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Trump’s “Muslim Ban” A Gift to Terrorists

By Ali Olomi

…nd unless the conditions that produce terrorism are dealt with, terrorism will continue to be a feature of global politics. The narrative of foreign infiltrators ignores the real threat of homegrown terrorism, or far more frequent attacks from militias and the hard-right. Banning Muslims satiates the anti-Muslim bigots, the fearful, and terrorists themselves. But Mr. Trump’s executive order isn’t about keeping Americans safe, but the weaponizing o…

Religious Practices on Trial in Arizona: The Problem With “Experts”

By Johnny P. Flynn

…sweat lodges built in the Lakota style, not Navajo, which is the tribal affiliation of a good number of inmates in the Arizona prison system (an amazing fact that is a story for another time). So, even though a non-Indian might be compelled to be put on trial for killing people with his “ceremony,” it is Native American religion which will be the defendant in this case. Consider. James Ray’s defense might be compelled to bring in experts to argue…

New Research Links Spiritual-Not-Religious to Mental Disorder

By Elizabeth Drescher

…egants while excluding those further out on the margins than the mere unfamiliar newcomers, single people, those without children, and so on who are often given a less than hospitable welcome in many religious communities. It’s fair to assume, as well, that even religious groups truly desiring to embrace all comers may be off-putting to people already predisposed to or suffering from mental disorders. The “organization”—liturgical, ideological, so…

3 Reasons Catholic Bishops Are Holding Their Tongues on GOP Health Care Debacle

By Patricia Miller

…which was a direct threat to the Catholic Church’s promotion of natural family planning. As Archbishop William Lori, head of the USCCB Religious Liberty Committee recently told Crux, preventive services should only “pertain to preventing diseases and not to … preventing birth.” But, as New York Times reports, under Trump a number of anti-contraception activists have been given prominent roles in the administration. They are moving not just to fina…

Exclusive: Christian Right Bill Mill, Project Blitz, Hasn’t Gone Away, It’s Just Gotten More Secretive

By Frederick Clarkson

…ding that area to Americans United for Life, which has served as the main bill mill for state antiabortion legislation.) “Opposition to the measures in this category,” the new playbook warns, “will often be well-organized and well-financed. More care must be taken to avoid bringing this legislation to a vote unless the vote can be won. A defeated measure can often hurt more than help and will put allies and leadership in a difficult position.” Cat…

Does God Want Jeremy Lin to Win?

By Jay Michaelson

…when it helps people be better people, whether in terms of kindness, or humility, or following their dreams, or any number of other positive values—just as it’s at its worst when it takes agency away. The particular myths that Tebow or Lin happen to believe in are secondary (and of course, I mean ‘myths’ in the sophisticated sense of stories that give meaning to human life, not false tales). What’s primary is that they believe, despite ample reaso…

Amway, Religious Right Pyramid Scheme, Returns to the Motherland

By Bill Berkowitz

…ers have made billions by selling a phony version of the American Dream, while bilking thousands of ordinary American dreamers out of their hard-earned life savings. The wealth of the founders has supported the nearly 30+ year conservative makeover of American society through millions of dollars in donations to the creation and development of right-wing institutions and causes. ++++++++++ Rethinking Redemption: The Case of Charles Colson In 1990,…

Dispatches from the Workplace: Postville: Ground Zero for the Intersection of Immigrant and Workers’ Rights

By Kim Bobo

…l crime was working without proper authorization in order to feed their families. Until fairly recently, if a worker was found to be working in the country without proper authorization, the worker would simply be deported. In Postville, workers who were desperate to support their families weren’t given that option. They were told they had three options: They could plead guilty to knowingly using a false Social Security number and the government wo…

UN Human Rights Council Creates LGBT Watchdog; Orthodox Council Affirms Traditional Teaching on Family; Pope Francis Says Church Should Apologize to Gays; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…ty of a colonial-era law criminalizing homosexuality; a petition had been filed by a number of prominent gay individuals. The Court, which had effectively recriminalized homosexuality in 2013 when it overturned a 2009 lower court ruling tossing out the law, sent the measure to the Chief Justice of India, who is considering other “curative” petitions. Rama Lakshmi notes in the Washington Post: Some members of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya…

Show Me the Way of the Hebrews: The Making of an African American Rabbi

By J. Lester Feder

…tself as a “Hebrew Pentecostal” denomination. Bishop S. P Rawlings asked Dailey to affiliate with his church and later recruited her for the third-highest position in its national leadership. Dailey ensured that Bethel would keep its autonomy, but she signed on with the House of God because it gave her a national platform to share her message. Around the time her first grandchild, Eli Aronoff, was born in 1960, Dailey spent several weeks on preach…