Religion Dispatches
The results of an online survey published in the latest issue of Skeptic Magazine show that atheists in America fear paying a high social price in coming out as a non-believer. “The Stigma of Being an Atheist: An Empirical Study on the New Atheist Movement and its Consequences,” written by Tom Arcaro, was based on the results of 8,200 people who identify as atheists or non-believers in God. The survey, “Coming Out as an Atheist,” was posted live…
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The arrest of the Michigan-based Hutaree Militia has drawn worldwide attention, and in so doing surfaced one of the knottiest issues we face as a culture to which religious freedom and free speech are so central: How do we think about and describe religiously-motivated violence? The Hutaree’s plans to murder a police officer and use IEDs to attack the funeral procession in order to catalyze an uprising against the federal government was shocking…
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I have recently fallen victim to a new mental illness: Post-Avatar Ecological Depressive Disorder (PAEDD). Don’t try to look for it in the DSM-IV; that book is full of imaginary pathologies. This one is real. My symptoms include hissing at cars, wishing I were twelve feet tall and blue, feeling a painfully nostalgic yearning to “return” to the magical world of Pandora depicted in James Cameron’s latest film Avatar, and simply wanting to die as I…
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In 2010, after televangelist Pat Robertson made one of his many notorious comments to appeal to his base and rile up his haters, I wrote a piece for RD to contextualize it. In this case the comment was a flagrantly racist response to a tragic hurricane in Haiti, which he called a punishment from God for Satanism—the same episode that Chrissy Stroop ranked as number one on her own top 10 list, and a worthy contender, no doubt! But since Robertson…
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JACKSONVILLE, FL — In talking about the Declaration of Independence at a campaign rally this morning, Mitt Romney emphasized pursuit of happiness. Gingrich, on the other hand, has been emphasizing the “life, liberty” part—as in how the “secular left” wants to take yours away. Romney wants you to be happy. Gingrich wants you to be aggrieved. Romney doesn’t mention religion. Gingrich wants you to think the “secular left” is robbing you of yours. Th…
Read MoreFranklin Graham’s Fat Tuesday appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe came with his usual “dog whistle” to the Tea Party and Teavangelicals about Obama being a Muslim. Graham has done this before, back in April of 2011, when he discussed President Obama on This Week with Christiane Amanpour. Graham threw out all of the dog whistles he could, bringing up Jeremiah Wright, and pushing back on the panels’ direct question to him as to whether President Obam…
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The United Kingdom’s Stonewall has published “Christian Role Models for LGBT Equality,” a booklet that tells the stories of 20 Christians from 15 countries on six continents, with a foreward by Bishop Christopher Senyonjo of Uganda. The report is also available in Spanish. Pope Francis in the U.S. Pope Francis generated tremendous media attention with his trip to Cuba and the United States, where he met President Obama at the White House and call…
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Josh Duggar, the oldest son of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, stars of “reality” TV and the real life conservative movement, has resigned his position as executive director of FRC Action, the political action arm of the Family Research Council, after In Touch magazine reported that he sexually abused young girls, including, apparently, his sisters, as a teenager. In a statement to People magazine, Duggar, now 27, said: Twelve years ago, as a young…
Read MoreAmerican Evangelicals Attend Anti-Gay Summit in Moscow We noted last week that the World Congress of Families’ planned summit seemed to be going ahead generally as planned, though without the official WCF imprimatur. That’s exactly what happened this week, with WCF officials Don Feder and Larry Jacobs in attendance, along with Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage. Miranda Blue reports at Right Wing Watch that the event, whose the…
Read MoreKansas City Chiefs safety Husain Abdullah was penalized last night for praying in the end zone after returning an interception for a touchdown. Tim Tebow has similarly prayed — although, apparently, the two prayers aren’t “similar:” one is Christian, and one is Muslim. The Kansas City Star reports Abdullah is a “devout Muslim” who promised himself that if he scored a touchdown, “I’m going to prostrate before God in the end zone.” Last night, he w…
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