Religion Dispatches
…s if the crashing economy with its record number of foreclosures and staggering rise in unemployment, two wars, a series of devastating natural disasters, a crumbling infrastructure, and rumors that a Britney Spears’ comeback is in the offing isn’t enough to put Todd Strandberg’s Rapture Index over the top, the election of Barack Obama should put the icing on the cake. According to Newsweek, Strandberg’s Web site, RaptureReady.com, which “track[s]…
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…oyment figures surpass the double-digit mark nationwide is to render your own economic analysis misguided and irrelevant. Where there is rage, there is often a reason. The riots in Paris and Athens and elsewhere could easily be a harbinger of far greater populist unrest right here at home….
Read More…search relating to the theory of intelligent design or other alternate theories of the origination and development of organisms.” What makes this bill such a precious gem is that it relies on creationists’ persecution complex and oft-repeated talking point that the science community discriminates against ID research. But as we all know, there is no such thing as ID research, which has not yet produced one single legitimate peer reviewed paper. Bu…
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…ive now is a risk factor for breast cancer and, to a lesser extent, for ovarian and uterine cancers. The risk factor for cancer goes up slightly. But other things seem to be a whole lot better— Oh, I quite agree. I’ve got four granddaughters, and I certainly don’t want them having their first full-term pregnancy at age 19, which was the situation for hunters and gatherers. In the past few years, the Paleo diet has boomed. Are you surprised? What d…
Read More…deceptively milquetoast villain in LGBTQ circles, and a pious defender of right-wing Christianity in others. Less than a year after the law was passed, the Indianapolis tourism bureau “Visit Indy” reported a statewide loss of an estimated $60 million in revenue from tourism, conventions, and sporting events that took their business elsewhere. The law is still officially in force. For many, a physical and psychological toll on those targeted feels…
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…tary that builds an argument or moves along a linear path, rather it’s a series of “reveries” (as the subtitle alerts us) on the many ways the internet surrounds and pervades our lives. Herzog does not try to retell well-known stories (nothing here on Google or Facebook) as others have told those stories well. With the exception of Elon Musk (who Herzog can’t seem to figure out), there’s not a single CEO or entrepreneur interviewed in the document…
Read More…tholic Church: Francis who? U.S. Bishops stick with culture war political priorities Despite widespread expectations that Pope Francis’s focus on poverty and the environment might influence the political priorities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops, the bishops approved a “Faithful Citizenship” guide for 2016 that continues making the U.S. hierarchy’s political priorities the culture war issues of abortion, marriage equality, and “religio…
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…ill go to Mina, etc. There is still no address for the hotels, but a local phone number. There is also information about processing customs at Jeddah, meeting the tour guide, and information that says “the group” will proceed to Makkah—which means the first will have to wait for the last person, which is the beginning of feeling like you are a group. They even include suggestions to “get to know” your fellow travelers. I still had no idea what wer…
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…ns” across the US. RD recently spoke with MacBain about her move from pastoring Christians to guiding the formation of godless communities. For those who aren’t aware of your very public journey this past year, what led you to take the podium and out yourself as an atheist at the 2012 American Atheist Convention? I was raised in the Deep South where my dad was a Baptist pastor. I always felt my calling was to be in ministry but the Baptist church…
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…ns for incompatibilities or inherent opposition. I know a fair number of African Americans, Hispanics, and Muslims who once voted Republican. They no longer do—not because they disagree with the Republican Party, but because they feel it has no room for them. It seems opposed to their presence in America. A good number in the Muslim-majority world feel the same way about the place of Islam in the world: there is no room for it. It isn’t that these…
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