‘Empty the Pews’ Chronicles the ‘Nurtured Insanity’ of a Fundamentalist Upbringing
There is a great exodus taking place in Christian circles. Can it be called a…
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A Devil’s Dozen of the Best ‘New Religion Journalism’ Books of the Decade
Since the turn of this century, following the news is like experiencing a daily repudiation…
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Books to Give this Holiday Season to Help Understand the World We’ve Found Ourselves in (and to Help Reimagine a Better One)
As we say goodbye to a truly dystopian year (and then some), here is a…
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Is Bill Barr’s Belief in a Powerful President Actually Religious? A ‘High Papal’ Fable
A new book aims to show how Christianity continues to shape the West in unseen ways. But one scholar believes a more accurate summary of the argument is that modern secular society is actually saturated in a deep Roman Catholic ethos, which notably includes the doctrine of strong papal authority.
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Keep Jews Interesting: It’s Time to Stop Being Defined by Anti-Semitism
The recent publication of Bari Weiss’ new book on anti-Semitism and “bedbug-gate” have emphasized the troubling place the Jewish community has found itself in, embodied by Jewish historian Arthur Hertzberg’s proclamation that “The only thing more dangerous for Jews than anti-Semitism is no anti-Semitism.”
Read MoreToni Morrison, Prophet of America’s Demons (1931-2019)
Morrison’s witness to language’s power to both destroy and create has been on ample display in our current season of American blood-letting. In 1993 Morrison warned of “Tongue-suicide,” which is “common among the infantile heads of state and power merchants whose evacuated language leaves them with no access to what is … human.”
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How Biblical ‘Chosenness’ Has Justified Violence, Misogyny, and Anti-Immigrant Sentiment
Bible scholar Michael Coogan’s new book examines the dangers associated with the biblical concept of chosenness, which has its fingerprints on everything from the genocidal treatment of indigenous peoples to the idea that women, when thought by believers to have been created as mere vessels for reproduction, may be treated in the manner of brood cattle.
Read More‘When I Spoke in Tongues’ Points the Way Out of Fundamentalist Christianity
Research shows that individuals who leave Christian fundamentalism often experience a crisis. In her memoir Jessica Wilbanks shares her difficulties, including exploring her bisexuality, recreational drugs, and premarital relations.
Read More‘America First’ and the Origin of the Modern Jewish Conspiracy
Historian Paul Hanebrink discusses the origin and uses of the Judeo-Bolshevik myth as a grand conspiracy that inspired the Holocaust and how crucial parts of it survived under the umbrella of “Judeo-Christian civilization.”
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The Forgotten Struggle Over Gender and Bigotry in Christianity
History reminds us again and again that it’s always been easier to believe in miracles, in virgin births and atoning deaths, than something so simple and basic as human solidarity.
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