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The Sacred and the Dead: How an Iranian-Jewish Angeleno Discovered Her Tribe

By Saba Soomekh

…Laguna Seca. The author and some of her Deadhead friends at a Dead show in Las Vegas in 1993. Photo courtesy of the author. It was through our love of the Dead that we formed a tribe of friends. We were a hodgepodge of Iranian, Korean, American, and Israeli kids bound together by our love of the band and bonded with each other by road trips where all 20 of us would crash in an EZ 8 motel in the middle of Oakland for days when the band was in town….

The Contested Religious Powers of Baseball on Display in Cuba

By Sean O'Neil

…tle more open-minded about their policies. The idea of baseball as a political tool of American foreign policy is not a new one. In 1913, James Sullivan, dispatch minister for the Dominican Republic, suggested to Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan that baseball could exorcise political demons in that Latin American nation, while also diffusing anti-U.S. sentiment. The manifestation of resentment toward Americans, this is merely on the surfa…

Mormon Women Knock at the Door, Are Turned Away

By Holly Welker

…ts must be made to enforce it. In the April 2007 priesthood session, a musical number was provided by a men’s chorus. The chorus was selected and trained by Brigham Young University professor Rosalind Hall, who also chose the music for the choir—but Hall was not allowed to attend the performance; instead, she was replaced by a male colleague, Ronald Staheli, for that one event. In fact, Hall was not even allowed to be in the conference hall to hea…

Rev. Smith Goes to Washington

By Frederick Clarkson

…politics for a different reason, to wit “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s.” Can you please explain how I have any assurance that you will not attempt to bring your belief into this office? In a time when America is more dangerously close to becoming a theocracy than ever before, I believe it’s incredibly important to ask these kinds of questions. The basic thrust of my answer to both these concerns was that 1) Yes, atheists can be moral…

Americans United To Launch “Operation Inclusion” After SCOTUS Prayer Decision

By Sarah Posner

…nds to help citizens identify a diverse range of speakers able to deliver invocations at meetings that are “welcoming and inclusive.” The American Humanist Association has already announced an initiative to identify secular and atheist speakers. Some conservative lawmakers saw the Court’s decision as a license to institute sectarian prayer. In Roanoke, Virginia, county supervisor Al Bedrosian, who campaigned last year on a pledge to eliminate the…

Blame Series Bonus: Why We Want That Dish For Free, an Uncut Interview with Bertram Malle

By Andrew Aghapour

…just prefers to funnel it through one channel, namely customer service, because then they can have stricter rules, what is given, how much is given, under what circumstances, and so on. There are larger social problems than missed flights, like racist policing or the legacy of segregated housing. Major events and systemic problems are very difficult for us to understand and attribute blame to. How could the psychology of blame help us to be savvi…

Why #FreeBritney is an #Exvangelical Cause

By R.L. Stollar

…es Smit. Spears’s story is something many evangelical and formerly evangelical women can relate to. Her story is, as youth pastor Kelly Edmiston points out, “paradigmatic for so many women who feel trapped by the controls of the society and church in which she inhabits.” Edmiston goes on: “Ever since we blamed Eve…for eating the forbidden fruit, we have been trying to control her; suspicious of her capacity to manage her own life.” When you strip…

Paranormal Vodka, Exorcists and a Demonic Doll: Welcome to Paracon, Based on the Work of the Demon-Hunters Who Inspired the ‘Conjuring’ Series

By Eric Harrelson and Joseph P. Laycock

…ple of this paradox: a demon-possessed doll so dangerous it’s locked in a glass case with a sign that reads “Warning Positively Do Not Open,” yet here it sits in a casino ballroom before 5,000 fans and potential possession victims. The crowd around Annabelle is huge, so I snap a quick selfie with the doll, and Joe and I continue on our way. There are other objects in the Warren Museum exhibit, including a skull used in “Satanic rituals,” the “Necr…

Pope Praises ‘Complementarity’ & Resists Gay Ambassador; Irish Religious Leaders Spar Over Marriage; Colombian Atty Gen Cites ‘Bogus’ Study Opposing Adoption; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…no other option, Pope says.” Despite all of our sins and weaknesses, our vocation “is to care for the covenant of marriage,” which constitutes “a vital and energizing vocation, through which we cooperate with our heavenly Father, who himself always cares for and protects this great gift.” Pope Francis then turned to God’s mercy, saying that the image of the Father’s tenderness toward a sinful couple “leaves us open-mouthed with wonder” at how he s…

Safety Not Guaranteed

By Jeanne Carstensen

…h restaurant that opened the day after the hurricane to serve red wine in plastic cups by candlelight, I learned that the proprietor had recently been convicted of starting a fire in the building during a bout of depression. The hurricane had made things worse, but he was going to lose his business anyway. This man, whom I had just met and who would be in jail in a few days, refilled our cups. “Thank you for your support,” he said. We drank a toas…