Search for "cheap rate airline ticket for tomorrow phone number 1-800-299-7264"

Americans Lose Faith, Sinning with Transfats, the Elusive God Particle

By Michael J. Altman

…t to mix in a few sermons on marriage. The Bible Belt has a higher divorce rate than the Northeast, researchers say. Some rabbis are getting help from comedy writers for their High Holy Day sermons. Glenn Beck (remember him?) held his rally in Jerusalem on Wednesday. More than 1,000 folks (mostly Christians) showed up. For personal use when the comments section makes you want to swear: litany for the conversion of internet thugs. First it was prot…

The Other, Forgotten Apocalypse of 2011

By Jason Bruner

…n lightly, or chalked up to impoverished ignorance. It would also be inaccurate to assert that apocalyptic religion was some sort of distraction or escape from their “real” struggle for religious freedom and land rights. The consequences of their massive gathering, which included violence allegedly perpetrated (lopsidedly) by both Hmong and Vietnamese, attest to the implicit power and danger that such a basic action as gathering on a hilltop can h…

Humiliation and ‘Success’ in the Great Recession

By Peter Laarman

…the debt ceiling debate has made room for others to question the current strategy and rigid conceptions of theology. Below, Peter Laarman examines and critiques some of the existing efforts to address the spiritual fallout from the jobs crisis, and offers a theory of his own for religious leaders interested in addressing it in their congregations and beyond. —eds. Diane (not her real name) is deeply ashamed and deeply frustrated. She is someone wh…

Church and State in Mexico: A Political Party Wavers on Women’s Rights

By Ruth Samuelson

…e grand majority of Mexicans, nearly 84 percent, are Catholic, though that number has been gradually dwindling from 99.5 percent in 1900. It’s hard to know exactly how agreements are cut with Church leaders, but there’s a basic script, says Daptnhe Cuevas Ortiz, director of the Consortium for Parliamentary Dialogue and Equity, a Mexican women’s rights lobbying group. Local Church leaders cozy up to the governor or congressional leaders and say: “l…

Constitutional Ban on Same-Sex Marriage Headed for NC Vote

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…s rule the roost, the measure has passed, even as the state’s unemployment rate is 10.1 percent. House Majority Leader Paul Stam, R-Wake opened the floor debate this way: “The question is are we going to let the people decide, or judicial decisions based on the Supreme Court decisions of a half-dozen other states?” Which is interesting because Stam would not allow any actual public debate of the bill before it was passed. The bigger problem, howev…

A Catholic Turnabout on Abortion or More Sympathy for the Bishops?

By Daniel C. Maguire

…an women will have an abortion. More importantly she notes that “the death rate among women who procure abortions is much higher when the procedure is illegal.” But Kaveny commits, to use a Catholic term, a mortal sin from which she must repent. She does not want to punish women who have abortions. That’s fine. But she joins those who see women who have abortions as “abortion’s second victims.” To support her case for not punishing women who had a…

Obama’s Preaching Doesn’t Reach

By Anthea Butler

…re just two examples of how Obama deploys this racially-coded rhetorical strategy. The president’s behavior since taking office towards the African American community has been either to tell black folks to get in line and get to work, or gee, I love ya’ll, but I need your vote. If only he would speak to Republicans and Tea Partiers in the same harsh manner. All of this has come at a time when the president’s approval ratings have hit a new low of…

GOP Presidential Candidates’ Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy

By Paul Wallace

…n principle, one could reject the heliocentric theory and still be a first-rate president. But he is ultimately wrong about the inappropriateness of the question. It is appropriate because the answer has consequences that go far beyond science. He was not being asked to understand the details of a scientific controversy; nor was he asked to explain why particle physicists are having a hard time finding the Higgs boson, to provide his opinion on th…

Yom Kippur Prayers for Corporate Atonement at Occupy Wall St.

By Sarah Posner

…the economy and its inequities and iniquities. We’re the ones who use corporate banks and credit cards, take loans we can’t pay back, buy products from and invest in tax-evading multinational corporations, and vote for jerks who put special interests before the public interest. Which is not to say those in power do not have a greater responsibility to the public good. We ourselves have [plenty] to atone for. We have our own sins for which we are c…

Steve Jobs, #occupywallst, and Usury

By Jay Michaelson

…based upon the sweat of my brow. Which brings me to Karl Marx. I’ve deliberately kept him out of my discussion so far, but obviously, the religious critique of usury-capitalism is very similar to the Marxist critique of it. Jobs and his employees labored, and I profited from their alienated labor. Magnify that by a trillion or two, and you have “Wall Street.” I think this is also why so many people are growing their own food and learning to live…