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Evangelical Stephen Baldwin’s Imitatio Christi & “Reality” TV

By Gabriel Mckee

Over the last year or two, I’ve become an unironic, unapologetic fan of reality TV. I know the criticisms—they dumb us down, they elevate public humiliation—but what I’m really interested in is the way shows like Spike’s Joe Schmo Show or VH1’s I Love Money turn into morality plays about the value of friendship and loyalty. In the best reality shows, the initial rush of schadenfreude is gradually replaced with a genuine affection for the “good gu…

Why I Am Still a Christian

By Diana Butler Bass

…who is might be willing to give Christianity a second look—those who are “spiritual-but-not-religious” and the “church alumni club.” And those who might be completely post-religious and just want to read a good story about interesting people in the past. Are you hoping to just inform readers? Give them pleasure? Piss them off? I always want my readers—of my books, blogs, or articles—to say, “I’ve never really seen the world from that angle before…

Evolution and Creation Fight to the Death: What Emerges from the Ashes

By Philip Clayton

…mon ground—are almost nonexistent? When we ran the global “Science and the Spiritual Quest” program just a decade ago, many leading scientists took moderate views. Religion did not need to be destroyed, they told us, as long as the basic conditions for doing science were not undercut. Theologians and religious leaders responded in kind: religionists have every reason to support scientific research and to learn from its results. You’ll have to look…

No Buddhists in Washington?

By Danny Fisher

…gs between scientists and Buddhists. In 2005, for example, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet was invited by the Stanford University School of Medicine to dialogue with a panel of distinguished neuroscientists. In short, Buddhist Americans and their work should not be overlooked. Indeed, how helpful a Buddhist representative might be on something like the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships! One hopes t…

Sex and the Chosen People: Be Fruitful and Multiply, Etc.

By Mandy Van Deven

…Worrying and Love Religion. From the decision to be an atheist when she was 13 years old to her ultimate, though somewhat reluctant, choice to become a rabbi, Ruttenberg’s story shows the ways religious practice is complicated yet valuable for its complexity. This month she will release a third, perhaps more controversial, book entitled The Passionate Torah: Sex and Judaism. Like Yentl’s Revenge, The Passionate Torah is an anthology. The book’s co…

Queering Easter: The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Redefine Sainthood

By Susan Henking

…f queer nuns. Since our first appearance in San Francisco on Easter Sunday, 1979, the Sisters have devoted ourselves to community service, ministry, and outreach to those on the edges, and to promoting human rights, respect for diversity, and spiritual enlightenment. We believe all people have a right to express their unique joy and beauty and we use humor and irreverent wit to expose the forces of bigotry, complacency, and guilt that chain the hu…

Lou Engle Attempts To Backpedal On Uganda Anti-Gay Bill

By Sarah Posner

…, told him that they met with Engle and he told them he supported the bill: 1. Both Oyet and Bahati were ecstatic at what they perceived as Engle’s strong support of the bill. They felt his rally and his statements would be a turning point for the bill, reassuring their Ugandan allies that they had support abroad. 2. Both Oyet and Bahati told me that Engle had explicitly expressed his support for the bill, telling them that he had to lie to the We…

American Supports Ugandan Anti-Gay Bill

By Michael Wilkerson

…ly, a stunning view of Uganda’s largest mosque on a nearby hill. Only about 100 people had gathered by the appointed starting time of 2:00 p.m., but many more, the audience was told, would be coming from their earlier church services at their regular parishes. Far from the stage, but clearly in view, several vendors set up meat-roasting stands in anticipation of a crowd that might not fully embrace The Call’s advertised proclamation, “Prayer, fast…

Religious Right Prays To Lift Curse Of Obama, Glenn Beck’s Commencement Speech, And A Cross In The Desert: The Week In Religion, Poetically

By Christopher Marchsteiner

…a religious display in a federally owned park was a clear violation of the spirit of the Establishment Clause, and an insult to citizens of all faiths.” Eric Lee Garner was sentenced to 17 months in prison after threatening a Muslim woman and her child with a knife, saying of her head scarf, “You Muslim people scare people when you wear things like that.” A German Muslim group supported the display of crucifixes in public schools. “Religion needs…

Meet The Liberal Tea Partiers

By Abby Scher

…n the Heritage Foundation began reaching out to social conservatives in the 1990s to win support for tax cuts even for the wealthy, and the success of that outreach can be seen not only in McClusky’s work at FRC Action but in Mike Huckabee’s support for a national sales tax, and the antitax politics of Christian conservatives like Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann. Trickle-down economics has trickled down to Christian conservatives, as a September…