagan innovation—one which encouraged drunkenness and slothfulness. In 1712 Cotton Mather railed against “the feast of Christ’s nativity… spent in reveling, dicing, carding, masking, and in all licentious liberty…by mad mirth, by long eating, by hard drinking, by lewd gaming, by rude reveling!” In 1659 – a year before Christmas would return to Britain with Charles II – countrymen across the Atlantic in Massachusetts a…

Want a Slurpee with Your Birth Control?

By Patricia Miller

…shops have been claiming since 2012 that birth control is “ubiquitous and inexpensive” and anyone who wants it can get it without insurance coverage for $10 at Target. And as usual, bishops’ allies on the right jumped right on it. Here’s Sean Hannity back in January on his radio show: Why should Americans be paying the $9 a month for birth control pills that you can get at Wal-Mart? Why should—especially Catholics and people of faith, and Christi…

Hater Pastor Loses His Wife of 42 Years, Uses the Occasion to Trash Gays

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…arriage.” “Yes,” I responded. Why? Because I saw the wonder of covenantal one man-one woman marriage. I saw the sheer delight of authentic, biblical, natural, historic, God-defined marriage. The complimentary halves of humanity coming together is simply breathtaking. Two things struck me as I read this odious message. First, what kind of blind hatred of other people would compel you to use the occasion of your wife’s death to make political hay? R…

Why Egypt is America’s Enemy

By Haroon Moghul

…the bargain up with Israel. Likely, Israel will soon be sending its own drones and planes into the Sinai, if it hasn’t already. From today on, a substantial plurality of many Arab countries, which identify as Islamist, now see the ballot box as closed to them. All votes are equal, but some votes are more equal than others. Fool me once, your fault, fool me twice—my fault. With destabilizing governments, weaker borders, more transnational movements…

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

By Joseph Laycock

…confident that they know all about a group of people, even when they have never met someone from that group and are largely ignorant about it. A lot of people are absolutely terrified of Satanists and believe TST members hurt babies or engage in other forms of criminal behavior. Some people assume that I must be either morally defective or under demonic influence to have even written a book about Satanism. There are also more sympathetic people w…

Springtime for Ross Douthat?

By Daniel Schultz

…alism or care for the poor—or really anything. This column is nothing but one long sneer at something Douthat doesn’t like but is too lazy to define and actually argue against. I suspect he doesn’t because he can’t. Ross Douthat is never going to tell us why exactly he thinks God would prefer a stern, censorious pope to shame us all back into submission. He never says why he thinks God wouldn’t like people wanting to take care of the poor or addre…