Religion Dispatches
…f the population is the conservative impulse to mix religion and politics. Americans, they suggest, oppose the mingling of the two. And yet Campbell and Putnam’s own data show that the majority of Americans consider themselves religious. Perhaps what many actually oppose is the way certain types of evangelicals mix their religion and politics. R. R. Reno, writing at the blog of conservative Catholic publication First Things, argued in response to…
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…h” abortion. As Snopes rather gently phrased it, McArdle’s report “lacks a number of key credibility markers.” Or any, really. Of course, one evidence-free bit of “news” is not in itself notable in this media landscape. But this isn’t the first time this rumor has been reported as fact and acceptable uncritically. Earlier this year there were a rush of such reports by conservative commentators such as the American Conservative‘s Rod Dreher, Nation…
Read More…ty, especially for atheists who are so often the object of vilification in American society. The surveys, for example, routinely show that Americans are less likely to vote for an atheist for president than an individual of any other social, religious, or ethnic group. This vilification has really shaped the aggressively defensive public posture some atheists seem to assume. But I read your work and find myself imagining what an atheist ethic of h…
Read More…education is but one example of that. The influence plays out in the many Americans who see history and science as theology, promoting “Christian American history” and opposing evolution as an explanation for human origins. Granted Americans have always had a sense of themselves as what Ernest Lee Tuveson called A Redeemer Nation, but David Barton invokes that telos in a much more literal way than those before him. And it was shocking when, in…
Read More…, deserving of only a brief note, rather than some serious soul-searching. American evangelicals have shown a distinct cultural insensitivity to Asians and Asian-Americans in the past. In 2009, Evangelical book giant Zondervan published, “Deadly Viper: A Kung Fu Survival Guide for Life and Leadership,” which basically invoked every stereotype ever thought of about Asians. To be fair, Zondervan was more apologetic than Warren when confronted: they…
Read More…lves: down from 65% of Americans surveyed to 61%. Some measurable gains have been made among mainline Protestants: 28% surveyed in 2011 said they have “a lot in common” with Mormons; now, that proportion is 42%. And when asked to give a one asked to give a one-word descriptor of Mormonism, the number of respondents offering a positive word like “good,” or “honest,” increased from 18% in 2011 to 24% in 2012. All of these gains were concentrated a…
Read More…in Panama live in the major cities of Panama City and Colón, with smaller numbers in other provincial cities. The Panamanian government does not collect information on its religious composition, but a 2009 international report estimated the number of Muslims at around 24,000, comprising less than one percent of the country’s population. Most are of Lebanese, Palestinian or Indian descent. Though small, Panama’s Muslim community has grown increasi…
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…he goal is to reduce emotional trauma for sexual minorities and reduce the number of suicides and rates of substance abuse in that community, he says. Scotland: Anti-LGBT prejudice falls sharply The Scotsman reports that prejudice toward LGBT people has fallen sharply: Analysis of the 2016 Scottish Social Attitudes (SSA) survey by ScotCen, shared with The Scotsman, reveal the proportion of people who say that they would be unhappy if a close relat…
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…statement on the issue of fracking, which is also affecting an increasing number of communities in the state, it has not publicized it widely either. The same reluctance to speak loudly and clearly can be seen in the Diocese’s response to worker justice issues. In 2013, during the Fairness at Patriot campaign, when church officials were asked why the bishop was not saying anything publicly in defense of the miners whose pensions and insurance wer…
Read More…ng challenge of immigration, or creating greater solidarity with our Latin American brothers and sisters, or examining the ways our own U.S. economy creates a society of exclusion of the kind Pope Francis has denounced, or how they intend to monitor their own brother bishops who thumb their noses at the Dallas Charter for the protection of minors with impunity. Winters says that the USCCB is in a “meltdown,” with seasoned staff abandoning ship in…
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