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Sex and the Chosen People: Be Fruitful and Multiply, Etc.

By Mandy Van Deven

…to produce a child? Well, of course, there are so many more possibilities today in terms reproductive technology than the Torah, Talmud, or our medieval and early modern codes could have imagined! Certainly, some things possible in our world had been sufficiently anticipated by earlier Jews that we have a basis for discussion; there were forms of birth control mentioned in the Talmud, for example. And there are even intimations of the questions r…

Workers Once Forced the Social Gospel Into Churches—Can It Happen Again?

By Eric C. Miller

…ge, official church statements of support for organized labor were scarce. Today, many denominations have such statements and they could be used to hold clergy and laity alike accountable in the midst of labor disputes. Given that rates of religious affiliation vastly outstrip support for unions among Americans today, there is ample room for such accountability. One other constant bears mention here: because church life in America operates on a vo…

Why Has the Critique of Hypocrisy Run Out of Steam?

By Christopher Douglas

…ss of pretense. Our old friend self-deception But the hypocrisy we witness today may not be so much acts of pretense and public false performance as self-deception. In Hypocrisy: Ethical Investigations, Béla Szabados and Eldon Soifer suggest that our perception of hypocrisy has shifted in modern times. If Biblical and Medieval thinkers saw hypocrisy primarily as a matter of pretense, of the difference between the inner morality and outward perform…

In “The Promise,” A Reminder That U.S. Apathy to Genocide Endures

By Hussein Rashid

…orical flourish, but a deeply ethical response to an unfolding crisis. Yet today, as we witness a new genocide of the Syrian people conducted by the government that is supposed to protect them, we are blocking any rescue of them. We look at the weakest members of society, the most vulnerable, and we see them as a threat. As limited as the refugee program was under the Obama administration, with its limited numbers, extended vetting process, and mi…

‘Christian Warriors’: Who Are The Hutaree Militia And Where Did They Come From?

By Chip Berlet

…the American Prospect, Gershom Gorenberg blasts the authors because they: promote conspiracy theories; they demonize proponents of arms control, ecumenicalism, abortion rights and everyone else disliked by the Christian right; and they justify assassination as a political tool. Their anti-Jewishness is exceeded by their anti-Catholicism. Most basically, they reject the very idea of open, democratic debate. In the world of Left Behind, there exist…

What Do ‘The Christians’ Believe? Easter Reflections from a Non-Christian

By Gary Laderman

…n enormous impact on neighborhoods, local politics, and church membership; today and in the future, Hispanic Catholics will make an impact on the life of the Church, ranging from an increase in bilingual services to intensified debates over undocumented immigrants. On the Protestant side, many denominations that were composed primarily of Anglo-Europeans, like Methodists in the nineteenth century, are confronting the rise of ethnic congregations s…

With Christian Schools At Risk In Israel, Crickets from American Christian Conservatives

By Sarah Posner

…tained that “we are witnessing that kind of growing repression in the U.S. today and it is fostering or at least giving rise to the spread of the persecution of Christians and religious minorities around the world.” If requiring health insurance for contraception is a “massive violation” of the rights of Christians, what is starving their schools of funding? In a letter promoting Family Research Council’s first-ever tour of Israel scheduled for th…

LDS Church Launches New Website Calling for Greater Openness and Understanding on LGBT Issues

By Joanna Brooks

…start attending LDS temple services again. That’s what I want the most.’” “Today, our authoritarian Church that once had an answer for everything finally said, ‘We don’t really understand everything about being gay but Christ has commanded us to love and the Church needs to become a safe place.’ I’ve been praying for this since 1992.” There is no change in doctrine announced at mormonsandgays.com: no revision to the Church’s position that being ga…

Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Heretic: With Friends Like These, Who Needs Jihadis?

By Haroon Moghul

…es people. Whereas the Arabs were once torn apart by interminable feuding, today nearly 1 out of 4 of the world’s inhabitants are Muslim. The social glue of Muhammad’s grand experiment was zakat, an obligatory tithe of 2.5% distributed to the neediest regardless of their clannish identities. An analogy to affirmative action wouldn’t be entirely unwarranted: sometimes you have to force diversity in the hope that it becomes second nature. Before Muh…

Court Rules in Favor of For-Profit Employer Seeking Exemption from Contraception Rule

By Sarah Posner

…the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office, said, “We are disappointed with today’s decision. It is unacceptable for employers – especially for-profit companies – to use their personal beliefs as an excuse to deny critical health coverage to the people who work for them.” She added, “This is not religious freedom, this is discrimination. Real religious liberty gives everyone the right to make their own decisions about their own health, including wh…