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Is Accreditation of Religious Institutions a “Farce”?

By Eric C. Miller

…oard of overstepping the First Amendment and infringing on their rights to free religious exercise and free speech.” Among the colleges and seminaries that spurn regional accreditation, many justify their decision by citing freedom from governmental oversight, a position compatible with the conservative mentality often dominant at such institutions. Ideologically consistent, this claim has the ancillary benefit of helping its makers dodge the cost…

Lindsey Graham’s Lying “Eye-ranians”

By Haroon Moghul

…dog whistle?) in his deceptiveness. But the focus on lying reaps other tax-free dividends, in part because there is no easy way to prove you are not a liar. (Proving a negative, after all.) Consider: All Muslims are dishonest, and they’re at their most dishonest when they’re claiming to be honest. What could you possibly say to that? Well, I’ve met a lot of Islamophobes, and I’ve learned: Take them at their word. Assume they’re not lying. Speak in…

“Liberal Nazis”: The Republican Crusade Against NPR

By Paul Harvey

…d protector of liberal issues and political correctness, at the expense of free speech and balanced news reporting.” —Congressman Doug Lamborn, (R) Colorado Springs. Colorado Springs, my hometown, leads the nation in religiosity, or so declared Men’s Health magazine recently, which ranked the “top 100” cities in terms of faith. But “religiosity” here takes on a particular meaning, one dominated by an evangelical culture increasingly tied into Tea…

Marriage Equality Coming To Taiwan In Spite of Religious Objectors?; Anti-Gay Ruling Sought By Indonesian Islamists Threatens Women & Poor Couples; LDS Church Launches New ‘Mormon and Gay’ Site; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…amily. “This ruling undermines democratic freedom. It undermines religious freedom. It undermines free speech.” The McArthur family, which owns the bakery, has “been supported by the Christian Institute, which has organized public rallies and garnered financial backing for the case.” Nigeria: Human Rights Watch reports on impact of law banning same-sex marriage Human Rights Watch released a report this month documenting the impact of the Same Sex…

American Infidel: Robert Ingersoll Was the “Great Agnostic” of the (Last) Gilded Age

By Peter Laarman

…tion of American democracy. There’s no question that Ingersoll and kindred free spirits like Twain and Bierce made the United States a much healthier country during the Gilded Age than it otherwise would have been. A certain tonic looseness, a good-humored irreverence and respect for unbelief, persisted in the common culture until the horrors of World War I gave fear-based faith a new lease on life. In this nerve-wracked 21st-century moment, our h…

Mormon “Martin Luther” Causes Stir by Uploading LDS Church Handbook of Instructions to Internet

By Joanna Brooks

…nto two giant PDF files and put them on the internet. For just anyone. For free. A few hours later, a fully-searchable edition of the CHI started to make the digital rounds. And by Friday, much to our astonishment, the LDS Church published the entire second volume on its own website. (The first volume remains officially restricted to lay clerical leaders.) The buzz among bloggers and web-journalists quickly converged around changes to the section…

Democratic Egypt Tests a Divided Israel

By Shaul Magid

…Israel (which is an ethnic democracy), Israel does have open elections, a free press and an independent judiciary. When the smoke clears, Israel is still the only democracy in the Middle East, and the Arab street knows it. We may not be able to say that too much longer, however, and the Jewish Israeli street knows that. The question many are asking then is whether it’s “good” or “bad” for the Jews. Israeli View of Democracy, from Left, Right and…

Paranoia Over Foreigners in Egypt Eclipsed by Cooperation

By H.A. Hellyer

…mmensely polite attitude of people searching those coming into Tahrir. The free teas that were spreading all around Tahrir, no doubt paid for through the charitable support of someone in the crowd, or donated by the tea-shop owner – its just another part of the Egypt I have always known. But the Egypt I have known would never have seen people feeling free to voice their criticisms of the president so strongly or openly – that type of attitude cert…

Is There Anyone in the Press Who Can Recognize the Bad Faith in Evangelical Faith?

By John Stoehr

…ple. It’s what you can do for yourself and others. As it is, White evangelical Protestants have it both ways. A vote for apartheid free of consequence, free of guilt….

Four Reasons Why Egypt’s Revolution Is Islamic

By Zaid Hassan

…similar but far more significant quandary. The nightmare scenario involves free and fair elections in Egypt that put a “radical” Islamist government into power. This government then enacts foreign policy decisions hostile to US (and Israeli) interests and hence serves to “destabilize the region.” The US and Israel lose a key ally in the region, ushering in a new period of unrest. Forestalling this scenario, commentators are arguing that this is n…