Religion Dispatches
…wo sharply different ways to believe, to be in the world: one inspired by the pure and the simple, another suspicious, if not contemptuous, of them. These different modes of relation to complexity include politics, art, taste, style, culture, morality, and ethics within them. And while I feel certain that the tendency toward simplicity slides toward cruelty, I wonder if the basis for that certainty is, itself, ethical—or something else….
Read More
…Always interdenominational, the ABS was closely associated with “the Protestant establishment” for much of its career. More recently, it has aligned itself with evangelical Protestants, who support the historic aims of the ABS in being an organization central to the cause of making America a Christian nation. While always willing to work with anyone interested in Bible promotion, the ABS, as Fea explains, “has always gravitated towards the partic…
Read More
…own to be the largest public event held at the White House. The Trumps’ first Easter Egg Roll in 2017 was poorly planned and thrown together hastily, by a First Lady who was likely still adjusting to her new and unwanted responsibilities, and resulted in a much smaller event than in previous years. But in 2018, the Trump administration was determined to take full advantage of this extraordinarily easy public relations opportunity—not to entertain…
Read More
…interests rules the day. It’s only through free inquiry against powerful vested interests that we’ve been able to abolish slavery, oppose apartheid, and recognize genocide perpetrated by state actors. This continues to date, as we push against China’s repression of Uyghur Muslims, the Myanmar junta’s persecution of the Rohingya Muslims, the Israeli dispossession of Palestinians, and calls for genocide against Muslims under a far-right regime in In…
Read More
…n’t “earned.” My friend Bill McKibben nailed this a long time ago. He suggested that instead of calling it Christianity, it would be more accurate to label what we have here as “Franklinity,” after that epitome of thrift and industry, good old Philadelphia Ben. McKibben’s gibe shouldn’t distract us, however. This is the dominant form of (American) Christianity today—both the social group and the publication that oddly still serves as its handmaide…
Read More
…status/1496482488130191368?s=20&t=BCVMOzDYWxTc8c9hU2_7iQ One Southern Baptist pastor even used the slur “tranny” in his tweet about the situation: https://twitter.com/NateSchlomann/status/1496553688759943169 Eventually, Denny Burk, a pastor and a professor at Boyce College, the undergraduate institution associated with Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, published a blog post about “the transgender, deconstructing exvangelical endorser of ‘Jesu…
Read More
…tion, and that “more” might be helping to feed the energy of some of the most disturbing actors in contemporary politics. All of this is definitely worth drawing out. More generally, I think there’s an ongoing need for journalists to take conspiratorial mindsets seriously when reporting on religion. That’s not a criticism of Jenkins—hardly any reporters engage this difficult terrain. Conspiracy thinking and faith aren’t necessarily identical, or e…
Read More
…they made, and even express righteous indignation if accused of being racist. In all honesty, not knowing the state of their souls, they very well may not be racist. However, by silencing communities of color, they’re not only engaging in racist acts (if it quacks like a duck, etc), but they’re also fortifying the racism of Southern Baptist seminaries so that these institutions can be racist for them. There is no creed but the Bible—as long as it…
Read More
…these tech companies lied, and they lied some more, it became a very interesting story. Then it turned out that there was very little will in the UK to pursue any of the regulation that the committee recommended for microtargeting and those issues. So we kind of wondered, what’s the conclusion of this film? Where does it go? Because Charles had placed himself at the middle of this story, people kept coming to him with evidence. One of them, Brent…
Read More
…wife. This confession appeared to be perfectly designed to serve as the first step of his rehabilitation by situating him as a longsuffering and forgiving husband. But now? “His redemption in evangelical circles will likely depend on which version [of the story] evangelicals accept,” says Du Mez. “If they go with Falwell’s, his path to redemption is fairly straightforward. If Granda’s version gains traction, it not only undermines any claim Falwel…
Read More