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From Empire to Shire: Rod Dreher’s Nostalgia for Middle-Earth

By Gustavo Maya

…e plain, it becomes obvious that the debate over the new traditionalism is best construed not as a debate between traditional and modern varieties of ethical discourse, but rather as a debate involving at least two traditions or strands of modern ethical discourse: a tradition dedicated to a very narrow conception of how traditions ought ideally to operate and a tradition dedicated to the project of loosening up that conception democratically and…

“Love Them As Yourself”: God’s Words or IKEA Instructions?

By Marcia Pally

…offering this hospitality? Marco Rubio said. “If ISIS is able to conduct a successful [Paris-like] operation in the U.S…. that would be an enormous bonanza for them in terms of funding but also of recruits from all over the world.” If we take seriously the idea that biblical principles aim at “the best possible life for all,” what would be the “bonanza” for “the best life” from following those principles and rescuing the refugees? I’m not making p…

Democratic Egypt Tests a Divided Israel

By Shaul Magid

…g; even if it may not serve our interests in the short run, it’s still the best alternative human beings have come up with. In this case, one can certainly understand Netanyahu’s concern; Mubarak is “the devil he knows.” But it’s often the case that autocratic rulers are easier to deal with since they typically answer to no one. Yet, while they appear more stable in the short run, more dictatorships have been overthrown by democratic movements tha…

God and the Gay Christian: An Interview with Matthew Vines

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…for why same-sex marriage should be legal. That requires synthesizing the best arguments and letting them percolate and mainstreaming them. I think we’re a bit behind in the religious conversation. It’s not that this research and arguments aren’t out there, it’s that they haven’t yet been mainstreamed in a clear, accessible, consistent way, especially for the most key constituency, which is conservative Christians. So, in the book, I’m not trying…

Replacing Godless Hollywood with Bible-Based “Cultural Dominion”

By Julie Ingersoll

…lterous violations against one’s current or future spouse. Last year, the “Best Feature” winner was Fireproof, starring Cameron, whose work in that film and the Left Behind movies (as well as in the much-ridiculed videos with Ray Comfort on how bananas prove evolution wrong) have earned him the admiration of conservative evangelicals. Illustrating the wide-ranging influence of these Reconstructionist-inspired films, and the lack of mainstream noti…

God Versus Mega-Aliens

By Paul Wallace

…ing on with stories? As a fiction writer, surely Zvan knows that, at their best, stories are not just about amusement. The best ones may actually be true somehow. Is Naff’s truncated religious story true in the way he suggests—literally, scientifically? Maybe so, maybe not. Is it true in the way he wants it not to be—poetically, metaphorically? Maybe so, maybe not. As a Christian, I think so. But Zvan differs: “We are better off treating [non-scie…

Why America’s Whitewashed Thanksgiving Needs to Go: A Short Study in the Power of White Christian Mythmaking

By Peter Laarman

…converted it into sugar and molasses died of horrific abuse in staggering numbers. These islands were perpetually hungry for more flesh. New arrivals, coming from North America in chains, were always welcome, and the grandee planters paid handsomely. But routinely selling captured natives to the islands was just the beginning for the North American settlers. The long-lived Roger Williams was barely in his grave before his Rhode Island colony was…

The “Southern Cage”: How the Myth of the Redemptive Depression Keeps Blacks at the Margins

By Eric C. Miller

…broke with the New Deal coalition, but it would be easy to overstate their number. Even those who worried about the New Deal’s racial implications were overwhelmingly supportive of Roosevelt’s policies well into the 1940s. In recent years we have been muddling through a “Great Recession” in which many of the problems and the arguments of the 1930s have been resurfacing. What can this history teach us about our present political-economic situation?…

How To Win $20,000 From Sam Harris

By Rob Shryock

…ty, in theory, creates the most well-being by doing what is scientifically best for the greatest number of its members. To take down this point, you just have to be able to successfully critique modernism, which basically amounts to pulling some quotes from the paper you wrote on Foucault when you were a college sophomore. 3) Embrace balance Despite the “cacophony” of criticism of The Moral Landscape, Harris claims that, “I have yet to encounter…

Hajj Journal: Makkah as the Most Romantic City

By Amina Wadud

…and over again. Imagine my thoughts about this reversed order, right? The best position for the man in hajj is behind the woman. It made sense that these guys would literally need to be instructed for such, because their normal way of thinking must be, me first. Yes, yes, our wives are equal, but we’re the standard bearers and she must follow our leads. But in the jostle, if the person is behind you, they are more likely to be separated by the cr…