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Respectability and Its Discontents: Missing the Louche, Loud, and Lovely World of Sexual Outlawry
In this meditation on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots an ordained minister, while eulogizing his own outlawry, notes that God’s goodness is evident in the way in which new and seriously maladjusted queer youth are still rising up to bring new energy and edge to the movement.
Disco-Reggae at Abu Ghraib: Music, the Bible and Torture
What does it mean when a country that likes to proclaim itself a defender of freedom plays a song about liberation to people it is torturing?
Planned Parenthood ‘Stung’ By Lila Rose
Lila Rose, a 20-year-old UCLA student, is taking on Planned Parenthood with a phony story, video equipment, and support from a host of Christian Right media outlets and organizations.
When Medicine and Religion Conflict Around Children: The Case of Daniel Hauser
When Daniel Hauser and his mother, members of new Native American religion the Nemenhah Band, opted out of chemotherapy and fled to Mexico, the media were ready with a religion vs. medicine narrative.
Transforming America’s Israel Lobby
In an excerpt from a new book Dan Fleshler, an American Jewish activist from “the pro-Israel left,” explains the reluctance of Jewish liberals to criticize Israel on the human rights front, even when they share the rest of the world’s objections to Israeli behavior.
Obama’s Notre Dame Commencement: Common Ground on Abortion—Or Appeasement of Foes?
In his address to graduates, Obama urged “common ground” on abortion. The Rev. Dr. Carlton Veazey argues that if you accept that women are full persons in the eyes of God and the law, then you cannot stop working for women’s control over childbearing.
St. Paul the Pacifist: A Christian Response to Torture
In light of a recent finding that evangelical Christians are more likely, statistically, to support the use of torture, a scholar proposes an approach to nonviolence based on the teaching of Christianity’s first theologian.
Distortions Aside, Clergy Support Gay Rights in Surprising Numbers
Recently released results from a survey of mainline clergy reveals that, when policies are portrayed honestly, the number of clergy who support same-sex marriage, adoption, etc., nearly doubles.
The Defense Department Gospel and America’s Desert Crusade
Bush-era intelligence briefings featured cover pages subtitled with decontextualized and misunderstood scripture in deference to the piety of the administration. Where were the Christian and Jewish moderates, and why didn’t they denounce this extremism?
Common Ground: Winning the Battle, Losing the Culture War
Obama’s Notre Dame speech seemed to reinforce the “common ground” school, which adopts Christian Right frames in the name of compromise. But a careful look at the numbers reveals that Democrats have more to gain by articulating a strong moral message—whatever the content—than by watering down the message in an effort to appease conservative Christians.
America, Religious Values, and the Death Penalty; Or, If it Was Good Enough for Jesus and Socrates...
The United States is still using the logic of vengeance in enforcing the death penalty, and it is the only Western country within its primary coalitions to do so. When did it start? How can it end? What is wrong with us?
Death With Dignity: Combatting Religious Opposition to Physician-Assisted Suicide
Modern medicine can prolong the lives of dying people, but in doing so it often prolongs suffering. Do religious arguments against suicide apply in these tragic cases?
Are Christians Theologically Prepared to Accept Torture?
The results of a new Pew survey indicate that going to church increases the likelihood that people will support torture, especially if they are white evangelical Protestants. This is not good news.
RDPulpit: EFCA Needed to Stop Employers from Bearing False Witness
In addition to the direct consequences for workers and their families, one study estimated that for every worker fired, 395 coworkers got the message: attempt to organize and you’ll get fired too.
Ignore the Rod: the Parental Rights Amendment Isn’t About Spanking
The United States is the only nation save Somalia that’s failed to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Armed with a doomsday ten-point plan including the end of spankings and the government preventing parents from bringing kids to church, the force behind the movement to prevent its ratification isn’t just a bunch of strict parents.
Of Values and Viruses: The Challenges for Obama’s New Global AIDS Coordinator
Dr. Eric Goosby, Obama’s pick to run the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS relief, will face the challenge of faith-based opposition to condom distribution, among other difficulties, when he assumes this important position.
Outrage Outs Closeted Pols Opposed to Gay Rights
Documentarian Kirby Dick maintains that his new film isn’t merely righteous mimicry of tabloid journalism.
AIDS Progress is Paradoxical
When you consider the Pope on condoms, a hospital’s failure to follow simple precautions, and the fading of activism, we’re still coming up short in the fight against AIDS. Still, even at the intersection of AIDS and religion, the news ain't all bad.
Double Helix: Religion Requires Memory; Memory-Killing Drugs Inspire Big Questions
A host of experimental new drugs interfere with the process of creating memory, promising to help combat sufferers, addicts and others. But if memory is required for the creation of ethics (and religion) and indeed in the formation of who we are, what effect might these drugs have on our identities?
Talmud v. Torture: The Jewish Case Against “Enhanced Interrogation”
During the Bush Administration, Rabbi Melissa Weintraub wrote a definitive condemnation of torture according to Talmudic teaching and Jewish collective memory. With the release of the CIA “torture memos,” these essays are worth revisiting. And, as Israel celebrates the 61st anniversary of its independence how does the Jewish nation itself stack up to these ideals?