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This is Not a Religion Column: The Audacity of Compromise…

By Jeff Sharlet

…Have a Dream” speech — delivered 45 years ago on the steps of the Abraham Lincoln Memorial, an American temple of democracy. Much has been made of that coincidence, generally along the lines of “a dream fulfilled.” And yet, the subtle religiosity of Obama’s speech reveals a dream diluted, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision of liberation for all repackaged in the terms of a less ambitious hope, that of the “Social Gospel.” “The fundamental belief,”…

Onward Christian Trump Soldiers

By Paul Harvey

…yer,” when James Madison did so (during the War of 1812), and when Abraham Lincoln had done so during the Civil War. The resolution continues that it is the: duty of nations, as well as of men to owe their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth . . . proven by all history,…

Atheists Gone Wild

By Louis A. Ruprecht

…swear, with his hand placed on a copy of the same Bible with which Abraham Lincoln swore a slightly different oath in 1861. Dr. Michael Newdow argues that such public references to God are unconstitutional, signifying that non-theistic or atheistic citizens are not included in the same way (if at all) in the ceremonial inauguration of their new President. For similar reasons, Newdow is also suing to keep Reverend Rick Warren from delivering the pr…

God Invoked by Both Sides in Rhode Island Marriage Campaign

By Peter Montgomery

…they have a lot of political supporters—including President Obama and Gov. Lincoln Chafee. The speaker of the state House has called for a vote by the end of the month. Religious voices are prominent in the opposition campaign. Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin recently called same-sex marriage “immoral and unnecessary.” And anti-gay activists from the National Organization for Marriage and MassResistance joined a press conference held Tuesday a…

Silver Bells and Atheist Billboards

By Steve A. Wiggins

Seven a.m., sitting in a bus just outside the Lincoln Tunnel. Jersey side. Far above my head shouts one of those electric billboards with ads that change every few seconds. An image of Poseidon flashes by, then Jesus, Santa Claus, and the Devil. The caption: “37 Million Americans know MYTHS when they see them.” It’s Christmastime in the City. American Atheists has been sponsoring such billboards around the holidays for a couple of years now. And…

Dear President Bush

By Jimmy McCarty

…orking a government job supporting our military. (I even worked on the USS Lincoln before you landed that plane on it with “Mission Accomplished” emblazoned behind you. You’re welcome.) I remember when 9/11 happened. I was driving to another day at work fixing our ships and submarines when I heard about it on the radio. It was eerie. At first they said a plane crashed into the World Trade Center. Sad, but to an eighteen-year-old it was an interrup…

Art(ful) History in Texas

By Lauri Lebo

…of Confederate President Jefferson Davis alongside the writings of Abraham Lincoln. McLeroy says that he and other board members weren’t trying to ignore slavery as a cause of the Civil War. “There were multiple causes,” he said. Davis’ address, which reads eerily like a Tea Party manifesto, never mentions slavery, but the board makes no mention of teaching its own state’s Ordinance of Secession, which states: (Texas) was received as a commonwealt…

RI Civil Unions Religious Exemption Sets Dangerous Precedent

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…the right to treat them in the most un-Christian manner possible. Governor Lincoln Chafee reluctantly signed the bill. The Chicago Tribune noted that he had wanted full marriage equality for gay and lesbian citizens of his state: Describing the proposal that passed the tiny New England state’s Senate this week as “a step forward,” he said it did not fully achieve its goals of giving same gender pairs the same rights, benefits, protections and resp…

Sacred&Profane: American Martyrdom

By Gary Laderman

…y roadside bombs and sniper fire, with biographies of the war dead who now number over 4,079 easily accessible through websites and cybermemorials, online media sources and social networking pages still brimming with life, the anonymous war dead and unknown soldiers have been the bread and butter of religious nationalism in the United States. The generally anonymous military dead represented most poignantly and ceremonially at the Tomb of the Unkn…

The Sacred Myths of My People: A 4th of July Reflection

By Kate Blanchard

…iverse,” a sacred mythology, is on display everywhere in the capital. What Lincoln, Jefferson, and King “believed” is written explicitly on the walls of their monuments. A small statue of Eleanor Roosevelt in the shadow of her husband’s giant memorial says a few things about this universe as well. The celebration of American militarism is made manifest in the war memorials and cemetery. The simple fact that there are no buildings taller than the W…