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Damned if You Do, Damned if You Don’t: The Problem of the Rape Exception

By Sarah Morice-Brubaker

…to the ‘aughties that number rose from 16% to 21%—more than one in five Americans. Meanwhile the GOP has, since January, been busy trying to shrink the very definition of rape to only deem those who suffered “forcible rape” eligible to receive federal funding for an abortion. Forcible. Not statutory rape. These are the kinds of distinctions they find it crucial to draw. What, you thought they’d give up after the public outcry in February? Ah, no…

It’s Barack v. the Bible, Says Barton

By Paul Harvey

…s a theme that has become known to the public largely through the Gingrich/Santorum bloc: that Barack Obama has led the most actively anti-Christian administration in American history. This is a talking point with a lot of traction across the airwaves and blogosphere of the right. Given Obama’s frequent Christian testimony—explicit enough to make most founding fathers uncomfortable with its public expression of private matters—how can this view be…

Accused of Anti-Semitism, Trump Aide Makes Ancestry Appeal

By Michael Schulson

…wish tradition, and still claim a Jewish identity. In a major survey of American Jews a few years ago, the Pew Research Center asked American Jews whether it was possible to still be Jewish if you accept Jesus as the messiah. Despite the matrilineal legal technicalities, a substantial majority said No. The larger point here is that ethnic identity is complicated. While some Jews are willing to understand Jewishness exclusively in ancestral terms,…

Praying To The God Of The SUV

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…ecurity to acknowledge it can’t keep the state safe without God’s help. American Atheists Inc. sued in state court over a 2002 law that stresses God’s role in Kentucky’s homeland security alongside the military, police agencies and health departments. Of particular concern is a 2006 clause requiring the Office of Homeland Security to post a plaque that says the safety and security of the state “cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon almighty…

As Long As There’s Fear, We Aren’t Ready for Atheism: A Conversation with Theologian and Ex-Priest Daniel Maguire

By Alana Massey

…ken. That’s a good sign of maturity in the culture. You have a lot of historical information and theological background in this book that religion students would already know. So was this for a more mainstream audience? I wrote it because I was annoyed with some writers because I knew they knew better. I said, “There’s bad faith here.” These people are supplying the data but they go along with the lie. But I was also writing it for a number of peo…

Pro-Choice, Progressive Jewish Groups Weigh In On Kagan

By Sarah Posner

I just got off the phone with Nancy Ratzen, president of the National Council of Jewish Women, who said the group would be issuing an endorsement of Elana Kagan later today. Ratzen, who said the NCJW has, since 2001, “engaged consistently on reviewing and taking positions and educating and mobilizing progressive Jewish community” on judicial nominations, said that the group would be working hard to see Kagan confirmed. “We think she has an except…

Madoff, Through a Glass, Darkly

By Louis A. Ruprecht

…raveling, as fully half of these unions will, statistically speaking. As Susan Sontag noted long ago, photography has always enjoyed a special intimacy with catastrophe. So I return to Vanity Fair, and its attempts to put a human face on the Bernie Madoff saga. One of the most striking features of the reportage are all the family photographs. Each month’s installment is replete with new pictures of the Madoff family in happier times (who in God’s…

Does the Science Show that Spirituality Will Benefit Your Child?

By Michael Schulson

…med like it might be a jarring experience. Well, “its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are peace.” [Ed. –Proverbs 3:17; the verse is used widely today in Jewish liturgy, in reference to the Torah]. Those who keep Shabbat, Shabbat keeps them, right? I think it’s deeply entrenched in spiritual and religious life that the spiritual life, that the spiritual path, is also the path of thriving and flourishing and healing. I don’t think i…

Southern Baptist Convention Kicks Out Gay Attendees, Waffles on White Supremacists

By Sunnivie Brydum

…t formal explanation. All of those removed are affiliated with Faith in America (FIA), a progressive nonprofit dedicated to “[moving] the needle forward on LGBTQ equality in the pews and in our legislation.” Brandan Robertson, a 24-year-old bisexual cisgender man, and former SBC youth leader, told RD that he and a colleague had noticed a plainclothes security officer following them around the conference center for roughly 10 minutes before that of…

Global LGBT Recap: Culture War Claims More Victims

By Peter Montgomery

…nda is not absolute, nor is it only motivated by the rationale given by American evangelicals and Pentecostals with ties to Ugandan leaders and pastors. There are various sources of support for this legislation stemming from anxieties over corrupting foreign influences, religious competition, and national political posturing. While U.S. officials consider how to respond, McClatchy’s Sam Sturgis analyzes the strategic political and military relatio…