Religion Dispatches
…tual was widely tolerated in the American colonies. After the birth of our republic, the practice persisted, surviving well into the 19th century. Dueling was even admired as the solemn responsibility of gentlemen: everyone knew what the phrase “meet me on the field of honor” meant. When running for president, Andrew Jackson—who had once killed a man in a duel—did not find that chapter of his biography a liability. At one time, most duels were fou…
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…lack folk and our allies have been saying this since this country became a republic and united itself around the notion of freedom. “The murders of Sterling and Castile reveal the awful fact that this brand of tragedy has become routine. The videos of their deaths allow us to bear witness, but it will not necessarily bring justice.” But we began this on the bad foot of Article I, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution of 1787 that declared that, for…
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…t also an absolute and joy-filled conviction that God is driving the Black freedom struggle forward despite it all. Today, as in King’s day, there is widespread dereliction of duty among the self-proclaimed faithful, but there is also a rising righteous remnant. There are hundreds of younger activists out there, primarily activists of color and many of them queer, who are walking courageously in faith even though they will tell you clearly and con…
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…a comprehensive solution. An estimated 98 percent of women 15 to 49 in the republic have undergone the procedure. Predating Christianity and Islam, FGC is a deeply entrenched cultural practice reinforced by economic, political, and social structures across the Middle East and North Africa, effecting 200 million women worldwide. The earliest known reference to FGC was in the 5th century BCE writing of Herodotus, and FGC was also practiced in 19th c…
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…us and political demographic in an unduly positive light, whitewashing the centrality of white supremacism and patriarchy in evangelicalism. There’s a whole sub-genre of religion journalism that conjures an unrealistic picture of ostensible generational change among evangelicals by focusing on anecdotes about young people who are far from typical, while conveniently eschewing data. The PR-savvy, connections, rebranding skills, and deep-pocketed lo…
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…prefer in the time of coronavirus? Would you like the erratic worship of “freedom” and “strength” pushed by Pres. Trump, who can’t seem to decide if COVID-19 is a threat or defeated, or if he just needs to cover his ass? The religion that’s fired by know-nothing cultists astroturfed into a frenzy of defending Trump’s economy, and by extension his re-election? That’s content to allow “blue states” to go bankrupt, and more than a little happy to us…
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…did not cause sufficient injury to nonbelievers, and that the President is free to make general nonbinding appeals to the public.) There are many reasons to oppose the National Day of Prayer, and there have been many reasonable attempts to strike 36 U.S.C. § 119 from law. But this year the American Humanist Association is promoting an opposition effort that is fundamentally misguided. Rather than call for its elimination, the AHA wants the annual…
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…hristian Reconstructionists, my father was a fervent believer in religious freedom; when, that is, it was understood as legal compromises excusing individuals and groups from laws and regulations that would otherwise apply to them on faith-based grounds. My father’s religious freedom dictated how I was educated, how I dressed, who I could interact with, and which media I consumed. I wasn’t allowed to listen to “secular music” or even wear pants un…
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…ther words, their interests fused—to create the biggest coalition in the history of presidential elections to defeat Trump and, consequently, save the American republic. Will that lead to a Third Reconstruction? Let’s just say there’s now reason to hope….
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…ours is a secular government. It was designed that way to ensure religious freedom. There is no freedom of religion without a government that is free from religion. America has no shared faith. To say otherwise, is to say that Americans without a faith are not true Americans. If America is ever to be unified, our leaders must learn that dividing people along religious lines at moments of national significance is counterproductive. If Joe Biden wan…
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