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David Brat: Catholic, Calvinist, and Libertarian, Oh My!

…model, is severely restrained in its authority over economic activity. The best check on the depravity of individuals who make up the civil government is the decentralization of authority into the distinct spheres; the best check on the depravity of human beings in the economy is the decentralization of the market created by competition. Historian Michael McVicar has this called this “theocratic libertarianism”: it creates an economic zone free of…

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Quantum Theology: Our Spooky Interconnectedness

…er words, that in the worst case, theology and science were at war. In the best case, I assumed, they had a rather awkward relationship—something like bad first date. And then I read Catherine Keller’s Face of the Deep: A Theology of Becoming (Routledge, 2003). What occurred was nothing short of a paradigm shift. What Keller was up to was beyond me—in the very best way. She wasn’t doing apologetics (defending theology from its outside objectors)….

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Falling in Love With the Earth: Francis’ Faithful Ecology

…biodiversity. (Yale’s Forum for Religion and Ecology assembles some of the best of that content here.) As I read through Laudato si I saw much of the speculation confirmed. Pope Francis reflects on our various ecological ills. He reflects on anthropogenic/human-caused global warming, water scarcity, biodiversity loss, the dangers of unlimited consumerism, the dangers of unlimited and overused technology, “a misguided anthropocentrism,” economic gr…

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Repent, Hillary: Trump’s Evangelical Backers Play the Sin Card

…er told us how to vote, he gave us all the good common sense to choose the best leaders.” It’s important to emphasize that best doesn’t mean perfect, as Abraham, Moses, and David would remind us. The assumption of God’s providence, however, doesn’t work both ways—that is, it can’t be positively applied to Trump’s presumed opponent, Hillary Clinton. That may seem inconsistent, at least on the surface: if God chooses imperfect people, then can’t God…

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No, THIS is the Real Christianity…

…is Harold Meyerson’s column, “Hard-Liners for Jesus.” Meyerson, one of the best mainstream pundits out there, charges that there is a huge gap between the teachings of the gospels and the preachings of the “Gospel’s Own Party.” The GOPers tout the old-time religion while violating its biblical precepts, or—to be more exact—the particular biblical precepts that Meyerson approves. He has an easy time finding contradictions between Republican policie…

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Aliens, Nanobots, & Microbes: The Science of Secular Apocalypse

…he vanguard of research here. But there seems to be enough evidence, in my best judgment at least, to not dismiss it. Most of the threats you describe in the book are enormous, invisible, and almost impossible for most of us to imagine. Is rational, evidence-based discussion in the public sphere a sufficient tool to grasp something as large and amorphous as a global catastrophe? What does it take? I think you’re exactly right that the mental machi…

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How “Mindfulness” Lost Its Mind

….g., health, education) but: a) it is no miraculous panacea even under the best of conditions; and b) it can be pernicious when mixed with a focus on the self; selflessness is part of the essence of mindfulness, and self-focus perverts it. Regarding its being a panacea, I show in the book how even the best-designed, most robust research on mindfulness is overhyped. Regarding the pernicious effects of self-focus, those are general in a species that…

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New Book on Trump and Evangelicals Gets it Mostly Right

…tories within evangelicalism. Fea repeatedly notes evangelicals’ mixed (at best) history with respect to race relations. He devotes nine pages to the history of racial fear in the evangelical South, but he never gets messy with the most telling factor: that no other religious group even remotely approaches white evangelicals’ preference for Trump. Race proved one of the most decisive predictors of Trump support, and white evangelicals were the mos…

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SoulCycle Looks to Sell its Soul

…chers, he uses his own spiritual practice to show his riders how to be the best versions of themselves…Get ready for a spiritual journey disguised as a rock concert! And here’s James J., an instructor at studios in and around New York City: Since starting his journey at Soul, James has discovered what can be done together—as a family—with the lights down low, the music up high, and our hearts wide open. Many riders seem to buy in. From a customer’…

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A Revolutionary Plea in the Wake of Attempted Synagogue Bombing

…to bomb two synagogues in New York, since, according to one suspect, “the best target” — the World Trade Center — “was hit already.” The disturbing calculus of these men can only be understood in the context of hatred, ignorance, stereotypes, and bad theology. The best antidote to this plot – and future plots like it – is more interfaith activity. We are not naïve enough to think that simply knowing folks across lines of faith will prevent violen…

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