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Talmud v. Torture: The Jewish Case Against “Enhanced Interrogation”

By Benjamin Weiner

…dictates of the prophetic voice through a regimented system of behavior: a code of conduct thoroughly imbued with an ethos and a morality. The most articulate condemnations of torture that Judaism has to offer are therefore presented most effectively as deeply spiritual legal analyses. The best of these, in recent years, was composed by Rabbi Melissa Weintraub for Rabbis for Human Rights, an international organization focusing on a number of progr…

A Real-Life Truman Show?

By Lauri Lebo

…hrough the gate leading to the water, one must punch in a combination pass code. The town’s elegantly manicured gardens belie its state’s housing market collapse. But just outside of town, realtors advertise “Free Foreclosure Lists!” Sitting along a commons of lush grass, an attractive young couple casually dressed in designer sunglasses, khakis, and expensive sandals led a group of fair-haired children in prayer. The young blond woman urged the c…

Is Alcoholics Anonymous a Religion?

By Galen Watts

…d back in 2014, defended itself by invoking section 18 of the Human Rights code, which allows a religious group to restrict participation to the faithful. So while AA presents itself to the public as a “spiritual” program, distinguishing itself from “religious” groups, it nevertheless claimed “religious” legal status in order to protect itself. Although the definition of “religion” is generally assumed in common parlance, it is not in any sense ea…

The Dark Horse ‘Stop the Steal’ Scenario: NAR Leaders Sought ‘Trojan Horse’ in Election Offices Filled with ‘Christian Patriots’

By Frederick Clarkson

…his election season. This includes threats of violence from leaders of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) which have loomed over the 2024 election since the last presidential election. Many leaders of the NAR participated in the Stop the Steal activities before, during, and since January 6th, and many remain election denialists. But what’s gone largely unnoticed are efforts, by this, perhaps the most significant religious movement of the 21st cen…

LGBT Victories at Olympics, Struggles in Brazil; Catholic Bishops Organizing Anti-Marriage Equality Protests in Mexico; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…“to demand equality and implementation of their rights under the country’s new constitution.” A new constitution banning discrimination on the basis of sexuality was adopted last year but has not yet been fully implemented. The marchers carried banners saying, “We should not be deprived of our rights. We demand implementation of the rights guaranteed by the new constitution.” Among the supporters in the march was U.S. Ambassador to Nepal Alaina B….

‘Religious Freedom’ for Atheists

By Austin Dacey

…tes throughout secular democratic Europe. Article 226b of the Danish Penal Code, for instance, singles out for protection—among other categories—groups of people who “on account of their faith” are threatened, insulted, or degraded. It does not single out people, regardless of their affiliation, on account of their convictions of conscience. Know Thy Enmity The most principled motivation for hate speech laws can be found in the principle of equal…

There’s Nothing Wrong with ‘Prayer’; But There’s Every Reason to be Skeptical of Pence’s Coronavirus Prayer Circle

By Chrissy Stroop

…that words like “regular,” “real,” and “normal,” in this context are often code for “conservative white Christians”? Might Merritt have devoted a thought or two to the possibility that American criticism of “thoughts and prayers” responses to real-world problems have everything to do with the fact that right-wing Christians—white evangelicals above all—constitute the one demographic that stands in the way of us seriously addressing our gun violenc…

The Facts About ‘Sharia’ May Surprise You

By Sumbul Ali-Karamali

…ause they were subjugated. After colonialism in the mid-twentieth century, newly drawn, aggressively secular, Muslim-majority countries inherited the colonial state apparatus and adopted new legal systems, usually based on the French civil-law system. Because these repressive post-colonial Muslim governments were secular, opposition to them naturally formed under the banner of Islam. The post-colonial Muslim governments, seeking legitimacy and try…

“Freedom” vs. “Liberty”: Why Religious Conservatives Have Begun to Favor One Over the Other

By Stephanie Russell-Kraft

…y groups on the religious right have latched onto “religious liberty” as a code for this particular sensibility. To be sure, these groups also routinely appeal to religious freedom. But, as recent linguistic shifts have shown, the word liberty brings something extra to the table. “When people talk about religious freedom, they may be talking about the right of everybody to practice their religion, or the right to refuse service to people whose sex…

Jack Ryan Uses Bible to Exonerate Wall Street, CIA

By Erin Runions

…pulpy example of a larger pattern of scriptural citation that obscures and promotes tensions between market forces and nationalism, dynamics I discuss in depth in my book, The Babylon Complex (Oxford University Press, 2014). A reboot of the older Jack Ryan series—based on Tom Clancy novels like Hunt for Red October—Shadow Recruit uses an all new screenplay by Adam Cozad and David Koepp. Still, the film is highly reminiscent of the earlier series’…