Search for "www.dodomassage.net"

Paul Ryan’s Bible, Jim Wallis’, Or None of the Above?

By Sarah Posner

…y the Heritage Foundation) is the Reagan-esque idea that government safety nets promote “dependency,” while evangelizing the poor will bring them to Jesus and—voila!—out of poverty. As I argued last year, writing about liberal-leaning religious groups countering Glenn Beck’s attack on social justice, the debate about the role of government should rooted in policy, not theology. As Peter Laarman has noted in these pages, in support of a robust defe…

The Religious Right: Still Not Dead

By Frederick Clarkson

…based tools for both targeted electoral outreach as well as casting a wide net. They’ve been used by many conservative and Christian Right organizations in recent election cycles, including the American Family Association, Family Research Council, Citizen Link (the national political arm of Focus on the Family), Vision America, and Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition. Indeed, the Christian Right didn’t die in 2007 with Jerry Falwell, whose Mo…

I Always Knew Santa Was Make-Believe: A Retired Pastor on Losing Her Faith

By Anne Grant

…one-quarter-mile on a half-inch cable 1500 feet in the air with no safety net. “Thank you, Jesus,” he said, his words recorded. “Lord, help this cable to calm down. I command it in your name. Praise you, praise you, Jesus.” I grew up talking to Jesus like that. Nik grew up walking on high wires since he was two like his mother, father, and extended family. Despite his strong belief, I knew Nik could not walk on water across the Colorado River. He…

E-vangelism: Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Blog-Ranking

By Pauline Hope Cheong

…faith believers are often explicitly reminded of scripture to shape their netiquette. For example, FaithFreaks.com, billed as “the premier Christian social network”, filters obscene pictures and language, citing a Bible verse in Ephesians that says “there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse jok…

Trump’s Abortion Gag Rule Is State Violence

By Sikivu Hutchinson

…in the streets because of the neoliberal destruction of the social safety net. In a 2014 discussion between feminist cultural critic bell hooks and trans activist and actress Laverne Cox, hooks argued that folks who are against reproductive health care can’t be considered feminists. In this era, when women’s right to self-determination is under siege on multiple levels, being for reproductive justice is nonnegotiable for a feminism based on econo…

My Womb for His Purposes: The Perils of Unassisted Childbirth in the Quiverfull Movement

By Kathryn Joyce

…ly, as Vyckie Garrison noted, her Quiverfull convictions led her to desire total reliance on, and trust in, God, neglecting her own instincts and health in favor of obedience and submission. “Our deeply beloved belief system denied us an important safety net,” she wrote to Carri Chmielewski, “that of our own feelings. When our bodies and minds screamed out, ‘Something is wrong!’ our faith calmed us down.” And in some cases, that calm, the “peace t…

Hitchens Debates Conservative Evangelical: Nothing Happens

By Eric Reitan

…uting “missed again!” every time a new atheist kicks one straight into the net. But I think this analogy tells us more about the current state of the so-called “God debates” than it does about anything else. It seems to me that far too many people treat these debates as a zero-sum competition. Hitchens and Wilson are eager to play that game—and, like sports rivals, they can enjoy authentic camaraderie off the playing field. Winning the Argument, L…

“Far Too Extreme For America To Accept,” Hamas “Endorsed Obama,” “Forced Abortions,” and More

By Sarah Posner

…ical attack ad, starting last Friday. Using clips from Townhall.com, World Net Daily, Fox Business, CNSNews.com, and Glenn Beck, narrator E. W. Jackson invokes the boogeymen of ACORN, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the New Black Panther Party, Hamas, and Mao Tse-Tung to paint President Obama and the Democratic Party as “extreme,” “treacherous,” “socialist,” and “with hostility” towards America. As I wrote two years ago during the presidential campaign, the…

Georgetown Poverty Summit Impoverished on Women in More Ways Than One

By Patricia Miller

…ve’ relative to an issue like abortion. And while he is right that both Catholics and Evangelicals often seem more worried about children before they are born than after (though the Catholic Church is more consistent in its support for safety-net programs) the reality is that abortion rights can’t be separated from the larger issue of reproductive justice, which itself can’t be separated from the issues of poverty and opportunity—as many women get…

Planned Parenthood ‘Stung’ By Lila Rose

By Bill Berkowitz

…need of quality, affordable health care, straining the health care safety net system even more. Planned Parenthood health centers provide health care services to more than three million people a year and 97% of those services are preventive, including wellness exams, cancer screenings, STD testing and treatment, and birth control. (italics added) Support from the Old Guard Over the past few years Rose has not only received considerable publicity…