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HHS Issues Proposed Rule Expanding Religious Exemption for Contraception Coverage

…efs; and is a non-profit organization as described in the Internal Revenue Code. Religious organizations protested that this four-pronged test would only exempt houses of worship, but not, say, a church that served people of different faiths through a soup kitchen. Under the new proposed rule (which is still subject to a public comment period), an employer seeking an exemption would only have to meet the forth prong of the test, thus widely expand…

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Israeli Right Demonizes Israeli Left, With American Money

…port NIF, which promotes on-the-ground change. But the attack by Im Tirtzu signals an end to business as usual. Following the Money Im Tirtzu calls itself a centrist organization that wants to strengthen political Zionism. But according to an investigative report by Ha’aretz, the movement is funded by right-wing groups and individuals, including John Hagee, the controversial Texas minister whose endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Joh…

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Leave Your Stereotypes at the Door: 10Q on “Keeping it Halal”

…? Why? In addition to Mitch Duneier’s Sidewalk, I would say Eli Anderson’s Code of the Street. It’s such a wonderful example of using the ethnographic method to dig beneath common stereotypes and reveal the social dynamics underlying a supposedly well-understood phenomenon. In his case, he’s looking at the situation of inner-city violence among young African American men. By carefully observing, listening, documenting, and then analyzing, he is ab…

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Catholic Archbishop Takes On Jesuit Magazine’s Slam on “Ecumenism of Hate”; and More in Global LGBT Recap

…ed on the Israeli government to reconsider. Germany: Marriage equality law signed; activists look to adoption issue Just before Berlin’s celebration of Christopher Street Day, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier signed the country’s marriage equality law, which should go into effect on October 1. Reuters explains: The annual parade comes several weeks after Germany’s parliament backed the legalization of same-sex marriage in a historic vote, bringin…

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Texas Textbook Massacre

…“supplemental material” as a way to sneak in creationist and intelligent design documents, like the Discovery Institute’s Signature of the Cell, or books that rewrite history from a distorted and dubious Christian perspective, like David Barton’s America’s Godly Heritage. Other states have tried the supplemental material language, so far unsuccessfully. “But they keep trying,” Hillis said. Interestingly, the person who led efforts to rewrite the s…

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For Many Christian Zionists, Israeli Protesters are a Threat to God’s Plan

…ate, some scholars have challenged the notion that End-Times theology is a significant factor for many Christian Zionists, correctly citing the prevalence of Prosperity Gospel and Reconciliation, among others, for motivating support while rightfully pointing to the Israeli government’s role in bolstering the power of Christian Zionism. Indeed, Netanyahu has long pandered to Christian Zionist supporters (and often reinforces the same antisemitic co…

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Jennifer’s Body and Why I Like Buffy’s Body Better

…rings true in her take on it, in a script that crackles and pops with her signature dialogue. She tries to do even more, as she makes clear when she recently described the film as a “Trojan horse” meant to sneak a feminist message into the cineplex, subverting the paradigm of horror films in which women are merely the shrieking victims of male violence. I admire Cody’s effort, but am not sure she has subverted older paradigms as much as made them…

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Is Alcoholics Anonymous a Religion?

…d back in 2014, defended itself by invoking section 18 of the Human Rights code, which allows a religious group to restrict participation to the faithful. So while AA presents itself to the public as a “spiritual” program, distinguishing itself from “religious” groups, it nevertheless claimed “religious” legal status in order to protect itself. Although the definition of “religion” is generally assumed in common parlance, it is not in any sense ea…

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Pope Tweeted into Retirement

…011 video of the Pope learning to use an iPad reveals what appears to be resignation and only minimal curiosity. One can only imagine the weariness induced by the attempt to constantly acclimate to new hardware as well as new software. What do touchscreens have to do with encyclicals? This would have been an absurd question just ten years ago. But for today’s wired believers, if you don’t have a digital device, you probably won’t even read those e…

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Know-Nothing Christians Irate Over Obama Comments

…ovidential success derived from the nation’s fidelity to God’s unforgiving code. It is easy to be seduced by these beliefs into some very strange conclusions. Christianity, after all, is not Judaism, and the Christian religion begins with the assumption that it is not about nation-building or Kingdom-creation anymore. The “Kingdom of God” that Jesus preached is precisely not the Kingdom of Judah; it took the disciples quite some time to get this p…

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