Religion Dispatches
…I, as a historian, am reasonably well-informed, and the opportunity was a welcome interruption from the incessant bombardment of election propaganda and the absurd claims so-called Christian politicians were then making. Once again, in the U.S. election campaign, our evangelicals—including among them many of “my” Baptists—were promoting a slew of “social issues,” but precious little “gospel.” Self-proclaimed and media-designated evangelicals…
Read More…f the children they are raising together. Congratulations, North Carolina. Welcome to the 16th century. Take voter Joe Easterling’s twisted and tortured logic for voting in support of the amendment: “I know that some people may argue that the Bible may not necessarily be applicable, or it should not be applicable, on such policy matters. But even looking at nature itself, procreation is impossible without a man and a woman. And because of those th…
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…ork that I was doing over the course of the past 4 or 5 years or so was to promote the agenda that marriage is the union of a man and a woman only, and that anything contrary to that definition was invalid, basically. And more so over the course of the past year or so, I was working directly with the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) in promoting this agenda, and specifically the way that I opted to do that was by organizing a summer bus to…
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…racial American president of Kenyan descendant giving a hearty White House welcome to a wise – and unmarried — Latina recently confirmed to one of the most powerful positions in the country. For many conservative and fundamentalist Christians, these types of images quite literally betoken a forsaking of the nation’s Anglo-centric, patriarchal heritage, and in this view we will – we must – as that Pennsylvania protester put it, be judged. Another w…
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…that should be exclusive to white people,” says Jones. “Though everyone is welcome, I made this space and this practice for women like myself. I’ve always wanted to bring women of color to the mat. I’ve had people who didn’t practice before but are now dedicated yogis, and that’s always rewarding.” In addition to trap yoga, Jones also created TwerkAsana, a form of dance yoga that combines traditional poses with rhythmic gyrating. “We’re still hold…
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…rump and his team in January. “Look, Christianity is not all about being a welcome mat which people can just stomp their feet on.” While Perkins has expressed interest in using his new position as an opportunity to support “religious freedom and the defense of religious minorities,” he might find that the USCIRF actually doesn’t require a significant change in focus from his own preoccupations with Christians’ rights. The USCIRF dates back to 1998…
Read More…and others were careful not only to include people of every faith, but to welcome people who claim no faith but share a moral vision of a just society. He’s also not afraid to apply a little humor to his scriptural interpretation. He read from Jeremiah 22, where God says to go to the house of the king (a precursor to Moral Mondays protesters confronting those in power) to tell the king to do what is right and just. “Do no wrong or violence to the…
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…yone else should be lynched and that American Muslims like her are fit and welcome to run for and hold public office. But he didn’t. He might have publicly called on the Facebook friend with whom he was agreeing about that lynching to also recant and apologize. But he didn’t. He might have further repented his call for this profoundly immoral and arguably criminal action. But he didn’t. Finally, he might also apologize to the Minnesota State Legis…
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…rather boisterous affairs, this was anything but. The event opened with a welcome by Kathy Berden, the National Committeewoman of the Republican Party in Michigan. With perfectly coiffed white hair and bright red lipstick to match her striking red blazer, Berden embodied a Phyllis Schlafly-esque type of Republican femininity, one that tastefully combined feminine style with political power. In what seemed like an homage to Schlafly, Berden asked…
Read More…ferred to as a Christian nationalist, largely because he is the best-known promoter of the idea. But as a former vice chair of the Texas Republican Party and a frequent headliner at Christian right and Republican conclaves, he is also a Dominionist with considerable political reach. (The Jefferson Lies was on the New York Times best-seller list at the time it was withdrawn.) The Christian nationalist appeal is to, what historian Frank Lambert call…
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