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“One of Us”: Rick Santorum and the Politics of (Very Big) Family

By Kathryn Joyce

…have a broader target in mind when they talk about contraception. In the words of early Quiverfull authors Rick and Jan Hess, authors of Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ, it’s that “Our bodies are meant to be a living sacrifice.” God may have given mankind dominion over the earth, they argue, but not over their own bodies, which must be dedicated to the almighty’s ends. Or as homeschooling leader Mary Pride wrote in another…

Obstacles for Secularists

By Sarah Posner

…to become better organized as a political force, even as they increase in number. The major impediment to that kind of organization is the fact that it is very difficult for secularists to conceive of themselves in tribal terms. Most tribes, whether of nations or ethnicities or sports fandom, can easily demarcate their membership—it’s the people who look like us, or talk like us, or dress like us. Tribes organized around religious belief have rit…

A Queer Atheist In the Heart of Mormon Country

By Chris Stedman

…tic society will need to work with people in many different communities in order to see it realized. There are certainly Mormon people and institutions that have worked against LGBTQ equality, and many continue to. But as was evident at this year’s Utah Pride, there is also a fast-growing number of Mormons who are working for change. They may be less visible—after all, our society, and the media in particular, privilege polarizing perspectives—but…

The Threat to Democracy Runs Deep, But Mathematics Could Address the Abominable State of Representation and Voting

By Ismar Volić

…anchised and removed from the political process. The connection between an ordinary citizen and the government that purportedly acts on their mandate has never been stretched this thin. Underpinning all this is a failure of mechanisms that run our democracy. A failure of algorithms, of the choice of mathematics—yes, mathematics—that governs voting, allocation of legislative seats, districting, and representation. A vast majority of our 520,000 pub…

Supreme Court Rules Religion is Special… This Time

By Katherine Stewart

…expected to abide by these laws. Except religions, or so it now seems. According to the Tabor ruling, religious groups get a pass on the law when it comes to employees who are considered “ministerial.” The right to the free exercise of religion, says the court, entails a right to hire and fire those who lead a religious group without government interference. Because the court refuses to define just who may count as “ministerial”—and the case in f…

Speaking with Palestinian-American Republican Who Confronted GOP at Debate

By Haroon Moghul

…that it could have a bigger tent if it stopped playing to such a narrow base. One day, sooner or later, I’m sure they’ll see the benefit in that. For now, both Romney and Gingrich, and the Republican establishment, would do well to note that there is an increasing number of Arab and Muslim Americans. They are not one and the same. But, they are politically active, eager to vote, and often donate time and money to candidates and campaigns. They are…

Catholic Church is Lucky it’s Just Same-Sex Marriage

By Marian Ronan

…either in one “ovotestis” or with one ovary and one testis). An increasing number of public and commercial health insurance companies now include defined benefits for sex reassignment surgery, and the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association and the National Association of Social Workers, have declared the denial of such benefits discriminatory. And intersex conditions are likely to increase, since some of them, at leas…

New Pope Accused of Conspiring in Kidnapping

By Nicole Greenfield

…The idea that anyone would characterize the new pope as having a solid record on such issues is laughable. One needn’t look further than his staunch opposition to LGBT rights and his flagrant attacks on women to see the contempt. In the days leading up to Argentina’s legalization of same-sex marriage in July, Bergoglio labeled the push for equality “a destructive attack on God’s plan” and deemed adoption by same-sex couples a form of discriminat…

Change v. Change at NPR

By Warren Throckmorton

…chniques (beating pillows to vicariously release aggression on parents) in order to change orientation. This is not what the New York Times article was about. In contrast to this report, the New York Times article generated no controversy or outrage. If Spiegel wanted to report on people who accept their sexuality but live in such a way to honor their religious commitments then why interview a guy who promises that gays can change? This is complic…

How the Study of Evangelicalism Has Blinded Us to the Problems in Evangelical Culture

By Christopher D. Cantwell

…while Bebbington explores the recent history of British evangelicalism in order to highlight the peculiar nature of the American scene. Evangelicalism is now a global phenomenon, the editors conclude, and the troubling features of any particular part of the movement should not distract us from the integrity of the whole. Noll even ends the collection with yet another metaphorical flourish, suggesting that scholars no longer think of evangelicalis…