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Oppose Afghanistan But Not a Pacifist? Tough.

By Gabriella Lettini

…a war criminal. He volunteered to go to Afghanistan or to resign from the military. Instead he was prosecuted in military court, where he was not allowed to use his moral and legal assessment of Iraq as a defense. National Guard troops were ordered into a war they never expected to fight. Sherburne Baker, son of Celeste Zappala, joined the Pennsylvania National Guard to serve people in his community and protect people he loved. On April 24, 2004,…

Betraying a Sacred Trust: From Penn State to Dover Air Force Base

By Gary Laderman

…ill, sacrifice, and obedience to authority, and sacred commitments: the US military. The military dead have long been understood to be sacred remains, with the blood and sacrifices associated with military combat essential to rejuvenating and redeeming the national body politic. The deification of soldiers and key leaders and the sanctification of land dedicated to the war dead give expression to the sacred, religious meanings emanating from the m…

Put Your Money Where Your Mind Is: A For-Profit Meditation Studio Opens in New York

By Michael Schulson

…age. His 2012 book, The Buddha Walks into a Bar, has sold widely. Over the phone, I asked Rinzler why he and Burrows had chosen to establish the studio as a for-profit company. “We really wanted to make sure we had all the resources we need for supporting people who are trying meditation for the first time,” Rinzler explained. Because they’re a business, there’s more professionalism. The teachers they’ve hired show up on time, and, as Rinzler put…

Too Hot for Shul: Rabbis Seek Healthy Israel Dialogue After Gaza

By Sarah Posner

…Rosen told me. JVP, he said, is “agnostic” on Zionism, noting some of its members are Zionists. Nonetheless, he said, for many “joining JVP means crossing a kind of Rubicon.” But more people are crossing that Rubicon according to Rosen, who says that JVP’s membership is “growing explosively.” That same observation is also made—disquietedly—by rabbis who take issue with JVP’s positions. Some place at least part of the blame on the establishment’s…

Welcome to the Shari’ah Conspiracy Theory Industry

By Sarah Posner

…Judeo-Christian values” and “American exceptionalism,” was fined by the US military in 2003 for his involvement in the use of “improper methods” to get information from an Iraqi detainee that military prosecutors said amounted to torture. West appeared on Gaffney’s radio program and said that he hoped Congress would focus on the “infiltration of the shari’ah practice into all of our operating systems in our country as well as across Western civili…

Egypt’s ’Secular’ Gov Uses Religion as Tool of Repression

By Mohamad Elmasry

…rmer Grand Mufti, was asked by the regime to deliver a lecture to Egyptian military officers and other members of the security forces. In his lecture, attended by both Al-Sisi and Ibrahim, Gumah calls the military “heroes” and tells them that God, the Prophet Muhammad, and the believers are with them in their battle against disloyal Egyptians, and that they’re on the “path of God.” He then describes his dealings with “the group”—an implicit refere…

Sharbat Gula’s Experience Exemplifies the ‘White Savior’ Lens Through Which Most Americans View Afghanistan

By Sara Kamali

…t Gula and profiting disproportionately from the rights of her image, many members of the international community—the United States’ white military industrial complex and White Feminist Majority in particular—have regarded Afghanistan merely through the point of view of war rather than as a nation of diverse peoples, a plethora of cultures, many histories, and multiple geographies—and have certainly benefited from positioning themselves as White S…

This Narrative of Death that is So Powerful Among Us

By Daniel Schultz

…t it needs. Walter: Which comes to its pinnacle in the gay presence in the military, because the military cannot tolerate non-conformity, and probably the gender question is perhaps the most radical question of otherness that we can imagine. Dan: The most fundamental. So we find hope in those new identities conferred upon us in the eucharist. How do you find hope in this kind of dire situation that we’re in these days? Walter: [laughing] Well, I t…

The Religious “Right” to Denounce Homosexuality

By Sarah Posner

…r, in their words, if “homosexual behavior” were to be “normalized” in the military), then, among other things, “homosexual couples” would seek to participate in a military-sponsored marriage counseling program, Strong Bonds. “The religious beliefs of many chaplains involved in the program,” the letter read, “would not allow them to support relationships that are both harmful and sinful.” Two years ago, I met Major Laurel Williams, who had served…

Tony Perkins: Soldiers Will Quit if Gays Can Serve Openly

By Daniel Schultz

…e, President Obama will be driven to the place he does not want to go: the military draft. No action on repeal of the military ban on homosexuality should be taken in this lame-duck session of Congress. No votes should be taken — except to postpone major social changes. Setting aside the debatable assumption that the draft is a bad thing (it could be a net positive, especially with a German-style alternative service proviso), does Perkins really t…