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Escape From Manhattan: Tech, Tragedy and Storytelling in Sandy’s Wake

By Rachel Wagner

…and red caps in homage to Mario, the beloved video game character from the 1980s and 1990s. Star Wars characters waited in line to meet Carrie Fisher, the actress who played Princess Leah. In the large autograph arena at Comic Con, a long line stretched across the conference floor for autographs from Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films. The fans I spoke to didn’t care that Draco was a “bad guy,” since as an actor he serv…

“What Kind of Islam Is That?”: Talking With Refugees From ISIS

By Mark Juergensmeyer

…and Kurdistan. The pharmacist showed me a video he had made with his cell phone, which did indeed look like a cattle surge of vehicles illumined by a few eerie lights. Now the news from his town is “very bad”—there is no water or electricity or food in stores. Christians are forced to make payments to be allowed to survive and have to pretend to be Muslims and go to the mosque, and ISIS militants roam around the streets and do whatever they want….

Qaddafi Dies; Should it Matter How?

By Haroon Moghul

…r, unnecessary, and unacceptable spectacle of a hanging captured on a cell phone. If there is something that should distinguish us from those dictators who have corrupted our world, it must be here. In humility before death. In appreciation of our common humanity. In the sense that the universe is infused with a law and a purpose that makes our lives and hopes sacred, and which, from time to time, turns against those who offend it, to remind us th…

Why I Won’t Leave the Mormon Church Alone

By Holly Welker

…lt, particularly since the church wouldn’t leave me alone. (I got repeated phone calls, letters, and visits to my home from missionaries and people in the congregation, despite formal requests that they stop.) Eventually I sought a community of people also striving to come to terms with what it meant to have been but no longer be a devout Mormon. Luckily a diverse community of ex-, post-, or lapsed Mormons (we differ on what to call ourselves) thr…

AAA: Like a Good Neighbor

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…de of the road with a flat tire, or a broken down car, that help is just a phone call away. It also gives me discounts on lodging and other perks. My partner has a gold card with her name on it as well. The account number on both cards is the same. Years ago, when we signed up for the cards with the venerable roadside assistance company AAA, the woman at the counter smiled sweetly and never blinked an eye when we asked for the “family” plan. We we…

Pope Decries ‘Ideological Colonization’ of Family; Islamic State Executes Gays and Others; Gay Couple Gets Long-Delayed Wedding in Mexico; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…included the stoning of a woman accused of adultery, and the crucifixion of 17 young men in 48 hour period. In addition, the Times of India reported on Tuesday that the United Nations was warning about a new wave of violence targeting “educated women.” Ireland: Marriage Referendum Language Set; Health Minister Comes Out The language of May’s marriage equality referendum was announced this week: It proposes to add to the Constitution a declaration…

Yes, It’s Worse To Be Gay in Russia

By Chrissy Stroop

…I were to do the same thing today, I could be arrested, detained for up to 15 days, deported, and fined 100 thousand rubles (a little more than $3000) to boot. Four Dutch nationals have already been arrested and deported for violating Russia’s ban on so-called “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations,” and all eyes will be on Sochi as we wonder if any similar incidents will occur there. These days, I teach interdisciplinary humanities and…

The Tweets of the Christ

By Nathan Schneider

…aims to be the Messiah. And I wait on them.” Yes, the text itself was under 140 chars, but with the “via @ServingGirl:” part it went a bit over. By 1:27, a few such posts prompted “@jgderuvo” to shout out, for all watching twspassionplay’s Twitter page to see, “Guys, stay within the 140 character limit… it’s truncating, ruining the effect!” It’s basically the equivalent of someone standing up in the theater and shouting that the script wasn’t in p…

On Harith, and Matters of Inheritance

By Amina Wadud

…ade for gender. Most importantly, despite the patriarchal context more than 14 centuries ago, under no circumstances are women to be disinherited. Juridical intervention has taken away the female shares and passed them over to more distant male relatives, still today. This is a clear violation. Still it is vexing to make sense of any uneven distribution based on gender. The simplest and most popular interpretation given is that men have a responsi…

“Fast for Families” Immigration Reform Effort Enters 20th Day

By Joanna Brooks

…ngton, D.C.? SA: My concern about immigration reform started when was 14 or 15 years old and had a job picking watermelons on a farm outside of Phoenix, and I was the only person on the crew who wasn’t undocumented. In southern California, Mormon parents of wayward kids sent their sons to pick pineapples in Hawaii. Were watermelons the Arizona version? [Laughs.] It wasn’t like that. My dad grew up on a farm and wanted me to have the same experie…