Daily News Corrects JR Smith’s “Fool[ish]” Slavery/Black Friday Post… Incorrectly
Chalk up the lack of religion in this post to the flurry of planning, cooking…
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His Own Received Him Not: Jimmy Carter, First Evangelical President
Randall Balmer on Jimmy Carter, the role of the president’s faith, and the real reason for the rise of the Religious Right.
Read More‘Open Mosque’ in South Africa Receives Threats; ‘Blood Test’ for ‘Degeneratism’: Global LGBT Recap
Americans Abroad The Human Rights Campaign has launched a social media campaign targeting American religious…
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Religion Comes to its Senses
We taste the bread, we smell the incense; you don’t have to put that down lower because you don’t understand the theological concepts. Don’t feel bad about having an experience involving stained glass windows; that’s not a trivial thing.
Read MoreThe Creepy Surveillance of Elf on a Shelf
Families invite the elves into their homes for the explicit purpose of monitoring children. Yes, this might ensure good behavior between Thanksgiving and Christmas (child psychologistsworry about what happens when parents farm out discipline to Santa). More importantly, these elves teach children that they should expect to be watched even in their own homes.
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Thanksgivukkah, With a Side of Christmas Envy
Thanksgivukkah is a way of being out, loud, and proud—We’re here! We’re Jewish! We eat turkey AND latkes!—but can Jews ever compete with the juggernaut of Christmas?
Read MoreThe Sacramental American Day of Thanks
Secular holidays, actually constituting a quasi-sacred calendar, span the entire year: From New Year’s Day, the King Holiday, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veteran’s Day, and now, at long last, Thanksgiving Day.
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Can Interfaith Dialogue Cure Religious Violence?
I think we should be cautious about attempts to frame the Boston bombings, or for that matter any profound act of violence, mainly as a failure of (or an injunction for) “interfaith cooperation.”
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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.
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Undercover-ed Religion: 13 Stories That Went Missing in 2012
An RD holiday sampler of stories & viewpoints we would have liked to read in 2012.