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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?
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.
Grassroots Faith: The Lessons of The Social Gospel
Religious progressives might be arguing now over whose voices are heard in Washington, but it takes more than an ability to gain an audience with national political elites to spawn a movement; it requires the concerted effort to build a following.
Outrage Outs Closeted Pols Opposed to Gay Rights
Documentarian Kirby Dick maintains that his new film isn’t merely righteous mimicry of tabloid journalism.
Mumbai, Five Months After: Searching for a Coherent Stance on Religious Violence
From Left to Right, observers were quick to equate the Mumbai attacks to 9/11. But in doing so, the Left has tied itself in conceptual knots, for only consistency in the condemnation of religious violence can make for a sustainable response to the Right’s demonization of Islam.
Is Torture Utilitarian?
As politicians argue, and our pragmatist-in-chief tries to find an angle, we can agree that not all moral dilemmas can be reduced to a cost-benefit analysis of pleasure and pain. There are some kinds of pain a morally serious person ought never to inflict.
Ahmadinejad Aside, Anti-Racism Conference Was Deeply Flawed
At the largely symbolic “Durban II” conference, some Islamic states and their allies are busy equating faith with race, conflating religious criticism with bigotry, and fashioning new political cudgels with which to pummel the West.
Response: Gay or Black, It’s Still Church-Sanctioned Discrimination
To deny the parallels between the Civil Rights Movement and the fight for LGBTQ civil rights obscures the fact that the forces opposing both used the Bible and Christianity to do their dirty work.
Post-Modern Progressives, or Liberalism Ain’t What It Used To Be
With whom does one make alliances for the sake of peace in the world? Post-modern progressive theology does not compromise, but neither does it insist on a single truth. In its journey toward justice, it keeps its eye on the practical.
In a recent speech on the the economy, Obama could have stressed biblical justice; instead he opted for a “post-partisan” emphasis on firm foundations and solidarity in common cause.
Will the Real Progressive Christians Please Stand Up?
A walk through recent Christian history—from the rise of evangelicalism, through neo-Orthodoxy, and on to Liberation theology—reveals the roots of the current debate among those who identify as progressives.
Know-Nothing Christians Irate Over Obama Comments
During a profoundly symbolic trip to Turkey the president assured the Muslim nation that America is not a Christian nation, sparking right wing cries that he’s “thrown Christianity under the bus.” The real problem here is the absence of religious literacy among the critics currently speaking in alleged defense of the Christian faith.
Evolution Challenged in “Textbook” Case: As Goes Texas, So Goes the Nation
Opening the door to “junk science,” members of the Texas Board of Education inserted the coded language of creationism. With the second largest textbook budget in the nation, publishers are paying close attention.
Response: Is the Centrist Orthodoxy True?
Mark Silk's recent analysis of the rift between the "prophets" and the "priests" of the left hinges on the assumption that reaching out to centrist evangelicals will help Democrats. But will it?
By The Way: Gay Marriage in Iowa, not California?
To all the breathless detractors of “flyover country,” think about the history of Iowa before expressing shock.
Arguing Liberally: Rift in Religious Coalitions Goes Public
A public row threatens to break out between the DC-based “Religious Industrial Complex,” which seeks new Democratic voters, and a small group of rabble-rousers who claim that they’ve compromised their progressive souls in reaching out to religious conservatives. How did it come to this?
Survey Says: Mainline Clergy Lean Liberal
Conservative clergy and pundits have worked overtime to create the impression that there’s only one “Christian” position on the issues. A new survey proves otherwise.
The New Christianity: What the Mainstream Media Has Missed
To cover a new religious movement, you have to know that the movement exists. An interview with Bruce Wilson.