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Protesters in Washington DC, the day before the January 6 insurrection, wrapped in American flags blow shofars.

Netanyahu’s Genocidal Religious Rhetoric isn’t Just an Appeal to the Israeli Right — He Has Another Constituency in Mind

By Brock Bahler

As a horrifying humanitarian crisis unfolds in Palestine/Israel, observers have been alarmed by the Israeli leadership’s deployment of religious rhetoric and colonialist talking points in its response to the Hamas attacks. On October 28th, for example, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referenced Bible passages in which God promises and enacts a total annihilation of the Amalekites—every man, woman, and child: “You must remember what Amalek has d…

Modern Vampires: Your Neighbors and Spouses

By Joseph Laycock

…written? Which one? Why? Yes, The Re-Enchantment of the West, Volumes I & II by Christopher Partridge. I first discovered Partridge because he has written on the modern vampire community. The term “re-enchantment” appears with increasing frequency, but it is usually invoked rather than defined. Partridge convincingly argues that secularization has actually created the conditions for new and meaningful forms of religiosity. This theory points to a…

Heaven: Our Enduring Fascination with the Afterlife

By Lisa Miller

…houris, dark-eyed women. We all know that Mohammad Atta, who flew American Airlines flight 11 into the Twin Towers on 9/11, was inspired by this promise. But among progressives, the sex promised to the righteous in the Qur’an isn’t sex as we know it, but something mysterious and sublime for which sex is a poetic stand-in. Second, what happens to our bodies in heaven? This is my favorite part of the heaven conversation. For if you believe in heaven…

Top Five (Less Sensational, But More Dangerous) Things to Remember About Pat Robertson (1930-2023)

By Mark Hulsether

…se the comment was a flagrantly racist response to a tragic hurricane in Haiti, which he called a punishment from God for Satanism—the same episode that Chrissy Stroop ranked as number one on her own top 10 list, and a worthy contender, no doubt! But since Robertson liked to say outrageous things like this on a regular basis, I created a list more attuned to underlying structural aspects of his resume: less about preposterous provocations and more…

Haiti and the Push for Theological Questions

By Paula M. Cooey

…ever more so than in the face of natural disaster. Such is the case with Haiti. I hear many of us, especially among churchgoers, say to ourselves and to one another: Whatever is, is God’s will. Or, God’s reasons are inscrutable, though they will become clear to us, once we have joined God in the afterlife and see “face to face.” Or God is teaching us a lesson through this event; a greater good can come from this horrific moment. Or suffering is a…

Aasif Mandvi on Islamophobia, Acting, and the Long Shadow of Jon Stewart

By Haroon Moghul

…this point, and spoken to a lot of Islamophobes, people who had a lot of misinformation about Islam and Muslims. It was a personal thing to me, and it was an issue I thought I could lend my voice to in a satirical space. Were there any particular misconceptions or fears you wanted to address? There was a lot of stuff about Shari’ah Law, the protests against the mosques, the standard stuff—the stories that kept coming up. https://www.youtube.com/w…

Another Manufactured Outrage: Rep. Ilhan Omar Did Nothing Wrong in Listing Hamas, Israel, and U.S. Together

By Joshua Shanes

…d question. It was prompted by recent cases brought to the International Criminal Court (ICC) alleging war crimes, or crimes against humanity, by both Israel and Hamas in Israel/Palestine, and by Afghan, Taliban and American forces in Afghanistan. The ICC, based in the Hague, is charged with prosecuting these terrible crimes and its right to do so has been ratified by over 100 countries, though not the United States or Israel. Her question was not…

The 17th Century Roots of Roy Moore’s Refusal to Concede the Election

By Karen E. Park

…it: for there was no such government in Israel … A democracy is, amongst civil nations, accounted the meanest and worst of all forms of government. [To allow it would be] a manifest breach of the 5th Commandment.” – John Winthrop, first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony Tuesday night, after his surprising but solid defeat by Doug Jones, Roy Moore refused to concede. Even in Alabama, ground zero for voter suppression, mysteriously broken vo…

Diplomatic Suckerhood: Why Israel Is Fighting Toward its Own Demise

By Ira Chernus

…orried about their nation’s image around the world, and with good reason. Military occupation is never a pretty sight, especially when the occupiers have been there for 42 years, steadily taking over the occupied people’s lands as the whole world watches on television and the internet. It’s not surprising that Israel gets so little sympathy when it complains about its image problem—which only makes many Israelis worry more about their public image…

The Sacred and the Dead: Truckin’ as a New American Pilgrimage

By Varun Soni

“Sometimes the light’s all shinin’ on me, Other times I can barely see. Lately it occurs to me, What a long, strange trip it’s been.” ~ “Truckin’” As the Grateful Dead celebrate their 50th anniversary this year, their historical, cultural, and artistic influence is being discussed, debated, and delineated through commemorative concerts, academic conferences, books, box sets, and a feature-length documentary film. A special series on religion and…