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Barbara Ehrenreich’s Bright-Sided Explores the Dark Side of Positive Thinking

By Michelle Goldberg

…ousness of her customers. The Times story is evidence of the timeliness of Barbara Ehrenreich’s bracing, acidulous new book, Bright-Sided: How The Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America. A broadside against exactly the sort of pabulum peddled by Bernstein, Bright-Sided reveals the historical roots and conservative uses of the positive thinking movement, showing how it encourages victim-blaming, political complacency, and…

God Bless You, Barbara Herz

By Sarah Posner

…think the best thing we could do is separate religion and politics,” said Barbara Herz, of Wyoming. “We should let every person make their own religious decisions and keep it out of the platform.” Even if it’s the case that delegates were booing over the process, rather than the substance, Republicans will make it more about Jerusalem, and, as Mitt Romney absurdly accused in his acceptance speech last week, that President Obama has “thrown Israel…

Robert Bellah’s Powerful Legacy: A Mixed Blessing for Religious Studies?

By Ivan Strenski

…ght the nationally famous Viet Nam War course at University of California, Santa Barbara, which perhaps we could see as reflecting Bellah’s vision for the study of religion. Whatever else this course provided, it did inject a strong—and arguably much needed—moral and religious element into reflection upon that war. For years, it was the highest enrolled course in the entire University of California system. Hundreds of students filled the largest l…

Glenn Beck’s Cheap Grace

By Karyn Carlo

…way from the hard work of repentance, who tickle our ears with promises of cheap grace, and offer a vision of the cross of Jesus that has nothing to say to the crosses, and lynching trees, of history. But, if we do, we will be settling for the gospel of Caesar, not the good news of Jesus Christ. Perhaps it is time to put down the chalk, stop drawing pyrotechnical conspiracy theories that play into our worst fears and listen, instead, for the diffi…

I’m Dreaming of a White Christ(mas)

By Evan Derkacz

…capitalism—Santa Claus. Harris didn’t like growing up thinking that black Santa wasn’t the real Santa, so she proposed that maybe Santa should be a penguin. In response, Fox News reporter Megyn Kelly infamously declared that Santa was white and buttressed her argument by asserting that Jesus was white as well: “Just because it makes you feel uncomfortable doesn’t mean it has to change. You know. I mean, Jesus was a white man, too. It’s like we ha…

“Jack” Willke, Pro-Life Demagogue Dies at 89

By Daniel Silliman

…to have an abortion. Before they became anti-abortion activists, Jack and Barbara Willkes worked together as sex educators. Catholics and medical professionals—Barbara was a registered nurse and Jack a practicing obstetrician—they co-taught a pre-marital course at their church. “The couple developed a style that would serve them for years to come,” the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. “They shared the microphone, with each one talking for a couple of…

A Meditation on Shopping and Desire

By Michelle Gonzalez Maldonado

…We have an unprecedented access to cheap goods, yet we must recognize that cheap goods are cheaply made. I am not speaking of quality, I am speaking of cheap labor. We must recognize that through the act of shopping, whether it is for an article of clothing, a toy, a pint of strawberries, or even our morning cup of coffee, we participate in a global economy that values profit over people. Disposable goods are made by disposable people, faceless in…

Jesus, Santa, and Now Sound of Music‘s Mother Abbess?

By Shannen Dee Williams

Earlier this month, veteran stage actress Audra McDonald gifted audiences with yet another sublime performance in NBC’s live remake of The Sound of Music. While the overall production received mixed reviews, critics across the country heralded McDonald’s portrayal of Mother Abbess and her soul-stirring rendition of “Climb E’vry Mountain” as the television week’s top highlight, with Time calling her “the show-stealer of the night.” Despite such ac…

Are Evangelical Films Destined to Leave Secular Audiences Behind?

By Daniel Silliman

…e success either. The opening weekend saw sales of more than $6 million in tickets. That’s the kind of number that will inspire others to try and figure out the formula for the faith-and-family blockbuster. Yet, with the cost of the film reportedly exceeding $30 million, it’s an open question whether or not the Left Behind reboot will get a second installment. The marketing problem of evangelical movies is still, stubbornly, a problem. The general…

The Faith that Faith Produced

By Haroon Moghul

…ou’ll read an excerpt below—has surprised me, too. I wish I could find my airline companion and give him this book, to surprise him, too—in a good way. (I would accept Lakers tickets in lieu of apologies, but I think that particular era is done.) This whole book is a result of a profound evolution, and needs to be seen as such. American Muslims have gone through a lot over the last few decades. We were never the caricature Islamophobes made us ou…