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From “Jane Roe” to “Roe No More”: Norma McCorvey’s Long Strange Trip Through the Politics of Abortion

By Patricia Miller

…ht-wing U.S. bishops’ conference, the Republican Party began siphoning off more and more Catholics, adding them to their evangelical voting bloc. As hard right-wingers ascended to party leadership, they insisted on more and more ideological purity on abortion, as did the Democrats, cleaving the parties into two neat factions, for and against. Today, no other social issue is nearly as divisive. A Pew Poll taken just before the election found that 8…

Sarah Palin to Tour Israel, Christian-Style

By Anthea Butler

…lin’s trip to Jerusalem and Nazareth (just after Purim, Queen Esther’s big moment in the Jewish calendar) is probably no more than the usual Republican political stopover to show solidarity for Israel. To her loyal followers, Palin’s pilgrimage will be one more sign not only of a potential presidential run, but of God’s divine hand on her life. Expect to see pictures of her praying at the Wailing Wall, as well as an uptick in her comments about he…

‘Anti-Romeo’ Vigilante Squads Target Men Suspected Of Being Gay; More in the Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…x couples married in first month; Lutheran priests barred from officiating More than 800 same-sex couples were married in March after marriage equality went into effect on the first of the month; 770 had already been in civil partnerships. The Lutheran Evangelical Church has decreed that priests are not permitted to marry same-sex couples and some bishops warned that those who do would face “consequences.” From a March 1 story: In spite of the chu…

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

By Michael Schulson

…ascendant. For many affluent Americans today, ethics and spirituality look more and more like a commercial service. “People used to go to church on Sunday—that was their weekly ritual and their community,” Peloton co-founder John Foley told Bloomberg Businessweek last year. “Most 25 year-olds aren’t relating on that platform, but it’s ‘I’ll see you at the studio.’” Places like MNDFL seem to be betting that Foley’s observation will bear out. If you…

Why are Nuns and Monks in the Streets? (Parts I & II)

By José Cabezón

…certain critical mass is necessary for their institutions to thrive. While most monks undoubtedly do not wish to return to the huge, pre-1959 monastic populations, and while they deplore the excesses of what has been termed “the mass monasticism of the old society,” monks object to the current size limits imposed on them by the government. They see this as a violation of the rights of young Tibetan men to enter the religious life, as an infringeme…

Saving Teens from Obama: When Bible Study Goes Wrong

By Vyckie Garrison

…might sidestep the entire issue of the presidential election, and Romney’s Mormonism, by writing in “Jesus” or “the Bible” as a protest vote at the polls). “We just wanted to get the kids thinking,” they told me. When I wondered if purchasing tickets for the kids using Salvation Army funds could be a violation of the church’s tax-exempt status, Miranda argued that she didn’t see a problem. Since the Bible is applicable to every facet of private a…

Can Expelled Teach Us a Thing or Two?

By Arri Eisen

…more than likely, movies like Expelled wouldn’t be made in the first place. We’d be less about selling books and tickets and more about moving forward….

Mitt Romney’s Prosperity Gospel

By Peter Laarman

…ith so much at stake, we need a bit more than “do the math.” We need a bit more evocation of the most important part of Winthrop’s “shining city” sermon, which is the part about bearing one another’s burdens and prospering by way of ethical community. And also just a bit about how to recognize the false prophets of any age. That would be those who cry “peace!” when there is no peace, and those who pronounce God’s blessing upon an oppressive status…

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

By Jay Michaelson

…is not only to demean and dehumanize us, but also to do violence to the memory of victims of actual antisemitism. More than anything else, I’m insulted by the ad, and offended that this organization is lying to me, my mother, and my relatives for their own political reasons—namely, defeating Barack Obama. Antisemitism is a serious, real thing. When it is used as a cheap shot—as when pro-Palestinian advocates throw around terms like “Nazi” and “co…

An American Muslim Abroad, Or, Things I Saw in Dubai

By Haroon Moghul

…the UAE, with 2.1 million people. Recently I heard that some 13,000 people move to the city each month, which can be best described as clumps of skyscrapers along massive highways, some 6-8 lanes in each direction. But though it’s called the United Arab Emirates, the population is overwhelmingly South Asian, especially in Dubai—they form the service and labor class, but many South Asians are wealthy professionals and businesspersons. Dubai and the…