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James Foley Prayed, But He Was Not a Martyr

By Alana Massey

…ect of both personal and corporate prayer. When he speaks to his mother by phone from Libya, she asks if he has felt the prayers coming from his home as well. He tells her that he has felt them and reports, “Maybe it was others’ prayers strengthening me, keeping me afloat.” This is precisely the kind of hope that prayer can inspire that should become central to the understanding of it for those of us who do not engage in prayer. Though the old aph…

Satanic FOIA Reveals Deep Confusion About 1st Amendment

By Joseph Laycock

…trying to make—that the establishment clause was designed to prevent problems inherent in building religious monuments on government property. Because the authors of the messages fail to understand the difference between government endorsement of Christianity and the personal liberty of Christian citizens, Constitutional issues surrounding the separation of church and state are interpreted as demonic attacks perpetrated by “God haters.” Constituti…

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

By Joseph Laycock

…ill, but simply a murderous Christian. From a critical perspective, it seems untenable to assume that the categories of “religion” and “insanity” are mutually exclusive. And yet legal claims often assume that these two categories are neatly separate. Partly because of this assumption, the “religion or insanity” question often amounts to a game of “heads I win, tails you lose,” in which whatever interests are more established get to make the rules…

Who’s Accusing Who of Mormon-Baiting?

By Joanna Brooks

…t Coke and a dozen pink-frosted sugar cookies that there is no anti-Mormon phonebanking script in use by Catholics for Obama. Anywhere. Is anti-Mormonism real? Yes. But even if one poorly-trained rogue phonebanker veered off script into an anti-Mormon ad lib, it does not make for a concerted anti-Mormon effort. (Leave that to orthographically challenged “Heaven is Easy” ministry in Florida.) May cool heads prevail as the race heats up in its fina…

Romney Had No Clue as to Obama Ground Game

By Joanna Brooks

…d doing laps around my folding chair, and even under those suboptimal circumstances I could tell right away that Obama’s data was even better than it was in 2008 and that there was hardcore focus on the 18- to 29-year-old set. And, mind you, I’m no professional. Which is why I must take issue with Kranish’s unironic characterization of Romney as a “data-driven analyst.” Unless by “data-driven analyst” he means is a guy who knows how to arrange num…

High Ark: A Geologist on the True Meaning of Noah’s Flood

By Brook Wilensky-Lanford

…waves. In Africa, flood myths are somewhat more scarce, because floods themselves are rare, and they can be life-giving events. The Chinese flood stories are more about control of nature… the point is not “which one of these stories is true.” The point is to connect the stories to actual facts on the ground. One of my favorite places is the Valley of the Tsangpo River in China, where I begin the book. It’s rare as a geologist to go somewhere wher…

Is Herman Cain’s Long-Running Minstrel Show Finally at an End?

By Anthea Butler

…continues to use them as a shield to hide his failings. Ginger White’s claims, backed up with receipts and phone records, are compelling. Besides, who would willingly admit that they had sex with THEHermanCain, besides Gloria, his wife, unless it was true. I sincerely hope that Cain gets a clue this week and drops out of the race for the sake of his family. I could care less who he decides to 999. Allowing his private dalliances to become a public…

Presbyterians, Change Hearts & Minds, Begin Ordaining Gays

By MaryAnn McKibben Dana

…factor” acknowledges a layer of mystery. More Light Presbyterians’ Adee sums up the ground game as follows: “We followed the example of the Obama campaign and ran a 50-state, all-173-presbytery campaign.” This included church-based phone banks; ads in national Presbyterian magazines; and letter-writing and story-telling campaigns using traditional mail as well as social media [YouTube, Facebook, Twitter]. “We [also] found church leaders who had c…

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…

Even Tougher Questions to Ask Mormon Presidential Candidates

By Joanna Brooks

…t might embarrass candidates who maintain more orthodox or literalistic forms of belief. The article turned out to do nothing of the sort, despite opening with an implied comparison between religion and belief in space aliens and tossing in a gratuitous reference to Mitt Romney’s underwear. (Really? Can we not get over the underwear meme?) Keller actually proposed a very moderate line of questioning gauging candidates’ commitment to the values of…