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Obsession with Attackers’ Backgrounds Misses the Point of Terrorism

By Ali Olomi

…irst theaters for jihadis, there wasn’t a single suicide bombing. Both the United States’ and Pakistan’s intelligence services sought to bring the tactic to the mujahideen through texts and training, yet it wasn’t an easy sell. Hezbollah, who early on adopted suicide bombings, eventually abandoned the tactic for more traditional paramilitary methods. The reason jihadist groups imported terrorism from their nationalist counterparts was that they sh…

The Dark Side of Our Obsession With Trapped Thai Children

By Edward E. Curtis IV

…te, trapped by nature in their own country and at a safe distance from the United States. We’re obsessed and fascinated by them. They are different but still part of our shared human community. Our sense of “us” can safely expand to include them. But the “illegal” kids are migrants whose parents—Trump has described them as “rapists”—threaten U.S. national security and Americans’ personal safety and quality of life. According to Sessions, whereas t…

Faith-Baiting in Minnesota and Elsewhere Follows the “Project Blitz” Playbook

By Frederick Clarkson

…ing of “writings, documents, and records … that reflect the history of the United States, including, but not limited to, (i) the preamble to the Constitution of this State; (ii) the Declaration of Independence; (iii) the United States Constitution; (iv) the Mayflower Compact… the National Motto” and more. The Oklahoma legislation, like the model bills it draws on, is a transparent effort to slip in overtly religious documents like the Ten Commandm…

An Historic Meeting: African and African Diaspora Women Convene in Ghana for First-Ever Religion Conference

By Rosetta E. Ross

…s, and Christian denominational leaders and executives from Africa and the United States; representatives of Ghanaian Muslim women’s groups and Ghanaian traditional leader, Nana Amba Eyiaba, Queen Mother of the original Cape Coast area; as well as college, seminary, and university professors from Africa and the United States. Beginning with its opening ceremony, the meeting celebrated the diversity of African-descended women even as it sought to…

The Right Wing Slant on Religious Freedom is a Slippery Slope

By Frederick Clarkson

…of all religions and their adherents to freedom from legal, economic, and social discrimination.” The good news for proponents of authentic religious freedom for all is that there’s a throughline from Thomas Jefferson and James Madison’s core idea of religious freedom to the values of Emma Anne Stephens, Tate Keuler, and Natalia Del Pino and the United Methodist Church’s Book of Discipline. The Founders believed that one’s religious identity shou…

Reformation England Looms Over Contraception Debate

By Sarah Posner

…n of one of his accused heretics start to sizzle at the stake. Here in the United States, More’s legacy as a defender of religious freedom is sullied by the Michigan-based law firm which bears his name. The Thomas More Law Center recently appointed noted Islamophobe Rep. Allen West to its Citizens Advisory Board. In accepting the post, West said, “What impressed me about the Law Center is that it knows the true threat to our nation posed by radica…

Who Defines Religious Freedom?

By Stephanie Russell-Kraft

…on with others, within due limits. Religious liberty “entails not only the freedom to worship in private, but also the freedom to follow the tenets of one’s faith in the public sphere,” the Bishops say. In this case, following those tenets means blocking laws that allow same-sex marriage and protect people in those marriages from discrimination. It’s perfectly reasonable that the Catholic Bishops would draw on church teaching to make this point. T…

‘Pure White’ Examines the White Supremacist Origins of Evangelical Purity Culture

By Emma Cieslik

…where we understand the roots of all of this and where we can really break free of it. I think because we live in the United States where everything is hyper-individualized, we think of ourselves as being ultimately responsible for everything that’s happened to us and we don’t see ourselves as part of broader cultural movements. So, for people who are deconstructing, I want them to know this isn’t about you failing to live up to a certain set of s…

The Nation of Islam at the End of the Apocalyptic Age?

By Anna Clark

…Jackson. And so, as Obama campaigned and finally won the presidency of the United States, Walters believes that the reasoning of the Nation’s leadership came down to this: “Let us be helpful in the best way we can, and be quiet.” “At the next event Farrakhan speaks at, he will be very congratulatory,” Walters said. “Obama is someone from his town, after all, and someone he knows.” Indeed, at the Nation of Islam’s annual Saviour’s Day convention in…

Religion in Tension on World AIDS Day

By Susan Henking

…movement challenged the Catholic Church’s role in AIDS/HIV politics in the United States; in doing so, they challenged, as well, who “owned” the Church. As one organizer argues in the film (and here I paraphrase): “They are not the Church. We are the Church.” While a single example, this statement reminds us, today, on World AIDS Day 2008, that throughout its history, AIDS/HIV has been entangled with religion—for good and ill. As we move into the…