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The Islamists vs. The Markets: Egypt’s Election Analyzed

By Haroon Moghul

…t Islamist, and not explicitly secularist. Moreover, there are of course a number of practical reasons the Islamist parties may have done so well: they are well-organized, they have great social service and charity programs, and they have won the respect of many of their fellow citizens for their years facing oppression, discrimination, and outright torture. Once they’re actually in government, they will be judged on their performance, and not on…

From Alito Activism to Sloppy Lemons: 3 Takeaways From the Bladensburg Cross Oral Argument

By Andrew L. Seidel

…y arguing that there is a simple test—his new streamlined, simple “Town of Greece Coercion Test”—before he walked it back and ended up with the test the Court currently uses, the Lemon test. As Justice Sonia Sotomayor said to sum up his argument, “[yours] is the endorsement test.” Which is to say, the Lemon test. Carvin discussed “proselytizing purposes” and “non-proselytizing purpose[s].” He pivoted to Lemon again moments later: “If that’s the an…

Civil Unions Battle Heats Up in Italy; Church Leaders in Malawi Defend Criminalization of Homosexuality; Report on LGBT Student Group Sparks Backlash in Indonesia; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…overturned the state of Jalisco’s ban on same-sex couples getting married. Greece: Civil Unions Law Goes Into Effect Civil unions legislation passed in December went into effect this week, with the first same-sex union conducted by Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis on Monday Saudi Arabia: Two Same-Sex Couples Arrested Four men – two couples – have reportedly been arrested in Saudi Arabia by the nation’s religious police for holding a marriage ceremony,…

2011’s Best Books—
Or Just a Great Reading List

By Haroon Moghul

…rison industry that sees America incarcerate more people, both in absolute numbers and as a percentage of its population, than almost any other country in the world, including China. Chew on that for a few minutes. But for all his willingness to think outside the box, I found a truly disheartening passage in his conclusion. After spending pages describing the cruelty of our justice system, he makes the offhand point that at least what he is sugges…

Where Polls and Surveys Fall Short: A Conversation with Robert Wuthnow on “Inventing American Religion”

By Andrew Aghapour

…s pretty much it. Evangelical leaders themselves didn’t believe the Gallup numbers were right, and [they thought that] the best way to combat those Gallup numbers was to ask Gallup to do another survey. And so in 1978, Christianity Today, a leading periodical for evangelicals, paid Gallup to do a big survey and in addition to just asking the born-again question, they asked questions about belief in the Bible, belief in Jesus, and intent on convert…

End-Times Watcher Sees Satan in an Energy Drink

By William R. Black

…anyone with understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person. Its number is six hundred and sixty-six.” The author of Revelation meant that 666 was a person’s name turned into a number via the Jewish numerological practice of gematria. Since every Hebrew letter was also a number, the letters of a name could be added up to produce that person’s number. Here’s an example of gematria using an alphabet we’re more famil…

Global LGBT Recap: Nigeria Jails Gays, Russian Orthodox Spox Calls for Criminalization Referendum

By Peter Montgomery

…sion talking about the LGBT people being less than human. For example, the number two person in the state broadcasting company – actually now he’s the number one person – hosted a show devoted to the question of whether it was enough to protect our children to ban homosexual propaganda or whether more needed to be done. He argued that more needed to be done. He said and we need to outlaw blood and sperm donations by them. And if they die in car ac…

Hajj Journal: Door Number 89: The Door with No Name

By Amina Wadud

…d inside the mosque one day, I came across Bab raqm tis’wa thamanin, “door number 89,” literally. The door with no name. Facing the mosque at door number one, bab maalik ’abd-al-’Aziz, this door is off to the left. Looking at the mosque floor plan, this is where the building structure of the mosque is deepest. This is “the women’s section.” I noticed as I was walking through the first floor toward door number one, the kings’ door, on my way out af…

House GOP Hires Lawyer to Prevent Federal Recognition of Same-Sex Marriage

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…gths, and the great expense of a high-power law firm, to try to score some cheap political points on the backs of same-sex couples.” I suppose Boehner can pander to the religious right and continue to defend “traditional” marriage, but I think it’s fair to ask why—when jobless rates continue to hover near 10 percent—which issue may be most important to God: how people arrange their intimate relationships, or how we feed and care for those families…

An Open Letter to Black Clergy on the Disdain for Protest

By Rev. Osagyefo Sekou

…y or by a wannabe Martin Luther King. While the President sermonized about cheap grace, a daughter of the church climbed a flagpole and took down the American swastika. Like Mary and Elizabeth, Bree Newsome proclaimed that our salvation—wrapped in swaddling clothes—is here in our hands. As an ordained clergyperson nurtured in the bosom of the black church, I am all too familiar with the way in which we tend to spiritualize the material suffering o…