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Did Billy Graham Really Tell Romney He’d ‘Help’?

By Evan Derkacz

Every news agency in the U.S. is reporting more or less the same thing on Romney’s Thursday evening visit with the Rev. Billy Graham (and son Franklin) where the celebrated evangelist is reported to have said to Romney: “I’ll do all I can to help you. And you can quote me on that.” Them’s pretty strong words, so why question this de facto endorsement? For one, it doesn’t look as though anyone heard Graham say it. The bulk of the meeting was clos…

Did Uganda’s President Really Veto the Anti-Gay Bill?

By Kapya Kaoma

…lity. And religious leaders are likely to line up in support for the outlawing of advocacy—a measure they can market as relatively moderate and tame as compared to the earlier iteration of the “Kill the Gays” bill. Such has already been the case in Nigeria, where Cardinal John Onaiyekan, a number of Roman Catholic bishops, and many evangelical leaders have celebrated the passage of the Nigerian anti-gay bill. Yet we cannot accept such attempts to…

Jews and Baseball: A Reflection on a Longtime Love Affair

By Rebecca T. Alpert

…left Brooklyn, for a long period of time I couldn’t figure out who my team really was. It was a geographic identity crisis as much as anything else; one must root for the home team, and I just wasn’t sure where home was. I rooted for New York and former New York teams—the Dodgers, Giants, Yankees, and Mets (my mother’s team)—all still had my affection, and to some extent still do. But I’ve lived in Philadelphia for forty years now, and have finall…

GOP War on Caterpillars

By Sarah Morice-Brubaker

…s, is self-aware, and… uh… is actually a person? And what if a significant number of these mythical creatures raised protests about how Republican policies were infringing on their rights? I mean, really: try hard to imagine, as outlandish as it might seem, that the protests were not simply coming from “the Democrats” or “every mainstream media outlet” but the caterpillars themselves! If it’s too difficult to imagine, try watching this video, but…

The Age of Dhikr

By Amina Wadud

…ave to be less of who I am in order to be more in with those I am with was really a delight. What do Sufi Americans over 50 do that was so special? They seem to just go about the business of worshiping Allah in loving fellowship— and triviality is set aside, on the back burner or completely out of the picture. For example, we prayed two different salah times together: once led by a woman and once led by a man. Nobody had to make a big deal about e…

The Lament of the Christian Disney Dad: What Evangelicals Really Hate About ‘Wokeness’ at Disney World

By Josh Parks

…our dreams, no request is too extreme”), these villains—a disproportionate number of whom are women or nonhuman—don’t stand a chance. But good doesn’t only triumph against witches and monsters. Disney’s wish-upon-a-star worldview also means that guests can indulge in nostalgia for the past without wrestling with any of history’s ugliness. The Magic Kingdom’s Adventureland offers river cruises through 1950s Africa without any mention of colonialism…

Both the Joy and the Uproar Over the Pope’s Blessings for LGBTQ Catholics are Small Potatoes Compared to this Age-Old Church Problem

By Mary E. Hunt

…press focused on same-sex blessings despite the fact that the Declaration really represents the reinforcement of the power structure status quo. The current papal way of operating tempts even well intended progressive people to act in disingenuous ways. It’s hard not to laud the Pope when he does something however tiny, like the blessings, which seems to be moving the Church in the right direction. But people making decisions together rather than…

Art for Peace: An Interview with Artist Mary Button

By John Shorb

…. We ended up camping out with a revolving group of youth, and we all made really beautiful signs. We cut out doves and painted them really bright colors. We had some neon green cardboard and made signs in the shape of Africa. And we ran through hundreds of pieces of pastel poster board. There was such a feeling of urgency, and it was so tied up in their faith. Earlier in the summit, the youth drew these really amazing life maps where they drew ou…

Are Conservatives Really More in Touch with the Founding Fathers?

By Joanna Brooks

I’ve observed a strong tendency among religiously-affiliated conservatives to assume that their viewpoints are most closely matched to the moral perspectives of the Founding Fathers. One pastor I spoke with stated that the legalization of gay marriage in California by “activist courts” betrayed the will and intention of the founders, who were “moral” and “religious” men. Cleon Skousen, whose “originalist” views of the US Constitution have been tr…

Believing in Johnny Cash: An Open Letter to Atheists

By Paul Wallace

…k home in shame and is welcomed as the beloved, the guest of honor. Can we really live with such a story in an age of irony? It is not easy, for it is in our bones to pass it off as a sweet heartwarming tale made to comfort us in the darkness of a cold and meaningless universe. That is what it is, and nothing more. So our citified and suspicious selves conclude. But, if we are able to check our self-conscious impulses just long enough, might this…