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Saipov Wasn’t a “Member” of ISIS, But That Misses the Point

By Mark Juergensmeyer

…in the animated chats of the online social networks and as readers of the online ISIS literature. This online network constituted a separate movement. In the Twitter chats they often would call themselves baqiyah, a term that means something that survives or endures, and in this case refers to the enduring online ISIS community. In one of a series of tweets from a teenager in Canada, he said that his parents found some of his messages and were tr…

Put Your Money Where Your Mind Is: A For-Profit Meditation Studio Opens in New York

By Michael Schulson

…age. His 2012 book, The Buddha Walks into a Bar, has sold widely. Over the phone, I asked Rinzler why he and Burrows had chosen to establish the studio as a for-profit company. “We really wanted to make sure we had all the resources we need for supporting people who are trying meditation for the first time,” Rinzler explained. Because they’re a business, there’s more professionalism. The teachers they’ve hired show up on time, and, as Rinzler put…

Will God-Gaming Alter the Bible?

By Rachel Wagner

…, if competition is a core feature of games, who is competing in The Bible Online, and in what way? How are points amassed, and do these “points” have any religious significance beyond the game? What of the “RTS” (real-time strategy) component of The Bible Online and its communal play feature? Will everyone play as Abraham at the same time? Or will one player get to take on this role while others follow him? And what performative act, faithful or…

What Republicans Mean When They Compare Climate Change to Religion

By Andrew Aghapour and Michael Schulson

Last week, Texas Republican Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal comparing climate change to religion. Smith argues that the “facts alone,” and not preordained ideological commitments, should inform U.S. climate policy. We need “open debate and critical thinking,” says Smith, which are fundamental to the scientific process and democratic deliberation. Smith could…

How Do Christians, Atheists Compare on Muslim Tolerance?

By Darren E. Sherkat

In the wake of another terrorist attack on the West coming from Daesh/IS, pundits and politicians on the right are ramping up calls for greater surveillance of Muslim communities, eliminating Muslim immigration, and restricting the religious expressions of Muslims in the United States. Incendiary rhetoric has been particularly common among Republican presidential candidates. Ted Cruz stated, “We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secur…

The Same Toxic Christian Right Theology Supports Both the Online Bullying I Experienced and the Cruel Anti-Trans Policy in TX — And it’s Not Remotely Fringe

By Chrissy Stroop

…n Right and the GOP—an assault that’s advancing to disturbing degrees in a number of Republican-controlled states, even if a court in Texas has stayed the investigation into the Does, for now. Apart from that context, I wouldn’t bother writing a column about an incident of online bullying, something I and every vocal marginalized social media user with any visibility, along with every journalist who covers controversial topics—especially if the jo…

Pornography’s Dirty Little Secret: What We Say vs. What We Do

By Shira Tarrant

…plains, “bashful survey respondents probably diminished the total reported number of online porn watchers in the U.S.” Shame and stigma could certainly be a factor in people underreporting their own pornography use. The Public Religion Research Institute found that 71 percent of Americans think watching pornography is immoral. Yet moral objection to porn doesn’t stop people from watching. Given the high rate of online porn use documented in highly…

How Much Did Jesus Care About Sex?

By Peter Laarman

…cost of true discipleship. The price it was called upon to pay was all too cheap…We gave away the word and sacraments wholesale; we baptized, confirmed, and absolved a whole nation unasked and without condition…Was there ever a more terrible and disastrous instance of Christianizing the world than this? It’s regrettable, I think, that “cheap grace” has turned into a kind of meme that Rod Dreher can toss into his debate with Andrew Sullivan without…

Beyond Alarmism and Denial in the Dominionism Debate

By Anthea Butler

…church, they’re marinating, so to speak, in the the various teachings of a number of people. I’ve covered many an event where I’ve been waiting in line to get in, and the inevitable conversation with the people around you goes something like this: they ask first where you go to church, and second which teachers you admire, and then you get into a long conversation about the relative virtues of all of them. A really good example of how all these te…

Episcopal Church Assault Data Reveals the Dark Side of Inclusive Christianity

By Charlotte Dalwood

…cite just one example: 39% disclosed inappropriate touching or closeness, compared to 27.2% of cisgender women and 16.4% of cisgender men. The survey organizers caution that the data they collected is unlikely to be representative of Episcopalians as a whole. “Because victims/survivors are more likely to complete a survey on [their victimization],” they argue in the preface to their report, the percentage of respondents reporting gender and sexua…