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Religion or Insanity? Two Upcoming Murder Trials Will Ask the (Burning) Question

By Joseph Laycock

…psychiatrists had even identified a fissure in Ferguson’s brain consistent with schizophrenia. However, Florida’s eighth circuit ruled that Ferguson’s delusions were not substantially different from ordinary Christian beliefs. In 2013 Ferguson was executed under the legal pretext that he was not mentally ill, but simply a murderous Christian. From a critical perspective, it seems untenable to assume that the categories of “religion” and “insanity”…

The Environmental Politics of Vodou, New Orleans Style

By Joseph Laycock

…n response. American fear and fascination with Vodou is also closely intertwined with issues of class and, especially, race. This matrix of associations is evident in the example of phone psychics like “Miss Cleo,” who uses an affected Caribbean accent. We also saw it in Pat Robertson’s gaffe following the earthquake that devastated Haiti in 2010, when he claimed that the nation of Haiti had made a pact with the Devil. Glassman conforms to no ster…

As Long As There’s Fear, We Aren’t Ready for Atheism: A Conversation with Theologian and Ex-Priest Daniel Maguire

By Alana Massey

…you think the species is headed for a short tenure? You do leave that sort of ambiguous in the book. This species has it in it to self-destruct. It also has it in it to make a new earth, to turn things around. The dream is the only thing we have; if these dreams grip us then policies will flow from that. The other thing about the Bible is that it has great hopes. You’re a little less than the angels, then it says you are hopeless and beyond redem…

Ralph Reed’s Group Goes after “Union Thugs” in Wisconsin

By Sarah Posner

…family” issue, but here’s Marx: Please join Tony Nasvik and join the fight with 100 plus FFC activists who will be going door-to-door encouraging the Badger State to vote for candidates who share our values of lower taxes, less government, faith, and who will stand up to union thugs who support Obama’s tax and spend solutions. We need your financial support to make our Wisconsin get-out-the-vote program work. Lower taxes, less government, faith….

Electionpocalypse, Part I (Christianity)

By Sarah Posner

…ens with prosperity preacher Kirbyjon Caldwell recalling his prayer on the phone with Obama before the first presidential debate in Denver (are they trying to advertise the ineffectiveness of prayer?): “I would pray that your primary will and words that you want the president to say will fall from his lips.” Gilgoff futher recounts: “Obama, for his part, was mostly silent.” Could it be because he thinks Caldwell’s from-God’s-will-to-my-lips busine…

Safety Not Guaranteed

By Jeanne Carstensen

…gns of the water’s path: parked cars askew in the street, on the sidewalk; flooded basement after flooded basement; ribbons of detritus strewn in patterns that look like the banks of a rushing stream. As if it had been following the outlines of the map the flood stopped just short of Avenue B, not touching our Orange side of the street. * Zooming in, zooming out—calculating the odds. It gave me a desperately needed illusion of control in the face…

Who’s Accusing Who of Mormon-Baiting?

By Joanna Brooks

…s the nation should be prepared to receive these deceitful and dissembling phone calls.” Catholic Democrats immediately responded with a statement that the report was “unequivocally false” and that if there were in fact “Catholic-to-Catholic phonebanking questioning Mitt Romney’s faith,” “our organization had no part in them.” Catholics for Obama also pointed to a statement released last fall by a number of lay Catholic leaders decrying Pastor Ro…

“Symbolic” Personhood Bill Could Kill

By Sarah Morice-Brubaker

…have such a low opinion of police officers that they think police officers will be totally cool with ignoring their sworn duty to uphold the law. Police officers, are you offended by this? 2. I would like to know why the bill’s supporters think that women dying from ectopic pregnancies is an acceptable grey area that it’s not important to parse in the laws of the state. And I would like to know how they can think a life-or-death question like that…

Even Tougher Questions to Ask Mormon Presidential Candidates

By Joanna Brooks

…own father is (or was) an extremely powerful and wealthy man with great influence within LDS culture and beyond. How have you personally benefitted from a patriarchal (and therefore exclusionary) religion and culture? How has patriarchy shaped your ability to exercise independent judgment? Have you ever openly disagreed with your father or another male LDS leader? Why or why not? 3. The LDS Church withheld priesthood from men of African descent…

Suicide Leads to Calls for Improved Treatment of LGBT Mormons

By Joanna Brooks

…ts and minds. But in the wake of Bryan’s death, many Mormons—LGBT and otherwise—are reflecting on the kind of support our communities are capable of offering gay Mormons who feel they can no longer hide their sexuality. I’ve heard LDS Church members ask whether excommunication is the best institutional response to gay Mormons in acute spiritual struggle or crisis. I’ve also heard Mormons reflect on how despite some signs of increased awareness and…