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No Conspiracy Theories Needed: Abortion Foes Cry Racism
In order to attract a different demographic of supporters, the anti-abortion movement has adopted the theory that reproductive freedom is actually a plot to rid America of its black and brown citizens.
Grace Under Pressure: Reclaiming Hope for Progressive Religion
If progressive religious believers are going to provide any kind of witness to our diverse society we must reclaim the idea of “hope” from the realm of politics. Hope, as theology, is not only about finding common purpose, but about liberation.
What in the Name of the Crusades are Tennessee Evangelicals Doing in Kurdish Iraq?
In an exclusive interview, investigative reporter Mike Reynolds uncovers the special relationship between Iraqi Kurds and a group of American evangelicals that practices “spiritual warfare,” harbors a deep animosity toward Islam, and views the region as the evangelistic final frontier.
By the Way: Naming The Religious Right
Leaders of the religious right have recently begun to complain about the various names by which their movement is known. But if the shoe fits...
Change, Not Charity: What Ails the New Left-Right Coalition Against Poverty
The Poverty Forum’s supposedly cross-the-spectrum plan to reduce poverty runs the gamut—from A to B. While it is perpetually depressing to see the Democrats drinking the Kool-Aid of “No Enemies Among The Privileged,” it actually turns the stomach a bit to see faith leaders who claim to care about the poor slurping up the same reality-free brew.
Culture Wars Today, Tomorrow, and Forever?
Undermining Obama; The Haggards Play Oprah; Coral Ridge Ministries Makeover; Focus on the Family turns to plagiarist Tim Goeglein; GOP’s Taliban Fever; and AFA’s Project Push Back.
While it’s great that Obama’s faith-based program addresses nonbelief, without the proper vigilance we’ll simply get superficial “tolerance” of secularists with an assumed theistic backstory.
The Birth of Un-Cool: How Disgusted Liberals Became Neoconservatives
In the same way that actual radicals were chic among left-leaning socialites in the late seventies, NASCAR and pork rinds were a mark of authenticity for conservatives throughout the Bush years. But now some Republicans are rethinking their down-market identities.
You Gotta Have Faith-Based Politics
Even as it talks about inclusion and admits nonbelievers into the ranks of upstanding citizenry, the new administration, like the last one, has a plan to use religion to further its political goals.
A New Theopolitical Order: But What About The Women?
Even as they invite progressive religious groups to the table the leaders of the Democratic party shun religious feminism.
By the Way: A Radically Conservative “Faith-Based Initiative”
Obama’s Bush-era strategy of using taxpayer money for faith-based social services not only risks infusing politics into religion, but also denies religious groups their traditional responsibility for caring for those in need—with their own funds.
A New Thing: On the Quest for a Biblical Politics
While both progressives and conservatives seek confirmation of their politics in the bible, how does one derive a political outlook from a text with few parallels to the political context in which we live? In other words, how do you ask “What would Jesus do?” when the one thing Jesus couldn’t do was vote?
For several weeks a debate has been taking place between an author of a document seeking to “end the culture wars” and the editor of a collection of essays on the Religious Left. In this installment the editor responds to criticisms and details their divergent goals.
Ideology is More Than Skin Deep: Why I Can’t Get Along To Go Along
The differences among religious folk in this country—once these issues make their way into politics—manifest in real divisions of money and power and security. To think that these conflicts can be resolved with mild-mannered compromises between Third Way and centrist evangelicals underestimates their importance.
Conservative Black Preacher Leads Crusade Against Hate Crimes Legislation
Bishop Harry Jackson, the African American head of the High Impact Leadership Coalition, has raised his profile by joining with top-shelf Religious Right groups in opposing gay rights and the inclusion of gays in hate crimes legislation.
Obama and the Unbelievers: The Future of Secularism
The presidential inauguration showed that an enforceable wall of separation between church and state simply does not exist in America, at least at the level of expression in the public square. What is the future of secularism in our religious democracy?
Obama’s civil religion, like JFK’s and Bush’s before him, emphasizes the connection between God and American ideals. But Obama spoke not of “endowed rights” but of “God-given promise.” Rights are inherent in the creature while promises are to be fulfilled.
Women Are Not “Pork”
The Democratic leadership caved in to conservative Republicans on family planning this week. The opposition for the religious right goes back to the historic rupture between sex and reproduction in the 20th century.
Come Let Us Reason Together: A Response to Critics of Evangelical/Progressive Initiative
“Come Let Us Reason Together,” which focused on building bridges between white evangelicals and progressives, unleashed strong criticism from the religious left, much of which challenged the initiative’s definition of "progressive." Robert P. Jones, an adviser to CLURT, responds.
Shhh...Don't Speak of Abortion: Roe v. Wade at Thirty-Six
Recent efforts to reach a compromise between evangelicals and liberals have managed to avoid the discussion of abortion altogether. The fact remains: according to many clergy representing millions of Americans of all faiths and denominations, the moral reality of women’s lives is that sometimes abortion is the best moral choice.