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Is America Willing to Be Freed from Its Demons?

…hese demons, but what we fail to admit to ourselves is that our demons are useful—and no one really wants to get rid of a useful demon. These demons make us money. Politicians, pundits, news outlets and advertisers all play with the tensions, conflicts and frustrations between black and white people. They use racial antagonism to boost ratings, to draw attention to their products and to keep viewers. We are constantly afflicted by the media with y…

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Religion or Ethics at the Supreme Court?

…the values justices are supposed to have but can’t disclose, so we have to use the next best thing, which turns out to be just another tap dance— because everybody but the crazies know that it’s perfectly possible to have values without believing in God. But everybody wants to keep the crazy people happy, lest we have an honest discussion about abortion and the gay and the megacorporations that are eating up the nation. So let’s talk faith instead…

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‘Have a Blessed Day’ May Not Be a Sign of Christian Nationalism, But it’s Not Innocuous Either

…ists absolutely use phrases like “have a blessed day.” Some Christians may use the phrase because they’re blissfully ignorant about the privilege they enjoy, but others undoubtedly do so because they’re among those Christians who enjoy throwing their Christianity in everyone else’s face. I’ve also heard evangelicals respond to “Happy holidays” with “Merry Christmas,” through gritted teeth and in a tone that is anything but merry. In fact, every Am…

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Is Being Trans a Religion? Why the Christian Right Wants You to Think So

…again headed for the Supreme Court. And I only entertain the argument because of its manipulative use of the rhetoric of religion and “religious freedom.” Why take knowledge and practices supported by the medical establishment and cast them as a “religion”? While this rhetorical tactic might seem absurd on its face, it’s surprisingly effective for the Christian Right’s particular approach to authoritarian politics. When I was about 9 or 10, thank…

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Biden’s New ‘Restore the Soul of a Nation’ Ad Aimed at Black Voters Wary of the Frontrunner’s Dodgy History

…ing that a Biden Administration would represent a “return to normalcy” (to use the dreadful phrase coined by Warren G. Harding’s campaign). Just two (or maybe three) points worth noting about Biden’s use of “soul of a nation” rhetoric: 1. We don’t know the current condition of the nation’s “soul,” but we do have many hints regarding this matter that are unsettling, to say the least. If our “soul” were fully intact, would we even have Trump running…

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Why ‘Do You Believe in God?’ Is at the Heart of Our Religious Problem

…I do not care if there are gods or not.” Whether unconsciously or not, we use the term “religion” as a substitute for “theism” (belief in divinity). This is partly because Christianity, as the dominant religious system in the United States, normalizes a lot of its characteristics. Religion is not the same as “theism,” nor does it require an institutional affiliation. Often, students remark they are “spiritual” and not “religious,” because they th…

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The Glorious, Ethnically-Challenged, Sisterhood of Spy

…nd I know there’s no way roles aren’t eventually going to be reversed. Because the world is changing, and because we watched the trailer. (It popped up before 50 Shades of Grey, aka “Shari’ah in the Bedroom.”) When Fine is killed at the hands of the dastardly, and Bulgarian, Rayna Boyanov (played by a fantastic Rose Byrne), the CIA doesn’t just lose a great agent. Because Boyanov has the identities of all other CIA agents, which means no one can s…

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Will SB 1146 End LGBT Discrimination in California’s Religious Schools?

…th-based institutions explicitly subject” to California non-discrimination codes. Of course, that’s because non-faith-based institutions are already subject to the state and federal anti-discrimination laws. “The targets of this bill are religious colleges and universities, but the true victims of this legislation would be the innocent students,” wrote California Assemblyman Matthew Harper early last month. Since the anti-discrimination requiremen…

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Queer Nuns: Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are “Serious Parody,” Forcing Us to Redefine Nuns

…houses (non-residential chapters) in many large cities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Australia. They are often happy to visit classrooms, and they will come in habit to discuss their own perspectives on the order. Because they’re a non-profit organization that gives all of its monies back to the community, some will ask only for the cost of travel; honoraria generally go to the Sister’s house rather than to the individual member….

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Decolonizing Jewish Studies Part II: A Response to the Backlash

…orbed. Jewish Studies is well-positioned to engage this task precisely because of the variegated cultures it studies and because of the field’s history. Decolonizing Jewish Studies is a multidirectional enterprise. On the one hand, Jewish pasts and presents have been explicitly (mis)appropriated under various imperial and religious-supremacist ideologies. Think of Augustine summoning the Jew to witness and testify to Christian hegemony, or of cons…

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