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How Will We Teach About Sikhism After the Tragedy?

By Laurie Patton

…ducate even more actively than I have already been doing. But first I must help mourn our dead.” In light of this most horrifying incident, just one among so many mass shootings in the U.S., it is time for us to build a new paradigm for education about religious minorities: one of partnership and alliance. It is no longer enough to be mired in an endless, fruitless debate about the relative status of insiders and outsiders. Rather, we should be as…

RDEpistle: Open Letter to Sean Hannity

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…t know that about the Unitarian church. You didn’t tell him liberals could help him. You only told him they’re to blame for his misfortune. His mind had already been poisoned by the words of hatred and division from you book. He saw the Unitarians down the road, not as fellow human beings who would generously help him in his time of need, but as enemies—the very reason his world had gone to hell. His job, since he had no other because of a bad eco…

Same-Sex Marriage May Lead to Polygamy, But So What?

By William E. Smith

…ves show non-harmful versions of polygamy. Legalizing polygamy, then, will help solve the problems people concerned with social harms raise rather than exacerbate them. It will help further integrate people practicing polygamy into public life, reduce rates of people being part of reclusive communities, and help women have greater leverage in their family lives by being able to access legal and other support systems that have helped to improve mon…

Catholic Bishops to Use Mass to Lobby Against Health Care?

By Frances Kissling

…he commitment of our prayers for this critical effort. Thank you for your help. We can help make sure that health care reform will be about saving lives, not destroying them. Suggested Prayer of the Faithful: That Congress will act to ensure that needed health care reform will truly protect the life, dignity and health care of all and that we will raise our voices to protect the unborn and the most vulnerable and to preserve our freedom of cons…

10 Media Rules for Effective Theology

By Cynthia B. Astle

…with memorable music and achievable mission. What music, what lyric, could help frame public theologizing in new media? 7. Be a real-live action figure. We live in a world desperately seeking to cope with what’s facing us. Our times may be no more fraught than any other period in history, but we have something that no other era of civilization has had – the ability to document issues and events instantly as they happen through global media. Theref…

Tokyo Governor Says Tsunami is Divine Punishment—Religious Groups Ignore Him

By Levi McLaughlin

…are likely to look askance at explicit expressions of religious faith. The number of negative responses is particularly high among younger people in Japan; according to research by Tokyo professor of religion Nobutaka Inoue, only ten percent of college students in Japan will affirm that they are religious. Given those numbers, one might conclude that Japan is not a religious country. But Governor Ishihara’s outburst and the rapid response by relig…

The Islamophobia Election: How “Muslim” Became a Racial Identity

By Michael Schulson

…ll there are good Muslims in America. They’re not all bad. We want them to help us, and feel included, and welcome them because we want them to sort of be on our side and help to reduce the problem of terrorism. We need to work with the Muslim community.” Then you have on the other side the Trump rhetoric, or the more conservative rhetoric, which is, “They’re inherently evil. They’re dangerous to society.” On the right there is the essentializing…

Amid Anticipation of Government Disclosure, ‘We Are Not Alone’ Follows Those Who Claim Alien Contact Through Meditation

By Joseph Laycock

…ender called “Contact Day.” Note Bender’s hope that the ET’s will not only help us, but bring a miracle: Calling occupants of interplanetary craft. Calling occupants of interplanetary craft that have been observing our planet EARTH. We of the IFSB wish to make contact with you. We are your friends, and would like you to make an appearance here on EARTH. Your presence before us will be welcomed with the utmost friendship. We will do all in our powe…

Breaking Up with God: I Didn’t Lose My Faith, I Left It

By Sarah Sentilles

…frightened. I hope my book will help her give herself permission to leave, help her know she’s free to go, that she can claim a different kind of God. Are you hoping to just inform readers? Give them pleasure? Piss them off? I am hoping to do all three. I hope to help people see the wide range of possible ways to think about God. There are so many more versions of God in the Christian theological tradition than most people know about. Why has our…

Ann Romney’s Big Love on the Big RNC Stage

By Anthea Butler

…me for LDS women to push forward, while Ann Romney has a prominent role in helping her husband campaign for president of the United States. I have to wonder if Ann Romney will have to shift with her church the same way Michelle Obama had to shift in the last part of the last election in order to help her husband’s campaign. On the campaign trail, Ann Romney has been forceful, direct, even angry at times. I hope she has some Big Sister Love for her…