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What if Israel Were in Germany? An Alternate History

By Haroon Moghul

…ourse. And the Arab world is fractured, plagued by sectarian violence, and ruled over by brutes like Hussein and Assad: Sad, but what else would you expect? Except, of course, that it didn’t have to be that way at all—and probably won’t be that way, tomorrow. As to power, the main thing I’d say about that is that in the long run it tends to change hands. And while there are nicer reasons to cultivate an ethic of mercy and fairness, one of the most…

Take the Van Gogh Challenge: Doctor Who Part VII

By Gabriel Mckee

…, invisible aliens that wanted to eat his neighbors. This episode was all about perception, and there’s certainly something to be said for James’ “van Gogh Doctor Who challenge.” But there’s also a certain irony in the show’s suggestion that van Gogh’s hallucinations were real. Surely the world caught up to his way of viewing the world as expressed in his art. But the nature in which this episode depicts his mental state could serve to undermine t…

The Martyrdom of Cecil the Lion

By Jacob J. Erickson

…ing, executions, and fights used animals and human others for the sake of gruesome entertainment. In many of these stories, the animals refuse to kill the martyr, thereby witnessing to their faith and innocence. But the games reinforced the dominance of the Empire, left bodies behind, and depleted biodiversity in their wake. Such events displayed masculinity and imperial power over their “wild” subjects. Animals and humans become martyrs and witne…

Religious Leaders Need ‘Empty the Pews’ Which Chronicles the Darker Side of the ‘Nones’ Phenomenon

By Kaya Oakes

…in Gen Z, Millennial and Gen X believers are a regular feature in secular news—Religion News Service even publishes an entire column dedicated to statistical data on Nones, compiled by the sociologist Ryan Burge—and a growing number of books exploring the narrative stories of Nones have appeared in recent years, including a book of my own. Empty the Pews: Stories of Leaving the Church Chrissy Stroop and Lauren O’Neal Epiphany Publishing November…

Muslim Voices Festival: Story-telling For a New Millennium

By Hussein Rashid

…the story, and as their passions increased, we were brought into the tale, breaking the fourth wall. We were part of the magical world they conjured, not as active participants, but as actors still. One of the key questions I had was “why should we care about a dying art form? why should we revive it? what is the value?” Being drawn into the performance helped to answer these questions. The written text is fixed. The meaning is given, and rarely i…

Lost and Found: Despite the Hope, Morality, and Meaning Inspired by Deconversion, Why is Respect Only For Those Who Find God?

By Robert Repino

…s that God is real, and that self-proclaimed nonbelievers “suppress” that truth. In other words, abandoning one’s faith is, at its core, a dishonest act. I’m aware that this animosity toward deconversion might be a fundamental part of certain religious traditions. I’m pushing back a little nonetheless (thoughts and prayers, and all that). And to those tempted to parrot Paul’s letter, I say: There can be no dialogue when one party assumes, before a…

Good News: Religious Outreach Works On Vaccine Hesitancy. Bad News: We Need It.

By Daniel Schultz

…ans often look to a leader’s example to help them overcome a legacy of mistrust in the medical system. Similarly, people in rural areas often lack confidence in systems that are distant, expensive, and poor quality. They might be helped by congregations hosting clinics or helping transport community members to vaccination sites. In short, religious institutions can leverage relational authority, social networks, and concrete acts of ministry to en…

Creationism: Don’t Use the “C-Word”

By Lauri Lebo

…EA, the Discovery Institute had worked closely with the Louisiana Family Forum, a conservative Christian organization that directly championed the teaching of creationism as recently as 2004. (Read how Louisiana Coalition for Science’s Barbara Forrest connects the dots here.) However, because of that pesky First Amendment, which prohibits using public school biology class as a pulpit, creationism is never specifically mentioned in the LSEA. Instea…

Is This Light?

By Amina Wadud

…al punishment. I mean, let’s face it; it is pretty hard in today’s complex world to ascribe the word “wanton” to any one action. But what is happening in the cry for a return to shari’ah (also mistakenly taken as Islamic law, when what people really mean is fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence — since shari’ah is more abstract than law). In Pakistan or Nigeria an overinflated interest in penal codes, or the hudud ordinances, has left women to face the brun…

Bad News for LGBT Anglicans, Mormons, Adventists, Norwegians, Russians, Georgians, Egyptians, Kuwaitis, Saudis…

By Peter Montgomery

…nications director for the World Congress of Families, told the right-wing WorldNetDaily that head of the Russian parliament’s committee on families Yelena Mizulina was included in the U.S. government’s list of Russian leaders sanctioned in the wake of the Crimea annexation because the Obama administration is “controlled by the gay lobby.” Mizulina is among the organizers of the WCF’s 2014 summit, which is scheduled to be held in Moscow in 2014, t…