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Is Criticizing Mitt Romney an Excommunicable Offense? No.

By Joanna Brooks

…ir faith. That question of openness—the matter and manner in which the LDS community sorts through its own history and practices—is a source of tension among Mormons today. It’s complicated by so many factors—among them the youth of the Church, Mormon feelings of vulnerability to persecution from and misunderstanding by outsiders, the historical value assigned to secrecy when Mormon lifeways were under threat and from the US government in the nine…

Yes, It Can Be Hard to Be an Atheist in America; Now We Have the Data

By Chrissy Stroop

…in order to avoid possible confusion. Asked whether she thinks the phrase “coming out” belongs only to the LGBTQ community, Gill remarked, “I would vehemently disagree with that; I think it belongs to everybody. And I see a lot of similarities between being nonreligious and being LGBT.” She stressed that this does not mean that the stigma and discrimination faced by nonreligious people and members of the LGBTQ community are the same, but observed…

Can Expelled Teach Us a Thing or Two?

By Arri Eisen

…dressing what the movie gets wrong in building its arguments. Rather, I’ll come at it from another angle: What does the movie get right? And what can we learn from what the movie gets wrong? First, while framing issues as ‘battles’ (evolution vs. creationism, science vs. religion) may sell books and tickets for both ‘sides,’ productive engagement and nuance is sacrificed. Expelled, on the positive side does show us some interviews with balanced, t…

Mitt Romney’s Prosperity Gospel

By Peter Laarman

…I fervently wish that Mr. Obama would say a bit more about the problem of cheap grace. Reminding us that people who work very hard for very little are not the abusers of cheap grace, but that others in well-feathered nests who are preaching sacrifice might be in real trouble on the cheap grace front. Obama cannot and should not condemn those in the electorate who buy into Romney’s “there will be showers of blessing” message, but he probably does …

Swift-Boat Veterans of American Jewry Charge Anti-Semitism at Occupy Wall Street

By Jay Michaelson

…g of ECI, and its association with respectable conservatives like Fox News commentator William Kristol. It’s possible that cracks may be appearing in the edifice. Recently, it’s come to light that one of ECI’s board members, Rachel Abrams posted inflammatory, borderline-insane rants about Palestinians being “devil spawn” on her blog. Unsurprisingly, the center-left Jewish organization J Street has called on the saner folk at ECI to cut dies, disav…

Francis Visits the Church that John Paul Broke

By Patricia Miller

…r. The number of former, non-practicing Catholics in the US now rivals the number of actual Catholics, comprising a shadow church of lost adherents that will trail Francis as he moves through former Catholic strongholds like New York and Philadelphia that have closed churches by the dozen. And the numbers make it clear that the Catholic rate of disaffiliation isn’t an artifact of the general trend toward non-affiliation; in fact, it’s the other wa…

Burning Down the Temple: Religion and Irony in Black Rock City

By Sarah M. Pike

…City. For many Burners, this pilgrimage to the desert is the closest they come to participating in anything like a religious community. They prepare for it all year, gathering costumes and camp decorations, assembling sculptures, planning meals with groups of friends, and scheduling shifts as lamplighters or temple guardians. These are not desert fathers or renunciants seeking a wilderness away from civilization in which they suffer and travail t…

What a Turn-of-the-Century Anti-Abortion and Contraception Crusader Reveals About GOP Efforts to Ban Abortion Pills by Mail

By Steven K. Green

…United States through the 10th week of pregnancy). The abortion pill has become increasingly common in the US, with its use accounting for over 50% of all abortions in 2020, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Both efforts by red states—the banning of interstate travel and preventing the mailing of abortion pills—face obstacles. While the Supreme Court has recognized that there’s a constitutionally protected right to travel from one state to an…

That Jew Died For You… Dot Com

By Evan Derkacz

…d For You.” (Note to self: thatjewdiedforyou.org still available.) It’s like JfJ are PETA now…willing to do anything for publicity. I fully expect them to open a Jesus deli downtown: ThatJewCooksForYou.com As one friend put it: “It’s got potential. Kosher style. Lamb-of-God chops. Wood-smoked bacon.” The upside there is that it’d pit PETA against JfJ in a tasteless deathmatch. …

“Digital Discipline”: Five Questions on #ReLent2016

By Anita Little

…those who would never set foot in a church normally. https://twitter.com/TheSlateProject/status/699659532352368642 https://twitter.com/RevSistahGirl/status/703229824475594753 https://twitter.com/lutheranSLP/status/707028749158580224 https://twitter.com/dianabutlerbass/status/703021975782891520 https://twitter.com/revshiz/status/699940567103488001…