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Fact-Checking Ben Carson’s Pyramid-ism Misses the Point

…unctions of the pyramids). Carson is a politician, not an archaeologist or Egyptologist. His base appears to consist largely of people who (a) are impressed by his biography, which emphasizes his odds-beating, institutional-inertia-defying rise to professional success, and (b) feel alienated from what they perceive as a decrepit mainstream culture. When Carson talks about the pyramids as granaries, he’s signaling that he prioritizes Biblical inter…

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United Nations Affirms the Human Right to Blaspheme

…limitations on speech. It does so not only by asserting that the right to free speech is foundational to a free and democratic society as well as to the protection and promotion of other rights. It also appeals explicitly to the values of freedom of conscience and equality before the law. According to paragraph 48, “Prohibitions of displays of lack of respect for a religion or other belief system, including blasphemy laws, are incompatible with t…

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Gays Are Oppressing Christian Florists, and Other Dishonest Arguments

…s fellow citizens – citizens, it should noted, who want nothing more than “freedom for all.” But let’s be honest. The SBC does not want freedom for the LGBT community. As I’ve argued before, there is simply no way for conservative Christian advocates to make this claim unless they erase about 45 years of anti-gay antagonism. The issue does not exist in a vacuum; the slate is not blank. I tweeted this point to Walker, who didn’t take the bait. Stil…

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Booing Gay Soldiers and Expressing Faith in the Public Square

…s make against LGBT equality is that civil rights for LGBT people infringe on the religious freedom of Christians who believe homosexuality is sin. Therefore they insist the government shouldn’t give them, in Santorum’s words, “special privileges.” Conservatives frame this as a free exercise, or religious freedom issue, and, like Bachmann, skirt the church-state separation issue. Because these conservatives believe that the government should endor…

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Pricking the Conscience of Churches: From AIDS Activism to Ending World Hunger

…eve it is possible to conquer hunger and end AIDS in our lifetime. An AIDS-free and hunger-free world are my mantra. What it will take is political will and compassion without borders. This is not simply a romantic vision, but one embraced by scientists, economists, politicians and other persons of goodwill around the world. These goals are not simply within our reach, but also our grasp. Achieving this future is not inevitable, but neither is it…

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Missing the Forest for the Witches

…ry cannot, for example, access the Wikipedia page on Wicca, though they’re free to read the Catholic Encyclopedia’s page on Paganism. By banning the categories into which minority religions are classified, the library’s policy appears to violate the Constitution’s establishment clause. By extension, it would be unconstitutional for any government agency to use Netsweeper to censor public access to “occult” sites. However, Netsweeper is a global co…

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David Brat, Theological Conundrum

…e explicit in their concern for structural justice and the failings of the free market system. Famously, Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium denounces those who “continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world” as expressing a “crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding eco…

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Books Must be Hardbound, Quotes Whole, and Genitalia Scrubbed

…genitalia, they were told that any parody of religious art is offensive and cannot be displayed. The SBAS stall was then removed entirely from a student fair. Publically mocking religious truth claims probably isn’t very productive, and not all government institutions must be “religion-free zones.” But in a democratic society, the same rules must apply to everyone. These cases point to a pattern of de facto censorship of atheism. The good news is…

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‘Cancel Culture’ Is as Old as Religion, And It’s Only a Thing Because of Who’s Doing the Cancelling

…r even on your Facebook page, seems like protesting too much. That kind of freedom was never given, nor should it be foisted on, any community, publication, or platform. In addition, the “cancel culture” police seem to be playing both sides of the wager. That is, they decry being “cancelled” but maintain their state of privilege and thus use their “cancellation” as proof they’re saying something important. That’s because, ironically, the mere fact…

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Innocuous SCOTUS Ruling Opens Door For Discriminatory Religious Institutions to Access Public Funds

…onflict with their faith and the absolute expression thereof. “A decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of Trinity Lutheran puts the public coffers within handy reach of discriminatory religious institutions,” Herrin concluded. “That decision would diminish the meaning of Free Exercise Clause, move advocates for separation of church and state, including its funds, from the offensive to the defensive, and reify a culture of selective religio…

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