Happy Samhain
Image: SunnyHill.org
Read moreCategory Archives: Religion
Infographic: how religious is the United States government?
Jesus is coming. Let’s vote.
Read moreStewart Hoover on Pope Francis and the Roman Catholic Church: give it a read
Ross Douthat misses the point: the institution of the church is no longer central to the practice of religion It wasn’t long after I entered my doctoral program some 20 years ago that professors and fellow students alike noticed in me a certain proclivity for polemic and outright cage-rattling. My instinctive tendency to leaven insight with attitude was on display
Read morePope Francis: I can’t believe the Cardinals haven’t murdered the crazy bastard yet
Progressive reformer can’t be what the College of Cardinals expected… I don’t traditionally care for popes. The Roman Catholic Church has this really long history of promoting oppression and corruption and ignorance, and there’s the whole pedophilia thing, too. I’m hard pressed to think of an organization that done more raw damage in the entirety of recorded history, and that
Read moreThe New Constitution: comprehensive statement of principles (draft)
The original plan when we began this project was to offer the amendments individually, invite discussion, then produce a final document. The course of the process, though, has made a couple things clear. First, there needs to be a period to discuss the entire document in context, and second, while the original “Bill of Rights” approach perhaps had a certain
Read moreReligionWeek: The problem with “faith”
This post originally ran on June 6, 2011, and is being reprinted as part of S&R’s ReligionWeek series. Well, Tim Tebow’s new memoir is out, and it’s being joyously welcomed by those who think that sanctimonious 23 year-old jocks have something important to say about life. I got to hear some deep thoughts on the book and on the admirable
Read moreStrange bedfellows: atheists and new agers and Christians, oh my
Some time back I queried my network of Facebook friends with a tricky question: is it possible to be both spiritual and atheist? The discussion thread was intelligent and beyond fascinating, yielding a wide range of answers. There was a yes or two, a no or two, and quite a few it depends and qualified maybes. Ultimately I think it all
Read moreExodus International shuts its doors: Alan Chambers to promote “safe, welcoming, and mutually transforming communities”
Back in February I declared V-LGBT Day, saying that “the battle for marriage equality is over.” There had been a lot of significant pro-equity activity, including a huge number of corporations and influential organizations coming down publicly against the Defense of Marriage Act and several prominent GOP defections from the homophobia camp. The last couple of days have seen two
Read moreKomen Foundation circling the drain? Good riddance, and good news for cancer research
The Susan Komen Foundation announced this past week that it’s slashing the number of cancer walks it stages in half. In a decision “not made lightly,” the Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure announced Wednesday that it was canceling seven of its signature three-day fundraising walks next year. The decision comes about 18 months after the organization stoked considerable
Read moreAtheists in heaven? Vatican spin machine leaps into action
Remember back in the ’80s when Ronald Reagan would ramble on in front of a crowd, saying all kinds of crazy shit? And immediately after, the reporters would turn to his handlers, who would explain that the president hadn’t said what he just said, that he had in fact said the exact opposite? That’s where the term “spin” came from,
Read moreUPDATED: Pope Francis says atheists can go to heaven: Sweet Jesus! The College of Cardinals done elected a hippie
Did you hear what the Pope said? No, seriously. DID. YOU. HEAR? In impromptu remarks made during yesterday’s Mass in his residence, Pope Francis shocked many by declaring that atheists can be just as good as Catholics if they “do good.” Referencing a passage from the Gospel of Mark in his homily, the Pope recounted the story of a priest
Read moreBoston Marathon bombing: can we at least speculate logically?
The speculation began before the smoke cleared: who was responsible for Monday’s terror attack at the Boston Marathon? What was their motive? Not only is it human to speculate, it’s just about impossible for us not to. We’re inherently theoretical animals, constantly seeking more informed and reliable ways of understanding and explaining (and predicting) how the world works. (Well, most of
Read moreThe devil is in the details: WHICH Christianity are we making the official state religion, exactly?
Legislators in North Carolina recently introduced a bill to make Christianity the official state religion. That bill has now been turfed, but we can probably expect similar moves in the future. An Omnibus Poll, sponsored by YouGov.com and the Huffington Post, reveals just how far from the nation’s roots we have traveled on the subject of separating church and state
Read moreSt. Patrick’s Day: wearing o’ the black
In a very real way, the celebration of St. Patrick is a celebration of cultural genocide.
Read moreTim Tebow decides to do the right thing for professional reasons (but reserves the right to do the wrong thing later when nobody is paying attention)
I was reading the Internets today and guess what? – our boy Timmy is back in the news. New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow has decided to cancel his appearance at a Dallas church that is led by a pastor, Robert Jeffress, who has been criticized for his remarks about gays and other faiths. Tebow sent out a series of tweets
Read more
lullaby pit 