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Why The Advocate‘s Choice of Pope Francis for Person of the Year is a Mistake

By Anthea Butler

…was said to assure the group of his “blessing,” but the group has kept the reply from the Pope confidential. If a mere change in language can move The Advocate to make Pope Francis their Person of the Year over Edie Windsor, whose case helped DOMA to crumble, I’m stunned. The disappointment that will come in the future when Catholic church teachings do not change will not be a surprise to those of us who know the history of the glacial pace of cha…

Want a Slurpee with Your Birth Control?

By Patricia Miller

…of all, I don’t know which 7-11 the cardinal frequents, but other than condoms they don’t sell birth control (although a “six-pack and emergency contraception special” might cut down on a lot of unplanned pregnancies). Secondly, the Catholic bishops collapse all types of contraception into two “easily” available forms: birth control pills and condoms. Some oral contraceptives are available in generic forms and cost as little as $10 at big-box ret…

Gas For Two Bucks a Gallon? Bachmann Taps a Pipeline to the American Sacred

By Rosamond C. Rodman

…t; although one could not be blamed for thinking so. The Los Angeles Times reports that Americans spend almost 100 billion a year on new car purchases alone, not counting used car purchases or maintenance of existing cars. When gas costs $3.84, reports CNN/Time, Americans spend eleven cents out of every dollar on gasoline. On average, an American spends 72 minutes a day in a car, getting from place to place. In one sense, a car is just functiona…

Want a Slurpee with Your Birth Control?

By Patricia Miller

…of all, I don’t know which 7-11 the cardinal frequents, but other than condoms they don’t sell birth control (although a “six-pack and emergency contraception special” might cut down on a lot of unplanned pregnancies). Secondly, the Catholic bishops collapse all types of contraception into two “easily” available forms: birth control pills and condoms. Some oral contraceptives are available in generic forms and cost as little as $10 at big-box ret…

Churches Can No Longer Hide the Truth: Daniel Dennett on the New Transparency

By Andrew Aghapour

…issue for Muslim children. Are they going to let their children have cell phones and be on the Internet? If they forbid them, that’s going to be very tough, and if they permit them, they’re going to introduce a huge new force into the world of child rearing and education. Religious education is going to have to make some drastic shifts. And it’ll be interesting to see how it works. This is still hinged on belief. This next generation can be Musli…

Lindsey Graham’s Lying “Eye-ranians”

By Haroon Moghul

…rd is a real American, because Bill Gates is American. Those of you using iPhones, by the way, are probably Iranians and should be detained or deported. Because Steve Jobs was part Syrian, and Syria is part Iranian, which means your iPhone auto-correct is lying to you. Come to think of it, how do we know Lindsey Graham is not lying to us? How do we know Lindsey Graham’s not an Iranian? What if he’s the Manchurian—or should I say Mazandaranian!—can…

Dylann Roof Was Wrong: The Race War Isn’t Coming, It’s Here

By Willie James Jennings

…. As Alana Simmons, granddaughter of the slain Rev. Daniel Lee Simmons was reported to have said, “We are here to combat hate-filled actions with love-filled actions.” I am a theologian who struggles to grasp how black folks, century after century, can forgive, how we are called on in torturous repetition to forgive those who kill us, and we do it. The only way I can fathom this grace of forgiveness offered is if the very life of God flows through…

The Moral Bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Asceticism

By Vlad Chituc

…tral ideas behind Soylent are efficiency and optimization. On “The Colbert Report,” Rhinehart stiffly discussed nutritional biochemistry and explained how Soylent “fit[s] the criteria that people desire in their staple foods.” This attitude isn’t too far from the kind of decluttering ethic that Marie Kondo would recognize. To explain why he cut cooking from his life, Rhinehart told The Atlantic, “I would rather enjoy things because I want to, not…

SoulCycle Looks to Sell its Soul

By Michael Schulson

…eased Adjusted EBITDA from $11.2 million in 2012 to $35.7 million in 2014, representing a CAGR of 78% and an Adjusted EBITDA Margin of 32% in 2014.” Is SoulCycle in “the business of changing lives” or is it in the business of producing the “highly attractive financial profile and unit economic returns” and “strong Free Cash Flows” that investors crave? After 148 pages I’m still not sure. These two businesses may not be mutually exclusive, but if,…

Springtime for Ross Douthat?

By Daniel Schultz

…y now), Gustavo Gutierrez, Marcus Borg, James Cone, Sallie McFague, or any number of other thinkers and theologians that Douthat does not recognize. The only people who want to bring back Niebuhr are conservatives. (I’m an admitted fanboy, but that’s about coming from the same church background as Niebuhr as much as anything.) And that doesn’t even get to the worst of it. Douthat misunderstands Francis’ amazing, charismatic realignment of Catholic…