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The Faith-Based Militia: When is Terrorism ‘Christian’?

By Frederick Clarkson

…e uneven evolution of our thinking about these things, and the language we use to describe them, casts fresh light on how we use other shorthand terms in this complex and fraught dimension of public life. The term “faith-based,” for example, we use more or less synonymously with “religious” and as substitutes for such terms as “ecumenical” and “interfaith.” It has become a warm and fuzzy term used for glossing over religious differences, both for…

Does the Bible Really Call Homosexuality an “Abomination”?

By Jay Michaelson

…ing intimate expression, but sexuality in a cultic context. Detestable Because it is Foreign, or Foreign Because it is Detestable? Now, so far, it is unclear whether a toevah is detestable because it is foreign, or foreign because it is detestable. This question is resolved elsewhere in the Bible, because Israelites are not the only ones with toevot. There are several examples of things which are toevah for Egyptians but perfectly acceptable for I…

The Story Behind the Catholic Church’s Stunning Reversal on Contraception

By Patricia Miller

…Spirit guided his pronouncements. “The Church cannot change her answer because this answer is true because the Catholic Church, instituted by Christ could not have so wrongly erred during all those centuries of its history,” they wrote. As one of the conservative theologians famously asked one of the female members of the commission, what would happen to “the millions we have sent to hell” for using contraception if the teaching were suddenly chan…

The 99 Names: Allah is not
He or She

By Amina Wadud

…vokes a question. Meanwhile, why is there no question when I use ‘He’? Because I use that too. I intentionally use all three pronouns available in English; Arabic has just two. This was easiest of all to explain to Indonesians, because bahasa has only one pronoun. It is clear to me that a pronoun is only a function of language. It does not convey or express gender politics. The trouble is, of course, when we choose one pronoun of the English three…

Do Psychedelics Offer a Path To The “God Within”?

By Hollis Phelps

…t to Mass.” Moreover, it’s not even clear that the same substance is being used. While contemporary researchers use synthetic psilocybin, for someone like Sabina, the mushroom itself is essential, and cannot be separated from its chemical makeup. She referred to the mushrooms as “the saint children.” My point is not to say that Richards and other researchers use such substances inauthentically, as if they’re merely appropriating for their own purp…

The Road to Decriminalization of Psychoactive Drugs Runs Through Religion

By Brad Stoddard

…60s and early ‘70s counterculture. The federal government criminalized the use, possession, sale, and cultivation of these drugs, though many continued to use them both recreationally and sacramentally. To honor the latter, Ruck created the word entheogen by combining the Greek word “entheos,” often translated as “god within,” with “gen” from the word hallucinogen. The term has grown in recent decades motivated by several factors. Chief among them…

Seattle ‘CultureMaker’ Nathan Marion: We Need New Abbeys in America to Foster Community, Arts

By Jesse James DeConto

…n the history of the church. That has fallen off dramatically, though, because churches decided to be “efficient” warehouses, or they decided they needed to be able to control and censor the creativity. I also see a lot of precedent for the welcoming spirit in the old European abbeys, and we try to model after that at Fremont Abbey. Abbeys were really places for community gathering, feasts, live music, and good stories. We need new abbeys in Ameri…

On Zion’s Mount

By Jared Farmer

…e other church program is the worldwide creation of temples: those special-use limited-access buildings used for rituals (not the regular open-access church buildings used for Sunday services). In the pioneer period, temples were grand edifices that echoed Utah’s mountains in their architecture. Each was different. But since 1997 the Church has built or authorized the construction of one hundred “mini-temples,” most of them beyond the Mormon Cultu…

Is Religion Wrecking Our Air?

By Jay Wexler

…o do anything about it. The agency has several statutes that it could have used to regulate the ritual use of mercury inside homes, most importantly the Toxic Substances Control Act, or TSCA, which allows the agency to take a wide variety of regulatory actions against substances that pose an unreasonable risk to the environment or public health. To look into the issue, the EPA established a task force that conducted research and interviewed intere…

If We Did Use the Bible to Run the Country…

By Wil Gafney

…es heads against rocks and keeping young nubile girls for their own sexual use. On the other hand, the wealthy would sell all that they have and give the proceeds to the poor. I have no need for Jeff Sessions or anyone in this administration to interpret scripture to or for me. What I require is that they exercise the responsibilities of their offices with integrity and compassion. I invite the Attorney General and the White House spokesperson to…