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Attacks on Science: Predictions for the New Year

By Lauri Lebo

…centives from the state. Also, get ready in the new year for Congress’ new Republican majority’s touted plans to conduct witch hunts against climate change scientists. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the incoming chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, vowed he will hold hearings on the “Politicization of Science,” to fuel attacks on the reality of climate change. To paraphrase Bette Davis’ great line in All About Eve, “Fasten your…

USCCB’s Dolan Blesses Ryan Budget

By Sarah Posner

…bly in the nation’s history. But Dolan says in his letter to Ryan that the Republicans are upholding Catholic social teaching: As is so clear from your correspondence, the light of our faith – anchored in the Bible, the tradition of the Church, and the Natural Law – can help illumine and guide solid American constitutional wisdom. Thus I commend your letter’s attention to the important values of fiscal responsibility; sensitivity to the foundation…

Why Cliven Bundy Wasn’t A Religious Right Hero

By Sarah Posner

…through euphemism or not at all. That’s when we begin to hear things like Rep. Paul Ryan speaking of “generations of men” in “inner cities” who don’t know “the value and the culture of work.” Then again, sometimes you have multimillionaire former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney railing against the “gifts” Barack Obama promised to “the African-American community, the Hispanic community and young people.” At best, these kinds of statements c…

Meet Wyoming’s Anti-Shari’ah Crusader

By Sarah Posner

In an interview, State Rep. Gerald Gay (R-Casper), sponsor of a resolution in the Wyoming legislature which would, if passed, amend the state’s constitution to “forbid courts from using international law or sharia law when deciding cases,” said his motivation was “I don’t want our laws having origins in other places, foreign religions or foreign countries.” When I asked him whether he considered Islam to be a “foreign religion,” Gay hedged: “It’s…

How the “Little Sisters” Won by Losing “Religious Liberty” Case

By Patricia Miller

…ients and other things that really go against core values of religious freedom.” Completely lost to most Republicans is that the Obama administration long ago caved and said that faith-based nonprofits like the Little Sisters don’t have to provide contraception (or the non-existent “abortion-inducing drugs”) in their health plans. Becket was suing for the right of the Little Sisters to not have to notify the government of their intent to opt-out o…

Oprah, Terrorist Cells, and the Meaning of Life: An Interview with Paul Froese

By Andrew Aghapour

…istributed within advanced societies. What demographics are more likely to report a lack of purpose? You would think that it’s the highly educated, or people who are more cosmopolitan, because they’re confused by all the options, but it’s actually the poorer people in post-industrial countries. And if you compare people in poverty in post-industrial countries to people in poverty in the third world, the former are much more likely to say that they…

Joyless Primaries Grind On

By Joanna Brooks

…g, highly observant LDS father. My friend described a brief, tension-laden phone call between father and son, wedged into a few free minutes after a church meeting. “Now, I’m going to serve my family,” said the father, bringing the call to a close. “Because that’s what I do.” And Mitt Romney is going to serve his country. Because that’s what he does. Like it or not. That joyless put-your-shoulder-to-the-wheel tenacity is setting the tone for the G…

Under Water: Waiting for the Flood (of Awareness) in Louisiana

By Drew Konow

…. I love her house because of what it stands for. It’s a symbol of her freedom. Freedom from every man who raised a hand to her, mistreated her, or manipulated her with money; freedom from days of “shopping” in our grandmother’s pantry and from uncertainty about where she would find money for the next rent or mortgage payment; freedom to be alone, to direct her own life, and to define herself. Her house is also a repository of our family’s history…

Not All American Muslims Feel the Dread I Do

By Huma Mohibullah

…-Muslim tropes are institutionalized and deployed equally by Democrats and Republicans, from left to right, albeit in different discursive tones. Whereas prominent figures and ordinary citizens on the right might openly attack Muslims as “rag heads” who subscribe to a “wicked” faith, those leaning left tend to reproduce the same demeaning tropes through a liberal veneer of concern about Muslim women, preserving secular values, national security an…

Praying To The God Of The SUV

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…eautiful September morning. Trash theology as public policy What the email represents is a belief about God that, when followed to its logical conclusions, is untenable by many people. But, trash theology in an email is one thing; putting that same theology into public policy crosses the line between church and state. Atheists in Kentucky are suing over such theology – written into the state’s anti-terrorism law: A group of atheists filed a lawsui…