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Angels & Demons: America’s Preeminent Pop Theologian Takes on Religion and Science

…Darwin. Since The Origin of Species appeared in 1859, there’s been little use hoping for convergence. Europe has fallen for secular scientism, and the United States for semi-closeted creationism. The best one can expect is a habitable truce. So where is Dan Brown’s confidence coming from? Deep in the American psyche, it turns out. Since colonial times there has been a gnostic strain running through our religious imagination, one that could embrac…

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Democrats Have Seized the Narrative Frame From the GOP, But Can They Find a Better Story to Tell About an Inclusive, Pluralist US?

…ed values. After all, “religious” or “friendly to religion” is essentially code for deference to the conservative Christian values of exclusion and exceptionalism. If Democrats wish to embody their espoused values of inclusion and freedom for all Americans, they ought to ignore the Republican framing of the question entirely and instead find a better story to tell. Christianity remains hegemonic in American discourse, and that’s a key reason Democ…

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‘Atheizing’ the Dead, Religious Doughnuts, & Tax-Free Witching

…s. Calvin College canceled a show by music group The New Pornographers because some people didn’t get the irony. The UK has banned an ice cream ad because some people might find its representation of a pregnant nun offensive. And a discotheque in Spain named “Mecca” has decided to change its name because the owners realized it was a bad idea to name a nightclub after the holy city. Hordes of dirty tourists may be ruining the the Sistine Chapel’s p…

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Leave Your Stereotypes at the Door: 10Q on “Keeping it Halal”

…? Why? In addition to Mitch Duneier’s Sidewalk, I would say Eli Anderson’s Code of the Street. It’s such a wonderful example of using the ethnographic method to dig beneath common stereotypes and reveal the social dynamics underlying a supposedly well-understood phenomenon. In his case, he’s looking at the situation of inner-city violence among young African American men. By carefully observing, listening, documenting, and then analyzing, he is ab…

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Catholic Archbishop Takes On Jesuit Magazine’s Slam on “Ecumenism of Hate”; and More in Global LGBT Recap

…celebrants, or businesses such as florists or caterers, cannot legally refuse to provide their services to any couples seeking to marry. But 49% of Australian Christians oppose a law change that would allow civil celebrants to refuse their services to same-sex couples on the ground of conscientious objection. Conservatives in the ruling coalition are divided on the idea of holding a plebiscite-by-mail on marriage equality, reports the Sydney Morn…

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Op-Ed: Bishops vs. Catholic Politicians

…ative moral absolute. Indeed, contrary to Vatican theology, the failure to use condoms when one’s spouse is HIV positive is morally wrong. There are many other circumstances where the failure to use artificial contraception could not be morally justified. Abortion is also not seen by Catholic theologians as “intrinsically evil.” The following are cases from real life. Few theologians and few others would accuse these women of sin. Case #1: A woman…

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Values Voters Summit: Preaching Wins the Morning

…ed into the “founding principles,” “Judeo-Christian” foundation, and other code, but they did more. They wept; they told stories about soldiers and family members; they evoked imagery of mountains climbed and enemies vanquished. Mitt Romney, though? Not so much. Speaking directly after Pence, who since the inaugural Values Voters Summit in 2006, has always invoked the language of the religious right base, Romney was at a disadvantage. He was borin…

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Canadian Courts Consider Decriminalization of Polygamy

…to determine the constitutionality of section 293 of the Canadian Criminal Code, which criminalizes the practice of polygamy, in light of sections of the Canadian Charter of Freedom pertaining to religious and civil liberties. Polygamy-practicing Mormons began fleeing to Mexico and Canada in the 1880s, after US Supreme Court Justices upheld the conviction of George Reynolds on polygamy charges in 1879, declaring polygamy an “odious” “Asiatic” prac…

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What the Lost Finale is Really About

…idst of the hullabaloo? Why write before it is over? Why write at all? Because the ultimate response to the show’s questions have already been answered. The ending of the finale is (spoiler alert) not important. There are no answers that can be given that will leave anyone feeling satisfied. It’ll be like a Thanksgiving feeding frenzy: gobble it up and think we are satiated, but an hour later we’ll be wanting more: “But, but, wait a minute, what a…

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Devil’s Bookmark: Doubting God’s Existence, but Angry Nevertheless

…ut the analyzing tendency of psychological criticism has sometimes been accused of verging on voyeurism, where the author’s secrets are pried from his characters on the critic’s couch. James Wood comments on this investigative turn in literary criticism: “the critic as analyst or perhaps as detective interrogates the text for those moments at which the poem seems to be displaying its stresses; when, in effect, it is sweating. These are the moments…

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