…n between the rich and poor didn’t play prominently, either in the event’s promos or at the stadium rally itself. PK did offer a “pay what you can afford” program to woo low-income rally-goers, and it also urged attendees to bring food donations for the Denver Rescue Mission. At the rally itself, there was no sustained talk about the spiritual or political effects of the global financial crisis, but there was a call to support something called the…
…llywood Censored. The code they designed became the Motion Picture Conduct Code, popularly know as the Hays Code after it was adopted by William Hays, a Presbyterian elder who was hired by the major studios to help clean up the industry’s image after it was rocked by a series of scandals. The code, says Black, “was a fascinating combination of Catholic theology, conservative politics and pop psychology—an amalgam that would control the content of…
…og that he felt that Custer or Columbus would have been a more appropriate code name for bin Laden, and that the use of Geronimo was just another example of how “We’ve been reduced to caricatures as mascots and entertainment in sports and media.” In fact, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee held hearings recently on American Indians and racist stereotypes, and one of the first items of business was a discussion of why this particular code name wa…
By Randall Balmer, Anthea Butler, Evan Derkacz, Jeff Sharlet, and Diane Winston
…But the center is an assertion, not a fact; an etiquette, not a place. Its code, its theology, is most fully embodied in Americanized Arminianism—a Protestant tradition of good works and propriety, “distinguished liberals” and polite realpolitik. “Arminian moralism,” notes historian Charles Sellers in his study of Finney’s age, The Market Revolution, “sanctioned competitive individualism and the market’s rewards of wealth and status.” It did not e…
…ay, in addition to struggling with an addiction to pornography. This short promo video offers an overview of their stories. By promoting these voices as representative of the entire experience within the LGBT community, even though they do not currently identify as such, the Adventist church elevates stories that portray all LGBT people as damaged, sex addicts, drug and alcohol abusers, unfaithful in relationships, and utterly lost if they do not…
…[and] 12 social security cards,” whose tax-free income exceeded $500,000 in 2024 dollars. Another of Reagan’s favorite punchlines involved the fanciful notion that food stamps might enable “some young fellow [to cut in line] ahead of you to buy a T-bone steak” while “you were waiting in line to buy hamburger.” When Reagan first introduced the line about the T-bone steak, the food stamp recipient cutting in line was “some strapping young buck,” (“b…
…that gets missed in much of the media coverage and debates around Trump in 2024, especially because so much of the focus has been on the question of is there a nascent multiracial coalition that’s going to be backing Trump? Certainly, it does appear to be that Trump is drawing from a more diverse voter base than he did in 2016 or 2020. But I don’t necessarily think that changes this other dynamic; it might get him elected, but it’s the Groypers w…
…ortionately burdening the people least able to afford them. Unsurprisingly, 2024 voting patterns reflect the resulting discontent: According to the exit poll data, Kamala Harris won among families who made less than $30,000 in 2023 and those who made more than $100,000. By comparison, Trump won among families who earned between $30,000 and $99,999—too much to qualify for government assistance, but—in many cases—not enough to get by. One could stil…
…cultural conservatism in the United States. The foundation of this source code (the motherlode of the code, as it were) is Catholic natural law moral philosophy. Natural law is the 800-year-old Thomist tradition that absorbs (from revelation and scripture) and communicates (into public discourse and legal practice) a quite specific understanding of the human individual as the summit of God’s creation. First Things has hosted some of the most impo…
…a story around the campfire.) Nancy and I make our way through the crowded registration lobby. “I met you at Skepticon,” a young woman says to someone behind me. We accept our nametags and our programs from the person at the registration table. I don’t want to pay an extra three dollars for the lanyard, so I am left with the option of pinning the American Atheist tag (“Carolyn Briggs” below the atom logo—an atom apparently being the antithesis of…
