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RDPulpit: Evangelical Manifesto, the “Chamomile Tea” of Theologies

By Daniel Schultz

…eo-evangelicalism separated itself theologically from fundamentalism in the 1940’s and 50’s, it gave rise a corresponding political movement to find evangelicals a seat at the table of power. That project, in full swing since the 1980’s, has succeeded and then some. It’s the “and then some” that bothers the younger leaders. They’re bothered by the political excesses of the religious right. More important, they have apparently looked at the goals o…

Resurrection of ‘Comstock Laws’ Would Threaten Access to Abortifacients — But Even That Fear Misses Bigger Picture

By Gillian Frank

…e Supreme Court decided Griswold v Connecticut in 1965, Clarence Thomas was 16 years old and Samuel Alito was 15. Both men were in their twenties when the court issued Roe v Wade, Doe v Bolton, Eisenstadt v Baird, and Miller v California. Which is to say, Justices Thomas and Alito came of age as the Supreme Court, through decisions on contraception, abortion, and obscenity, liberalized a restrictive sexual order by mooting federal and state “Comst…

The Transfiguration of the Fanboy: How I Lost One Leper Messiah, and Gained Another, The Conclusion

By Mark Dery

…n Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don’t Know About Them) (New York: HarperCollins, 2009), passim. [8] Bart D. Ehrman, Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don’t Know About Them) (New York: HarperCollins, 2009), p. 151. [9] Bart D. Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why (New York: HarperCollins, 2005), p. 10. [10] Quoted in “Jazzin’ For Blue Jean” entry, Wikipedia…

Dinos and Demons and Swedes, Oh My! It May Be Cartoonish, but Evangelical Radicalism Isn’t Just a Sideshow

By Chrissy Stroop

…eading statements during his tenure of less than three years in office—over 10,000 of them, according to The Washington Post. Authoritarians have a very different relationship to the truth than the rest of us, so when Trump claims he had the largest inauguration crowd in history, or Jeffress spouts the absurd lie that Democrats worship an ancient Mesopotamian deity associated with child sacrifice, around 8 in 10 white evangelicals—using the percen…

Prosperity Preachers: Where Are They Now?

By Jonathan L. Walton

…hat difficult economic times signify a lack of faith at best, and a sinful spirit at worst? So where are they now? Where are these preachers as parishioners’ mortgages continue to default and gas prices bust the average working family’s budget? Where are they as families fall into an economic tailspin due to unforeseen job losses and out of control healthcare costs? And where are they as parishioners increasingly discover that the extravagant luxu…

When Is a “Religious War” Not Really a Religious War?

By Sarah Posner

…hing would be rosy if all “religious people” were sufficiently generous of spirit to pay their respects to mourners of their enemies in a so-called “religious” war. As Goldberg acknowledges, religious incitement, particularly around the Temple Mount, is fueling some of the violence. But more than by religious feuds, Goldberg writes, the violence is driven by power, powerlessness, and frustration: [T]here can be no such thing as coexistence when di…

V-Day: An Arrow in the Heart

By Louis A. Ruprecht

…Many a Romantic artist has said the same: the self must clear out for the spirit of creativity to enter. Loss of self is perceived as fulfillment of self. Now enter the lover in love, long venerated by poets and rhapsodes of all stripes, starting with the lyrical Lesbian, Sappho herself. The lover who tries to leave reason in control, she warns, does not follow her god to the end. It is the very chaos of love, the swirl of love, that may link our…

Virginians may Vote in Elections, But in Counties with Militias Democracy Hangs in the Balance

By Carolyn Gallaher and Priya Dixit

…rkson, “Anti-abortion bombings related,” The Intelligence Report, September 15, 1998. [30] Erik Larson, “Unrest in the West: Welcome to Nevada’s Nye County, Whose Angry Residents Are Spearheading the Region’s Charge against Washington,” Time Magazine, October 23, 1995. [31] Carolyn Gallaher, “Placing the Militia Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon,” ACME 15(2) (2016): 293-308. [32] Kanishka Singh and Steve G…

Mormons React to Prop. 8 Ruling

By Joanna Brooks

…in this country, and we urge people on all sides of this issue to act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility toward those with a different opinion.” As we’ve reported here at RD, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, responding to a letter from the Church’s First Presidency read over the pulpits during Sunday meeting in June 2008 and other organizing efforts headed by high-ranking and local Church leaders, contributed the…

Thanksgiving Reveals More About Us Than About 17th Century Events

By Ed Simon

…Pilgrim and Indian story, the basis of so many Thanksgiving pageants in the 1900s. The holiday came first, and the mythic 1621 event became a focus only later. *** America The Mythical: ‘Mother of Exiles’ or Denier of Safe Haven? Returning to the mythic conventions behind Thanksgiving—including the narrative which casts the pilgrims’ journey to America as an Exodus story that enacts the promises of religious freedom—I ask what role the holiday cou…