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Satanic FOIA Reveals Deep Confusion About 1st Amendment

By Joseph Laycock

…es suggested that the best way to block the Satanic monument was to also remove the monument to the Ten Commandments. But virtually all of the messages were opposed to the monument, ranging in tone from bewilderment to anger to tears. What they shared was a complete lack of understanding of the establishment clause or its implications for government institutions—not to mention a staggering level of confusion. Several callers demanded to know wheth…

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

By Joseph Laycock

…th ritual so that they could travel to “another galaxy.” “Joy of Satan” promotes “theistic Satanism” and is an extremely fringe group even among Satanic organizations. Its website is rife with comments that are openly anti-Semitic and anti-Christian—but it does not advocate murder. One essay explains that Satanism “is not about human sacrifice,” and another insists that, “Satan never murdered anyone.” An essay on the afterlife contains no mention…

The Environmental Politics of Vodou, New Orleans Style

By Joseph Laycock

…en I ask my students to list their associations with Vodou, “scary” is the most common 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…

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

By Alana Massey

…nstead of the Gospels, you use the story of the Exodus to form your great, more moral project. What attracted me from the Exodus to the New Testament was the conviction that the given is not necessarily permanent. We can transcend it. In the vision of Isaiah there is a new heaven and a new earth, a new possibility, and a new testament. Transform everything in your thinking. Level every mountain, raise every valley. The great heresy of all time is,…

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

By Sarah Posner

…be canvassing the state, in preparation for “a full-scale get-out-the-vote phone bank operation to make sure every last pro-freedom and pro-family voter goes to vote on behalf of our values.” So far, the right’s anti-union battleground in Wisconsin hasn’t been explicitly framed as a “pro-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…

Electionpocalypse, Part I (Christianity)

By Sarah Posner

…ago endorsed Rick Perry over Romney in the Republican Primary, and called Mormonism a cult, is now telling pastors in Florida—even though he still thinks Mormonism is a cult—that “It’s time to stand up and push back against all the evil in our country.” He suggested that failing to go out to vote for Romney would be like being a pastor in Germany in the 1930s and failing to try to stop the Holocaust. Meanwhile, Charisma magazine appears to be the…

Safety Not Guaranteed

By Jeanne Carstensen

…ike the woman I met in front of Jacob Riis, who lived unequivocally in the most dangerous area but felt she couldn’t leave, no matter what the risks, the map must have meant something different, something like “duh.” It showed her what she already knew—that she lived in the evacuation zone—but offered no easy solution. * Almost a week after Hurricane Sandy I know the neighborhood much better than before. Sheens remained open throughout four days…

Who’s Accusing Who of Mormon-Baiting?

By Joanna Brooks

…lic advocacy group, who is accusing Catholics for Obama of staging an anti-Mormon “whispering campaign” against Mitt Romney. Deal wrote that one Catholic friend told him she had been called by a phonebanker who identified herself as Catholic and asked, “How can you support a Mormon who does not believe in Jesus Christ?” Hudson alleged (without evidence) that the remark came from a “script” and that “Catholics across the nation should be prepared…

“Symbolic” Personhood Bill Could Kill

By Sarah Morice-Brubaker

…port which would go directly to her physical and psychological care, her removal from the abuse, the detention of her rapist, and the education and healthcare and nourishment of her child. 5. I would like to know why, when there are really awesome custom t-shirt companies in Oklahoma like Boomtown Tees, our politicians seemingly can’t be bothered to take five minutes and fifty bucks to find an appropriate platform for an ideological slogan, and in…

Even Tougher Questions to Ask Mormon Presidential Candidates

By Joanna Brooks

… your view?” and “Polls show that there is some resistance to voting for a Mormon. Do you sense that this prejudice is still a factor in the campaign? If so, how do you address it?” Of Huntsman, Keller asked: “Though you were reared Mormon, you have described yourself as ‘not overly religious.’ If not religion, what do you use as your guide in deciding what is right and what is wrong?” Very reasonable questions. But they sound like softballs to me…