“Hey You! Anti-Semite!”: A Jewish Krewe does Mardi Gras
Krewe du Jieux parades through the French Quarter every year, tossing bagels and handing out “Jew eggs,” small plastic eggs containing a yarmulke-wearing baby.
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New Report: Angels & Aliens in Texas Schools
What would Supreme Court Justice Tom Clark think of public school Bible courses that taught that Jewish festivals are actually typological predictions of Jesus, that the “African races” are descendants of Noah’s cursed son Ham, that biblical stories about angels may have referred to extraterrestrial visitors, or that Genesis’ six-day creation story is scientifically accurate if interpreted correctly?
Read MoreRay Lewis Isn’t the Only One Bringing Religion to Super Bowl Sunday
Who does an interfaith NFL-spiritual-but-not-religious family root for? It’s complicated.
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“I’ll Pray For You”—Powerful or Pointless?
The title of Anne Lamott’s new book Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers is such a boldly brilliant summation that I laughed with delight the first time I heard it. So much truth in three words.
Read MoreStephen King Appeals to Gun Advocates’ Individual Responsibility
The divinely human compassion of “Jesus wept” meets the theology of Atlas Shrugged.
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Mark Driscoll Hate-Tweets as Pope Benedict Flip-Flops: This Week in Religion and Social Media
As if the whole Louie Giglio inaugural preaching debacle weren’t enough to sour many in on the religiosity of the American political process, conservative evangelical shock preacher Mark Driscoll stirred a hornet’s nest of Christianist hate and Christian outrage with the following…
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My Business, Myself: Piercing the Corporate Veil
Can business owners assert that their free exercise is being burdened when the coverage mandate is imposed not on them, but on their business? Does the for-profit corporation or LLC have religious beliefs of its own? Does General Motors practice religion? If not, do smaller corporations exercise religion? Or are the small businesses really asserting the religious rights of their owners?
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Gun Ownership as Sin—A Strategic, Secular Proposal for Gun Reform
Logic is the key to the story. In this case, once we know how many thousands of Americans are killed by guns each year and know that places with the fewest guns have the fewest murders, it’s only logical to regulate gun ownership and possession. But even the most convincing logic can rarely defeat a rich, emotionally powerfully, historically deep-rooted myth. And the gun control advocates’ progressive myth is depressingly thin and emotionally weak compared to the thick, potent store of myth wielded by their opponents.
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What Makes a Human Bomb Tick?
Western experts, looking for a comprehensible narrative, mistake consistency for fact. The misconceptions are further compounded by how difficult it is to identify a potential suicide—even mental health professionals can get it wrong—and how easy it is to conflate suicide terrorists with regular terrorists, the vast majority of whom don’t strap on bombs, preferring to stay alive and fight.
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Virgins and Vampire Worship: The Religion of Twilight
The plot of Twilight: a young woman—clumsy and plain—is deeply and unconditionally loved and protected by an all-powerful, omnipotent being whose love makes her special. For a moment, Twi-hards let themselves believe, however crazy it sounds, that they too could be irresistibly beautiful one day, loved by an ideal God-man who sees them, really sees them.
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