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Tribal Trouble: The Changing Nature of American Jews’ Relationship to Israel and the Question of Jewish Unity

By Shaul Magid

…oday, heresy is that which threatens Jewish physical survival. This is not new. It was pointed out by Arthur Hertzberg in 1979: One can no longer be excommunicated in Modern America for not believing in God, for living totally outside the tradition, or even for marrying out. Instead, a new heresy has now emerged to mark the boundaries of legitimate Jewish identity, the heresy of opposition to Israel and Zionism. On this reading, “Judaism-Zionism”…

Pope: Heterosexual Marriage “Makes Europe Europe”

By Louis A. Ruprecht

…diplomatic description than the simple recitation of facts. The arrival of new diplomats in Vatican City has also birthed a sort of new genre, the formal papal welcome; one that the current Pope has utilized to remind his new partners of just how un-modern, and even anti-modern, their new diplomatic home is. Modernity, after all, is characterized by this Pope as a moment of restless and breathless innovation, in contrast to his conception of the t…

I Don’t Think ‘Thoughts and Prayers’ Means What You Think it Means: A Counterargument

By Daniel Schultz

…h any kind of life in your soul requires hearing the cries for relief in a new and different way. Then too, these movements—for gun control, or for racial or sexual justice—speak in a fundamentally new way. Ordinary people are standing up and speaking for themselves, not relying on surrogates or political parties to work on their behalf. The Parkland kids have been called pawns in an attack on Second Amendment rights, but they’re not liberals. The…

Will the new Jurassic Park movie be an anti-GMO adventure?

By Michael Schulson

…st and the grizzled skeptic. Observers of certain conversations about some new technologies, including GMOs, will be forgiven for thinking that kind of balance is impossible. Between the rabid skeptics and the rabid backers, the voices that speak seriously about the benefits of a scientific advance, while also acknowledging the problems that come with any new technology (Who gets to control it? How will we know when the tinkering has gone too far?…

Israel’s New President and Intolerant Judaism

By Sarah Posner

…visiting two of their synagogues I am convinced that this is a completely new religion without any connection to Judaism. Total assimilation. Their prayer is like a completely Protestant ceremony. Rabbi Eric Yoffie, past president of the Union for Reform Judaism, wrote before the election that Rivlin had refused to address him as rabbi, and called on Rivlin to address the idol worship comments. In the Jerusalem Post, a Rivlin defender came rather…

Chauvin Verdict isn’t a Turning Point in Equal Justice, But it Does Suggest a New Political Norm

By John Stoehr

…, the former president, almost certainly without knowing it, established a new assumption that’s unlikely to undo itself any time soon, an assumption that not only understands that the work of liberty and justice for all is ongoing, but also that the Republicans’ lies are no longer worth accepting or overlooking. The world saw Derek Chauvin squeeze the life out of George Floyd. No lie could hide that. The world saw the former president try to sque…

‘Hey Jesus, Do You Love Me the Same?’: Out Christian Rock Star Trey Pearson on Closeted Industry Figures, His Evolving Faith, and Brand New Video

By Chrissy Stroop

…re you optimistic or pessimistic? Why? I am in the studio working on a few new songs right now, and I’ll be releasing a single with two new songs this fall. I am also working on a memoir, which will be my first book, and a couple of other projects. I continually try to advocate for LGBTQ people in religion and politics. I am optimistic, and I do believe the world is evolving faster than ever on LGBTQ acceptance and equality. Of course there are st…

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Blames Gays For ISIS; ‘Christian Nationalist’ Sworn In As Guatemala’s President; Vatican Resists Civil Unions in Italy; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…ant reviews a rhetorical battle being waged by a couple of bishops against new education guidelines on gender identity in the province of Alberta. The new guidelines say school boards have until March 31 to come up with policies that support, among other things, students’ right to self-identify their gender and be addressed using their preferred pronouns. The Alberta Catholic School Trustees’ Association released a statement this week reaffirming…

New Report Shows Dems are Far More Religiously Diverse Than GOP — Though One (A)religious Group Remains Woefully Underrepresented

By Chrissy Stroop

…turn. As the Pew Research Center’s write-up on the religious makeup of the new Congress puts it, “the U.S. Congress remains largely untouched by two trends that have long marked religious life in the United States: a decades-long decline in the share of Americans who identify as Christian, and a corresponding increase in the percentage who say they have no religious affiliation.” Specifically, the new Congress’s membership is over 87% Christian, w…

Is the Metaverse the Hero We Need to Rescue Us From Suffering and Enchant the World?

By Robert M. Geraci

…For example, the artist Michael Takeo Magruder offers an experience of the new Jerusalem (Revelation 21) in one of his VR projects, aptly named “A New Jerusalem.” Representing transcendent states—whether in places like heaven or conditions like bliss—has challenged artists for centuries. In the 21st century, look for an expanding array of attempts to use the metaverse to provide a glimpse of transcendent realities (through an Oculus darkly?). Whil…