…the answers. Only the Lord does.” Joyce Thompson, who came to Houston from San Antonio with a friend, echoed a persistent theme to me over breakfast at our hotel: that Christianity is somehow under siege from enemies. Thompson, who described herself as a 66-year-old Tea Partier, tearfully said, “I can’t understand people who want to destroy our country.” When I asked her who those people might be, she replied, “It’s a Muslim thing. It’s Satan agai…
…that gay marriage is a Satanic sacrament and that Satanic bodies are sacrosanct and cannot be subject to trans-vaginal probes. On June 30, The Supreme Court ruled that Hobby Lobby could invoke religious objections to avoid covering contraception in its employees’ health plans. This ruling encouraged the Satanic Temple to launch its “Right to Accurate Medical Information” campaign. The campaign took aim at state laws requiring women to review info…
…of Directors and Advisory Board include billionaire and part-owner of the San Antonio Spurs James Leininger, former Congressman Sam Johnson (R-TX), and Georgia State Senator Ralph T. Hudgens. Gothard’s foundational beliefs—the eponymous “basic life principles” and their attendant 49 “character qualities,” including deference, meekness, obedience, and orderliness—have also made their way into the bloodstream of a variety of American institutions….
…oting not by shutting their doors, but by opening them. The Sikh temple in San Jose held an open house and gave out free head coverings. Over five hundred people gathered for a vigil at the gurdwara in Plymouth, a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. This weekend, many Sikh temples have issued an open invitation to all to come and worship, in a concerted effort to welcome and educate America about their traditions. Hospitality is a key element o the Sikh…
…ian homeschooling movement, as well as Doug Phillips’ Vision Forum and the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival (SAICFF), it was unclear whether he was promoting their views. In the weeks leading up to the release of Monumental, Cameron made numerous appearances ranging from CNN, to CPAC, to interviews with religious-right leaders where he embraced popularized versions of the Reconstructionist framework. On David Barton’s Wallbuilders L…
…on, and is Christian, speak in 2007, at John Hagee’s Cornerstone Church in San Antonio. I reported in my book, God’s Profits: Gabriel, author of the book Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America, attempts to draw parallels between her experience in Lebanon and an Islamic threat to American democracy. When Muslims became a majority in Lebanon (“they multiply much more quickly than we do”), [Gabriel claimed] Christians were “att…
…d: Rachel Barenblat Congregation Beth Israel, North Adams MA Joanna Brooks San Diego State University Sharon Brous IKAR Linell Cady Arizona State University John Caputo Syracuse University Rachel Cowan George Mason University, Gary Dorrien Union Theological Seminary Eddie Glaude Princeton University Harry Knox Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice Ira Lapidus University of California at Berkeley Khalid Latif New York University Kathryn Lofto…
…GBT couples. On the eve of the parade, Taiwan’s Justice Minister, Chin Tai-san, gave marchers fresh hope by pledging that the new government, elected earlier this year, had a clear position on same-sex marriage and backed equality. President Tsai Ing-wen also reportedly reaffirmed her support for marriage equality on Saturday. Legislation to revise the civil code to include marriage equality has been submitted with the support of 40 lawmakers, rep…
Christians United for Israel, the apocalyptic advocacy group founded by San Antonio televangelist John Hagee, has just announced a generous donor who offered to match donations of up to $500,000, to help it raise a million dollars by the end of the year. CUFI has always maintained — despite all evidence to the contrary — that it is primarily motivated by concern for Israel and the Jews, not by Hagee’s apocalyptic vision for the return of Jesus at…
…5 year-old girls who were “spiritually married” to him. The trial, held in San Angelo, Texas, was short but disturbing, with audiotapes and photographs of Jeffs’ crimes presented to the jury. During the trial, Jeffs fired his defense team, and defended himself with rambling missives and an affidavit he claimed came from God. Often, he just sat in silence. The jury verdict came quickly after hearing particularly sordid testimony, including the test…
