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Anti-Gay Republican Senator Comes Out as LGBT Ally

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…came out to his parents two years ago. Since that revelation, Portman told CNN, he has been rethinking his opposition to marriage equality. “I’ve come to the conclusion that for me, personally, I think this is something that we should allow people to do, to get married, and to have the joy and stability of marriage that I’ve had for over 26 years. That I want all of my children to have, including our son, who is gay,” said Portman. Portman said he…

Kirk Cameron’s Monumental Reveals Subtle Influence of Christian Reconstructionism

By Julie Ingersoll

…the release of Monumental, Cameron made numerous appearances ranging from CNN, to CPAC, to interviews with religious-right leaders where he embraced popularized versions of the Reconstructionist framework. On David Barton’s Wallbuilders Live (listen here), Cameron embraced presuppositionalism, the myth of neutrality, and the inescapability of authority: faith is always involved in politics, even those who are secular humanists, they are importing…

OK Woman Politely Declines to Thank the Lord; Atheists Unite

By Becky Garrison

…he wasn’t a sheep. Vitsmun will be remembered—at least in the atheist moment—as the moment when the world has to face the fact we’re not this tiny percentage of people. I don’t think the numbers are growing. I think the numbers are now being counted right. Atheists aren’t afraid anymore to speak out.” But what will Wolf do next time?…

Why Didn’t Trump Lie About His Bible?

By John Stoehr

…by St. John’s Church. That photo op, according to polling by USA Today and CNN, would be described later as a “defining moment.” Much has already been said about the photo op. Trump didn’t say a prayer, didn’t go into the church, didn’t do much of anything worthy of a president who enjoys a commanding influence over the country’s large and politically powerful bloc of white evangelical Christians. But not much has been said of what he said about t…

Focus on the Family Goes to Bat for Bullies

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…eTolerance.org. Cushman appeared on Anderson Cooper 360 Wednesday night on CNN, and tried to put a pretty face on their efforts, saying: “We absolutely think every child should be protected from bullying.” She went on to try to explain, and this is where I began to wonder if conservative Christians ever really listen to themselves when they speak—because she hit the nail on the head, but, unfortunately, it was her own head. “The correct focus woul…

Beck, Hagee, and Lieberman Band Together to Fuel Armageddon Panic

By Sarah Posner

…alliance dates back years, too, with Beck hosting the televangelist on his CNN program in 2007 to answer “honest questions” about whether “the apocalypse is almost upon us.” The Hagee-Beck-Lieberman series of stunts is aimed at two audiences: Israel hawks who want to derail whatever shreds remain of a peace process, and biblical literalists who view all these events through the prism of prophecy and the end of days. The two camps, through the work…

Rage Against the Regime: Voices from the Iranian Underground Music Scene

By Austin Dacey

…human rights. Although prior to last month it seldom graced the tickers of CNN or the pages of the New York Times, popular resistance to the Islamic regime has existed since the moment Ayatollah Khomeini introduced the veil, escalating dramatically since 1999. This week Iranians everywhere are commemorating the 10th anniversary of brutal college dormitory raids by regime forces on July 9, or 18 Tir in the Persian calendar. What exactly is it they…

As Funny as the Times Will Allow: Obama on Late Night TV

By Louis A. Ruprecht

…y as the times will allow,” was the lackluster reply. (Michael Schulder of CNN offered a wonderful analysis of this on his blog, and admittedly I made a brief appearance there; it may be found here). Well, the President tried to be funny. And the joke fell flat. I’ve been puzzling over why. On the one hand, it seems a time tailor-made for comedy. The bigger the pain, the bigger the punchlines and the bigger the comic punch. Where tragedy is visibl…

The Jewish Daily Forward is Neither Jewish, Nor Daily (But Still Forward). Discuss!

By Brook Wilensky-Lanford

…are put under scrutiny, it is probably no surprise that BBC reporters and CNN anchors can face professional consequences for making any kind of statement about the conflict. In the Jewish media universe, as the Forward itself reported, even the wire services newspapers rely on are subject to politicization—the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), founded in 1917, has new, more vocally right-leaning competition as of 2011 in the Jewish News Service. O…

A Bill Passes, Westboro Baptists Shrug

By Rebecca Barrett-Fox

…Not so, declared the church. Member Steve Drain said in an interview with CNN on Friday that the law is “really not going to change our plans at all.” Given that WBC pickets are often five hundred feet or more from the scene of a funeral, the bill is likely to have minimal impact on the church’s strategy. Already, many states have laws in effect that limit funeral picketers from coming. Given that the law seems to run counter to the decision in S…