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Data-Mining Denominations: Same-Sex Marriage Edition

By Daniel Schultz

…t tradition. A couple of geek notes here: “Sample” refers to the number of participants in the PRRI poll, out of a total of about 40,000. They’re roughly proportional to the size of that group in the population. I’ve given the vertical axis a log scale so you can make out the smaller groups. PRRI divides certain groups into Evangelical and Mainline camps, hence the “Ev.” and “M” in front of some labels. These results aren’t terribly surprising. It…

Wesolowski Sexual Abuse Case a New Approach or Same Old Same Old?

By Mary E. Hunt

…crimes and reactions to them invite critical analysis. First, what does a papal nuncio do in the Dominican Republic, or anywhere else for that matter? It’s not as though there’s a Vatican consulate handling visas, or reciprocal military and political policies to iron out. Supposedly this office of nuncio, dating to the 16th century, is the liaison between the Holy See (Vatican City State) and the local church. How odd that a Polish priest would b…

The Family Research Council’s Mistaken Identity

By Sarah Posner

…adical far right, described in the FBI’s Project Megiddo report as “a vast number and variety of groups, such as survivalists, militias, the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, Christian Identity churches, the AN and skinheads.” The report called Christian Identity “the most unifying theology for a number of these diverse groups and one widely adhered to by white supremacists. It is a belief system that provides its members with a religious basis for racism…

Jonestown at 40: The Real Conspiracy Is More Disturbing Than the Theories

By Rebecca Moore

…d syringes to squirt poison into their mouths. But this staff was aided by parents, make no mistake about that. In addition, a number of senior citizens are reported to have been injected with poison, but it’s impossible to determine how many. This leaves the problem of how many adults voluntarily drank the “Kool-Aid.” Suicide is, of course, called into question if they were surrounded by armed guards, though the guards themselves died at the end…

The Plot to Turn the Synod into a “Plot”

By Patricia Miller

…his “ostentatious humility,” (apparently he preferred Benedict’s flair for papal bling, including his red shoes or fur-lined, ermine-trimmed winter cape). He speaks of Francis’ “maneuvers” and calls him the “chief plotter.” And he repeats the question of conservative journalist Edward Pentin’s recent book about whether last year’s synod was “rigged,” echoing its conspiratorial overtones. Of course he fails to note that Pentin’s book, which amounte…

Satanic or Silly: Does Yale Press Censorship of Cartoons Insult Muslims?

By Daniel Martin Varisco

…d States military presence in both Iraq and Afghanistan, drone bombings in Pakistan and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, there are far more relevant pretexts available than an Ivy League book that may not even warrant review in major newspapers. The peddlers of Islamophobia in the media, popular trade books, and blogs would have us believe that radical extremists are lurking everywhere just waiting for an excuse to promote violence. To suggest tha…

As Gaza Burns, Jews Disagree, Protest & Pray

By Sam Kestenbaum

…has no space or place in the Jewish religion,” he says. “We oppose the occupation because we are Jewish.” Payos hang down on either side of his face; he wears a fedora and a Palestinian flag wrapped around his neck. “This was given to me by an Arab,” he later explains. Thousands of miles away an American émigré from Brooklyn takes the train to Sderot from his apartment outside of Jerusalem. He wants to see what is happening in Gaza for himself, so…

Dutch Treat: Betsy DeVos and the Christian Schools Movement

By Peter Laarman

…urch in America (RCA) in 1857, but for us the schism was still so real and palpable that it was as though it had happened yesterday. We were First Reformed (RCA) people, and my dad would privately refer to the CRC zealots as “the cutoffs” and the “holier-than-thou” crowd. (And it should be said that in the Village of Oostburg—pop. 965 when I was attending Oostburg HS—there was real competition for the holiness crown, because we also had an Orthodo…

New Poll Reveals Jews May Be Open to Change in Israel Policy

By Benjamin Weiner

…on this in a moment.) *88% want active American involvement in the Israel-Palestine conflict, and a slightly smaller number would tolerate pressure being exerted on both sides. *69% were in favor of negotiations with a Palestinian unity government that included Hamas, and 76% percent expressed some degree of support for the “two-state solution” as outlined in the 2000 Camp David and Taba talks. (This was the agreement, often said to have been rej…

What’s in a Name? Religious Nones and the American Religious Landscape

By Richard Flory

…ounger adults are more likely to say that they have no religion than their parents or grandparents’ generations. Many church leaders are concerned about their losses and what in their view will result in a general decline in social and personal morals. Others rationalize their losses as essentially a culling of the religious herd. Now, they say, we’re down to people who really believe, instead of “cultural Christians” who don’t adhere to Christian…