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The American Media’s Longterm Ambivalence About the Papacy

By Peter Manseau

…clasm. When the new pope is soon shown within Time’s familiar red frame he will likely appear in full and flattering light, but only briefly. Is it any wonder that the last newsweekly standing would gravitate toward stories of once-unquestioned authority undermined and reduced to a shadow of its former significance? This is, after all, a story it knows quite well. *This essay was adapted from a chapter in The Oxford Handbook of Religion and the A…

This Year in Satanism

By Joseph Laycock

…atanic Temple began petitioning to erect their holiday display in front of Florida’s state capital. In 2013, Florida allowed a nativity scene to be erected on capital grounds. This justified other religious groups in presenting holiday displays, which led to a Festivus Pole and an image of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The Satanic Temple was the only group whose display was denied, on the grounds that it was “grossly offensive.” In 2014, The Satan…

More Than Big Hair and Money: Jim, Tammy Faye and the Media “Holy Wars” of the 80s

By John Wigger

…In March 1987 Bakker resigned in disgrace after his 1980 sexual encounter with Jessica Hahn in a Florida hotel room became public. Stories emerged about gay relationships and visits to prostitutes. By the end of the year, PTL was in bankruptcy, headed for liquidation. In 1989 Bakker was convicted of wire and mail fraud and sentenced to 45 years in prison. PTL: The Rise and Fall of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker’s Evangelical Empire John Wigger Oxford…

What Do ‘The Christians’ Believe? Easter Reflections from a Non-Christian

By Gary Laderman

…p and hip hop are the devil’s music with no redeeming features. But the growing number of artists and outlets for Christian rap (like the Web site Holy Culture) are challenging many stereotypes and perceptions about how entertainment and evangelization mix to bring a distinctly Christian message to young folks today. And in the recent efforts by conservative Christians to shape the content of educational textbooks in Texas, country and western mus…

Holy Father, You’re Not Helping: The Problem with the Pope’s Plan to Consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

By Katherine Kelaidis

…g. But that’s the problem of making other people—particularly other people with whom your people already have a tense history—your project. Also, it’s genuinely a good idea to check with people before you try to help, whether materially or metaphysically. Sometimes people don’t want your kind of help. I mean, why didn’t the Vatican suggest special papal-led prayers to the Virgin Mary for Russia and Ukraine, perhaps including the Eastern Christian…

Glenn Beck’s Salvation Army

By Peter Montgomery

…their faith through a prism of American nationalism? Not to mention the growing number of Americans without any religious commitment? Beck tells us, “you must fall to your knees and you must reconnect with God. He is not asking you. He is commanding us as a people to get behind Him. He will right the wrongs. We will have to pay a price because we lived outside of His laws. We will have to pay a price, but every day we don’t get behind Him, the pri…

Orthodox Jews Begin to Reckon with Sexual Abuse

By Paul Berger

…g them to pressure the father not to testify. Luban has since been charged with witness tampering and faces up to five years in prison. Meanwhile, nine leading Lakewood rabbis issued a proclamation telling followers that if they suspect a case of abuse they must go to a religious court, known as a beth din, before alerting the secular authorities. Protecting Children vs. Religious Concerns The Orthodox community’s reliance upon beth dins is one of…

New Reports Reveal Global Persecution of Nonbelievers

By Austin Dacey

…fended as being motivated by respect for religion, are actually correlated with the suppression of religion. Countries with more prohibitions against blasphemy, apostasy, and religious insult also have more violations of freedom of conscience and more persecution of minority beliefs. The Freedom of Thought 2012 report, which bears a portrait of a manacled Alber Saber on its cover, draws attention to the role of digital and social media in particul…

My Business, Myself: Piercing the Corporate Veil

By Howard M. Friedman

…s employees insurance, its plan—like those of larger companies—must comply with the minimum requirements for preventive health care services, including contraceptive services. In keeping with emphasis of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on “wellness,” the law requires most insurance plans to cover preventive health care services without co-pays. Government regulations spell out which services are covered, and among women’s preventive services are all…

Dear White Evangelicals: A Black Square Ain’t Gonna Cut It

By Jhas Williams

…t, only to be tolerated but never fully accepted. And the only square that will prove to matter will be the one at which we started: Square one, where the little Black girl in a Christian school is trying to figure out why her braids “don’t meet dress-code” and a little Black boy has been told that his locs are unprofessional. For every joke about thick lips, ghetto names or dark skin; for the Nigerian student who, my Bible teacher remarked (with…