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# ARC: Religion, Politics, Et Cetera

Religion, Politics, Et Cetera

## Sitemaps

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## Posts

- [The Settler Colonial Roots of American Religion](https://arcmag.org/the-settler-colonial-roots-of-american-religion/) - Tisa Wenger teaches American religious history at Yale Divinity School. She is the author of three books, including We Have a Religion: The 1920s Pueblo Indian Dance Controversy and American Religious Freedom (University of North Carolina Press, 2009) and Religious Freedom: The Contested History of an American Ideal (University of North Carolina Press, 2017). Her
- [The Real Problem with Romantasy](https://arcmag.org/the-real-problem-with-romantasy/) - Romantasy dominates the U.S. fiction market. Its blend of love story and fantastical adventure has raked in hundreds of millions of dollars for writers and publishers over the past three years, with authors such as Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros achieving record-breaking sales. At first, commentators wrote it off as a tacky byproduct of
- [A Plague on Both Your Houses](https://arcmag.org/a-plague-on-both-your-houses/) - In July of 1862, Henry McNeal Turner published “The Plagues of This Country” in the Christian Recorder newspaper. Turner, born free in South Carolina in 1834, was a Methodist minister who would be appointed by the U.S. Army as the first African American chaplain in the United States Colored Troops the following year. In the
- [Home Movies for Holy Week](https://arcmag.org/home-movies-for-holy-week/) - During the Western Christian Holy Week of 2026, how might churchgoers repent of Christian Nationalism? How to reckon with menacing forms of Christian-ish Americana, from sea to shining sea? I have been writing about mainstream Protestantism in the U.S. for decades, and I recommend a regional accounting. Rather than encompass all Christian-adjacent contexts across this
- [Pain Is God](https://arcmag.org/pain-is-god/) - Joey was coarse and violent and possessed of a certain harsh wisdom and when I asked him in the tattoo shop how my pal Liza was doing, I hadn’t seen her in a while, he shot me a hard look, impatient and pained, before answering. Joey knew Liza as a mom, a friend, a woman
- [The Rise of “Liam”](https://arcmag.org/the-rise-of-liam/) - Forty years ago, “Liam” was the kind of name American tongues stumbled over. Too Irish, too foreign, too inconvenient. Now it is the most popular boys’ name in the country. That arc, from unpronounceable to unavoidable, says something about how America absorbs difference, and about the people it still refuses to fully absorb. In this,
- [A Tribute to Workers, Written in Chalk ](https://arcmag.org/a-tribute-to-workers-written-in-chalk/) - When my daughter Josie was seven, she became obsessed with a battered paperback in her school library. It was an illustrated novel for children about the Triangle Factory Fire. (I know, who the heck writes an illustrated novel for children about the Triangle Factory Fire?) Josie is now 24. I asked her the other day
- [Who Will Save You from the ‘Cult’?](https://arcmag.org/who-will-save-you-from-the-cult/) - Elise can’t stop digging. In the new Australian horror flick Diabolic, released in February, the protagonist is possessed—literally by a witch, but also by the memories she has repressed of her childhood in Warren Jeffs’s polygamous group, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or FLDS. To heal from her childhood trauma in
- [The Population Panic, Then and Now](https://arcmag.org/the-population-panic-then-and-now/) - His prediction is everywhere, dominating the zeitgeist: current birth rates will lead to the end of civilization. Fertility rates keep getting worse. Mass famine and economic collapse are coming. I could be describing Elon Musk, who famously believes “low birthrates will end civilization,” or I could equally well be describing Paul Ehrlich, who died on
- [James Talarico, Man for a Different Moment?](https://arcmag.org/an-answer-to-the-religious-right/) - Earlier this month, in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat from Texas, 36-year-old state representative James Talarico defeated congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. Among liberals, his victory set off a wave of euphoria. Among conservatives, it triggered responses ranging from “bring it on!” to mild concern to what Buzzfeed deemed a “complete meltdown” from Donald
- [Whatever Happened to American Jewish Liberalism?](https://arcmag.org/whatever-happened-to-american-jewish-liberalism/) - Since the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks and the start of Israel’s war in Gaza, the annual “State of World Jewry” address at 92Y—the New York City cultural center that used to be known, before its zippy rebranding, as the 92nd Street Y—has exclusively featured neoconservative commentators: Bari Weiss in 2024, Dan Senor in 2025,
- [Blaming the Left for Jihadism Gets it Backwards](https://arcmag.org/blaming-the-left-for-jihadism-gets-it-backwards/) - In the aftermath of the Bondi Beach massacre on Dec. 14, 2025, when a father and son inspired by ISIS murdered 15 Hanukkah celebrants in Sydney, Australia, some observers—particularly on the political right—rushed to assign blame not only to the perpetrators, but to “the left.” Their argument takes several familiar forms: that progressive politics have
- [It’s Thomas Pynchon’s America](https://arcmag.org/its-thomas-pynchons-america/) - Ever since V. was published in 1963, novelist Thomas Pynchon has been operating in a dark funhouse of American paranoia. His books are dispatches from places where weird, unnerving, and incredible things are commonplace. From V. to The Crying of Lot 49 to his first masterpiece, Gravity’s Rainbow, through to his second masterpiece, Mason &
- [The Crack-Up](https://arcmag.org/the-crack-up/) - I left the dying capital for the dead one, New York City for Vilnius, to do three related things. First, cover a conference, part of the centenary celebrations of the world’s preeminent organization for the study and preservation of Yiddish; second, consider the relationship between these two cities, one the fading center of postwar Jewish
- [How “The Pitt” Got Muslim-Jewish Relations Wrong](https://arcmag.org/how-the-pitt-got-muslim-jewish-relations-wrong/) - The HBO show The Pitt, about a fictional emergency room in Pittsburgh, is TV so good that it feels un-American to point out its shortcomings. Dissecting the accents of the nurses to see if any of them really nail the famous “yinzer” patois (not really) is like expressing disappointment in a small-town parade, or the
- [The Lord's PT](https://arcmag.org/the-lords-pt/) - Bill Bartz is a Greek Orthodox priest and retired Navy chaplain. Despite spending the last five years of his career as the most senior Orthodox priest in the entire U.S. military, he has the down-to-earth manner of an old salt that puts you at your ease. It’s not hard to see how the retired captain
- [Inventing the American Moses](https://arcmag.org/inventing-the-american-moses/) - In April 1889, New York food merchants offered the Jewish community a special pre-Passover deal: for every ten pounds of matzah purchased, customers would receive a free picture of George Washington. That year, the festival coincided with a nationwide celebration marking the centennial of the inauguration of America’s first president, long considered the United States’s
- [The Neocons’ Original Sin](https://arcmag.org/the-neocons-original-sin/) - On Jan. 17, the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches of Jerusalem, an assembly of Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox leaders in Jerusalem, released a statement referring to Christian Zionism as a “damaging ideolog[y].” The statement ricocheted around social media and drew special attention from the Catholic corner of the podcast ecosystem. The Daily Wire’s
- [A Jew, a Christian, and a Buddhist Walk into a Hurricane](https://arcmag.org/a-jew-a-christian-and-a-buddhist-walk-into-a-hurricane/) - Six large flat-screen televisions dangle from the ceiling of the First Baptist Church of Patchogue in Long Island, where, on a recent morning in November, hundreds have taken to the pews for a daylong training called “Sharing Hope in Crisis.” A project of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, the training’s aim is to assist Christians
- [The Qur’an, for the Love of Christ!](https://arcmag.org/the-quran-for-the-love-of-christ/) - As a Baptist minister who wants to talk about Islamophobia—indeed, feels called to talk about Islamophobia—I always search for hard evidence. I want to help fellow Christians understand that I’m talking about more than anecdotes, and more than vibes. And one of the best-regarded instruments for measuring systemic Islamophobia is the National American Islamophobia Index,
- [There Is No Religious Revival](https://arcmag.org/there-is-no-religious-revival/) - The Harvard Catholic Center wrapped up 2025 with huge news: the number of potential converts coming through its doors had doubled from the previous year. According to The Wall Street Journal “Free Expression” newsletter, the HCC is “booming,” dynamic proof that the kids are looking for something to believe in. The WSJ was only the latest
- [This Blue Marble, Lost in Space](https://arcmag.org/this-blue-marble-lost-in-space/) - On December 7, 1972, some five hours and 18,000 miles away from the Earth, traveling at more than 16,000 feet per second on the outbound leg of the Apollo 17 mission to the moon, astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt pointed a 70-millimeter Hasselblad Data Camera back at the Earth and—though the crew was not scheduled to
- [God Against the Algorithm](https://arcmag.org/god-against-the-algorithm/) - Four years ago, when I was a college freshman, a dear friend and I agreed to delete TikTok from our phones for two weeks to see what might happen. I never downloaded the app again. It took those two weeks for me to start to realize how much I had been missing in the world
- [Can Liberal Zionism Survive Gaza?](https://arcmag.org/can-liberal-zionism-survive-gaza/) - With some distance from the world-historical catastrophe that is October 7 and the destruction of Gaza, it is reasonable to assert that this moment poses a singularly great challenge to liberal Zionism, the idea that Israel can be both a Jewish and pluralistic, democratic state. The origin of liberal Zionism is itself a separate subject.
- [You and Not You](https://arcmag.org/you-and-not-you/) - Late in Saul Bellow’s novel The Adventures of Augie March, the title character looks to an older mentor for guidance. “You will understand, Mr. Mintouchian, if I tell you that I have always tried to become what I am,” Augie says. “But it’s a frightening thing. Because what if what I am by nature isn’t
- [The Book that Remade America](https://arcmag.org/the-book-that-remade-america/) - Norman Podhoretz, who died this week at the age of 95, was the last of the “New York Intellectuals,” that cohort of brilliant, mouthy, anti-Stalinist, mid-century writers and critics who clustered around little magazines like Partisan Review, Commentary, and, later, Dissent. He was also the last of the OG members of that overlapping group of
- [A Consecrated Virgin Tells All](https://arcmag.org/a-consecrated-virgin-tells-all/) - Since 2020, celibacy has emerged as a formidable dating and romance trend, particularly for young women. Celebrities including Drew Barrymore, Julia Fox, Tiffany Haddish, and former Playboy model Jordan Emanuel have all come out of the woodwork to declare their abstinence, while women have posted Reddit screeds about the benefits of going without sex. In
- [Pope Leo's AI Moment](https://arcmag.org/pope-leos-ai-moment/) - Last October, about fifty representatives from academia, think tanks, and the tech industry gathered in Vatican City to take up a charge issued by Pope Leo XIV four months prior: to help the church “contribute to a serene and informed discussion of [the] pressing questions” raised by the sudden pervasiveness of artificial intelligence. At conference’s
- [How Big Is the God Gap on College Campuses?](https://arcmag.org/how-big-is-the-god-gap-on-college-campuses/) - It’s the most important feature of American religion and politics that I wish more people understood: the God Gap. Simply put, religious people tend to gravitate toward a conservative political ideology and tend to favor the Republican Party on election day. Among the non-religious, it’s just the opposite—they are more apt to say that they
- [A New Direction in Vatican Diplomacy?](https://arcmag.org/a-new-direction-in-vatican-diplomacy/) - Pope Leo XIV’s recent statement in response to the U.S. military intervention in Venezuela likely left both its supporters and opponents unsatisfied. Pope Leo called for the “good of the beloved Venezuelan people” to be a priority, with guarantees for “the sovereignty of the country” and “special attention to the poorest.” Unsurprisingly, he did not
- [The Neglected Master](https://arcmag.org/the-neglected-master/) - In 2006, Samuel Menashe became the first recipient of the Poetry Foundation of Chicago’s short-lived and oddly conceived Neglected Masters’ Award. Even on its face, the Neglected Masters prize was a bizarre award—as David Orr at The New York Times noted, “[t]his is what you might call the Prize for Not Getting Enough Prizes.” As
- [A Conversation with Nathan Silver](https://arcmag.org/a-conversation-with-nathan-silver/) - Between the Temples was the summer’s feel-good movie—assuming a film about a widowed, depressed cantor (Jason Schwartzman) who has lost his voice and who falls in love with his elderly bat mitzvah student (Carol Kane) is the kind of movie that makes you feel good. It reminded me—as it reminds everyone—of Harold and Maude, but
- [Wherever He Laid His Hat Was His Home](https://arcmag.org/wherever-he-laid-his-hat-was-home/) - Joshua Leifer is a doctoral student at Yale and a journalist with a long history of writing for progressive and left-wing publications like +972 and Jewish Currents. He has recently had some public quarrels with old comrades on the left, above all about the left’s response to the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Jewish
- [What Does the New Right Really Want?](https://arcmag.org/what-does-the-new-right-really-want/) - The midtown offices of the magazine First Things are guarded by a chocolate brown dachshund named Mabel. The dog’s yappy ferocity is matched by the tenderness it displays while playing with one of the editor’s children, an adorable red-headed boy Mabel nudges in exchange for belly rubs. The office Mabel guards is decorated according to
- [Jesse Eisenberg Is Homeward Bound](https://arcmag.org/jesse-eisenberg-is-homeward-bound/) - A few minutes into A Real Pain, Jesse Eisenberg’s latest film, cousins David and Benji Kaplan are checking into their hotel in Poland for a Holocaust history tour, whereupon Benji retrieves a small parcel he shipped there in advance—some weed. With that we’re off on the uneasy journey of two American Jewish millennials in Poland,
- [American Demons](https://arcmag.org/american-demons/) - There are two narratives of the conservative Christian writer Rod Dreher that I hold in creative tension. One is that he is in touch with something deep in both himself and the culture that leads to insights that a secular liberal like me will always miss. From his first book, 2006’s Crunchy Cons, to his
- [Still Talking](https://arcmag.org/still-talking/) - It’s a friendship begun in grief. Najla Said, an actress, writer, and the daughter of the late scholar and Columbia professor Edward Said, posted about someone who had "ghosted" her. The impact, she noted in the post, was outsized, an unexpectedly strong reaction she attributed to the death of her father seven years before. “Dying
- [Say Something](https://arcmag.org/say-something/) - The political violence, sectarian animosity, and nationalist struggle that gripped Northern Ireland from the late 1960s to 1998 goes by a soft-sounding euphemism: “the Troubles.” But it’s a fittingly quiet term, given the code of silence practiced by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and a broader regional silence that has allowed atrocities to remain covered
- [“A Specifically Christian State”](https://arcmag.org/a-specifically-christian-state/) - Most historians agree that the separation of church and state is what allowed a flourishing of religious pluralism in the United States. Without a state religion, Americans are largely free to pursue their own practices and beliefs free of government interference. The good sense of this approach has also become a de facto doctrine of
- [Geraldine Brooks Is a Widow Now](https://arcmag.org/geraldine-brooks-is-a-widow-now/) - How to create space for grief in a society that expects individuals to be available 24/7, to be endlessly on and energetic, to be in a constant state of “productivity,” whatever that may mean? For writers like Geraldine Brooks and her late husband Tony Horwitz, it means getting the words on the page, whatever else
- [“A Thoroughly MAGA-fied Party”](https://arcmag.org/a-thoroughly-maga-fied-party/) - One of the most interesting and articulate of the never-Trump Republicans—or, rather, ex-Republicans—is Pete Wehner, a longtime Republican official and speechwriter who is deeply disturbed by what the party has become. Last December, I interviewed him about his party, the future, his Christian faith, talk radio, and more. Since that time, he has begun running
- [On the Use and Abuse of Christianity for Life](https://arcmag.org/on-the-use-and-abuse-of-christianity-for-life/) - Julius Krein is the founder of American Affairs, a journal that since its debut in 2017 has envisioned, largely through wonkish, graph-heavy articles on the arcana of industrial policy, what the possibilities might be for a rational version of economic nationalism. Trump’s re-election and omnidirectional tariff campaign have made such thinking both more urgent and
- [The Real Housewives of Church History](https://arcmag.org/the-real-housewives-of-church-history/) - In most job interviews, asking candidates’ wives if they will prioritize their husband’s career, contribute unpaid labor to the organization, and have children would be downright absurd, but for some evangelical churches, it’s the norm. Baylor University historian Beth Allison Barr is a pastor’s wife whose latest book, Becoming the Pastor’s Wife (Brazos, 2025), unpacks
- [Can Zohran Mamdani Reverse Ultra-Orthodox Jews’ Drift Towards the Far Right?](https://arcmag.org/can-zohran-mamdani-reverse-ultra-orthodox-jews-drift-towards-the-far-right/) - If you looked at the diversity of New Yorkers present at Zohran Mamdani’s November 4 victory party, Haredi rabbis Moshe Indig and Moshe Hoffman didn’t look too out of place. Having endorsed Mamdani just two days before the election, Indig—a prominent Williamsburg, Brooklyn, askan (activist) from the Satmar Hasidic community’s Ahronite branch—understood that his presence
- [God’s Indie Rock](https://arcmag.org/gods-indie-rock/) - There’s a hidden canon of music that belongs neither to the category of “Christian rock” nor to that of “mainstream indie,” but to a strange and sacred in-between, a liminal space where indie musicians confront the divine in unexpected, unorthodox ways. These aren’t praise songs or altar calls, but deeply personal reckonings: with faith, with
- [Progressives aren't embracing religious freedom. Here's their chance to change that.](https://arcmag.org/progressives-arent-embracing-religious-freedom-heres-their-chance-to-change-that/) - At least in the public’s mind, conservative Christians are the standard bearers of religious freedom; a 2023 Pew Research Center survey found that 64 percent of respondents, regardless of political ideology, associate religious liberty cases primarily with Christian concerns. The case of Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections, which was argued on November 10, should
- [Psychedelics and Spirituality: A Primer](https://arcmag.org/psychedelics-and-spirituality-a-primer/) - Even as a child, I was interested in spirituality. Not in those exact words, of course, but I was always a little weird: an introvert, I was happy to play alone and invent worlds. I disliked formal religion and loathed religious school, but I’ve had some sense of the sacred for as long as I
- [Zoning Islam Out](https://arcmag.org/zoning-islam-out/) - On October 24, after a seven-year dispute that—depending on whom you ask—was either about traffic or Islamophobia in the majority-Christian town of Oyster Bay, N.Y., local officials finally agreed to allow a mosque to expand. And while this battle, played out in the suburbs of Long Island, is now resolved, some see it as typical
- [“Silent Night,” Jewish Flight?](https://arcmag.org/silent-night-jewish-flight/) - I loved my high school December choral concert. After banalities like “Winter Wonderland” and “Jingle Bells,” we performed a snazzy medley of Christmas carols, and the jazz choir always ended the evening with a fresh arrangement of “Silent Night.” Just like at my church’s Christmas Eve service, the last words anyone heard were “Christ the
- [Huddled Masses, Yearning to Spin Dreidels](https://arcmag.org/huddled-masses-yearning-to-spin-dreidels/) - Before she had Lady Liberty “lift my lamp beside the golden door” as she welcomed those “huddled masses yearning to breathe free”—to quote “The New Colossus,” inscribed on a plaque at the Statue of Liberty—Emma Lazarus drew inspiration from earlier bearers of light. In 1882, she published two poems celebrating the Maccabean warriors whose courage
- [The End of Jewish Belonging](https://arcmag.org/the-end-of-jewish-belonging/) - Jewish people have been part of Australia since its very beginning. When the First Fleet arrived in 1788, carrying convicts from England, among the 1,400 prisoners were at least six Jews. From that moment on, Jewish life has been woven into the fabric of this country. My own ancestors came here during the Ballarat goldrush
- [Godly Persuasion](https://arcmag.org/godly-persuasion/) - Books of Christian apologetics have often sold well in evangelical circles. Works by Lee Strobel and the late Tim Keller have risen to the top of The New York Times bestseller list because evangelicals, and other conservative Christians, want reassurance that their faith has a basis in reason. Keller and Strobel drew on data from
- [CrossFit and the Frontier Spirit](https://arcmag.org/crossfit-and-the-frontier-spirit/) - The fitness regimen CrossFit was created in 2001, using the internet to give out free daily workouts. From the beginning, it was built on a survivalist, militaristic approach. CrossFit claims to train participants as if they were Navy SEALs preparing for disaster, war, or the apocalypse, and it names special workouts after soldiers who have
- [After Secularism](https://arcmag.org/after-secularism/) - The March 3, 2008, issue of The Daily Princetonian announced that the dean of religious life, Alison Boden, planned a search for Princeton University’s first Muslim and Hindu chaplains. Princeton’s decision to hire a more diverse group of chaplains, made a few months before the announcement, reflected much that was happening on college campuses in
- [The Long Road to Nebraska](https://arcmag.org/the-long-road-to-nebraska/) - When Bruce Springsteen released Nebraska in 1982—an album that is an excoriating journey into Springsteen’s past and the American psyche—he insisted that the record stand on its own: there were no tour dates, no interviews, no publicity press, just the album hitting the shelves. The fanfare has come now, four decades later. The renewed attention
- [Why Bother with “Interfaith Dialogue”?](https://arcmag.org/why-bother-with-interfaith-dialogue/) - In the 1960s, as large interfaith coalitions marched on Washington for civil rights and as the Vatican issued Nostra Aetate, rejecting the idea of Jewish guilt for Jesus’ death and encouraging Jewish-Christian dialogue, one towering figure of American Jewry sought not dialogue but distance. Joseph B. Soloveitchik (1903–1993), known as “the Rav,” argued that Jews should
- [Taxpayer-Funded Discrimination?](https://arcmag.org/taxpayer-funded-discrimination/) - In 2024, Equality Australia, one of the country’s leading LGBTIQ+ advocacy organizations, released a national report detailing stories from teachers, parents and students who had faced discrimination inside Australia’s faith-based schools. One teacher was dismissed after coming out. A female student was told she could not bring her girlfriend to the school formal. Another child
- [The Sinful Suburbs](https://arcmag.org/the-sinful-suburbs/) - Unlike rural and urban areas, suburbia is predicated on something unnatural and slightly diabolical: it is determined to suppress being in relationship with other people and reality itself. Such a determined effort to erase friction with everything outside your head requires the propagation of terrifyingly bureaucratic (and totalitarian) systems of power. Is it any wonder
- [Peter Thiel’s Surprisingly Simple Antichrist](https://arcmag.org/peter-thiels-surprisingly-simple-antichrist/) - It was, admittedly, not a great reveal. Under the shroud of secrecy—no streaming, no phones, $200 tickets—Silicon Valley Svengali Peter Thiel, the billionaire co-founder of PayPal and Palantir (among others), investor in Founders Fund and Facebook, convenor of “Hereticon” and other Silicon Valley heterodox gatherings, and patron to the sitting vice president, gave four lectures
- [Vilna and New York City](https://arcmag.org/vilna-and-new-york-city/) - To the editor: David Sugarman’s piece is interesting for a historian of American Jews because of its personal character and insight into one rather odd take on New York City. Vilna or Vilnius and New York City are not really comparable. New York City’s one million Jews are not fading (keep in mind that there
- [Justify Your Love](https://arcmag.org/justify-your-love/) - For J.D. The ongoing and escalating debate among many Jews in America considering what I am calling the collapse of the Zionist consensus in the aftermath of the war on Gaza often lands on the question of “love of Israel.” Do you love Israel? I love Israel. You don’t love Israel. I recall hearing that
- [White Republicans, Democratic “Nones”](https://arcmag.org/white-republicans-democratic-nones/) - The political parties in the United States are incredibly different from each other. I think we all know that. There are many vectors to explain this divergence. Certainly race plays a role. Republicans are a whole lot more white than Democrats. There’s the geographic divide. The GOP is a party of rural America, and the
- [Move Fast and Kill All Humans](https://arcmag.org/move-fast-and-kill-all-humans/) - Ever since he was a kid, Eliezer Yudkowsky wanted to save the world. A precocious teenager, a self-described “genius,” Yudkowsky skipped high school and college to devote himself to trying to bring into existence artificial superintelligence (ASI)—that is, smarter-than-human machines that, he hoped, would have the power to make themselves even smarter, in ways mere
- [Zohran Mamdani Is Not Muslim Enough](https://arcmag.org/zohran-mamdani-is-not-muslim-enough/) - While chatting with a group of younger millennials after Mass at a Catholic church in Brooklyn recently, the topic of the upcoming New York City mayoral election came up. One young, devout mother, holding an infant in one arm and pushing a carriage with a toddler in the other, complained that her biggest issue with
- [Identity as Burden, Identity as Grace](https://arcmag.org/identity-as-burden-identity-as-grace/) - One of the central tensions of American life thrums in the double meaning of “identity.” On the one hand, the word refers to a unique, irreplaceable, individual self, which we are summoned constantly to reveal and cherish. On the other, “identity” refers to the demographic categories by which we are linked to other examples of
- [Converting the Deep State](https://arcmag.org/converting-the-deep-state/) - In early September, Fox News published a report from the Justice Department’s Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias focused on allegations of such bias “within the federal government.” Within two hours, the State Department promoted Fox’s story on official social media, adding, “Our nation was founded on the recognition that moral virtue and steadfast faith
- [The Connector](https://arcmag.org/the-connector/) - An intellectual yenta. That’s what Leah Libresco Sargeant said when I asked her how she understands her vocation. Properly speaking, yenta is Yiddish for a gossip or busybody—and maybe she sees some of that in herself, too—but some people use it to mean “connector,” and that’s what she is. Over the last fifteen years, Sargeant,
- [More Than Zero](https://arcmag.org/more-than-zero/) - For American Jews, the past decade has been something between a wake-up call and a nightmare: the 2017 march in Charlottesville, where tiki torch–bearing marchers chanted “Jews will not replace us.” The 2019 massacre at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. The hostages in Coleyville, Texas. Not to mention the very troubling responses, often callous
- [From a Wild World to the Straight Path](https://arcmag.org/from-a-wild-world-to-the-straight-path/) - Long before the folk legend Cat Stevens became Yusuf Islam, he was Steven Georgiou, the London-born son of a Greek Cypriot father and a Swedish mother. He adopted the name Cat Stevens in 1966 as he rose to fame in the 1960s and ’70s folk-pop scene. Following his conversion to Islam in 1978, he took
- [The Christian Nationalist Rewriting American History](https://arcmag.org/the-christian-nationalist-rewriting-american-history/) - Idaho pastor Douglas Wilson is having a moment. The 72-year-old Christian nationalist was recently the subject of a CNN story. He just planted a church in Washington, D.C. The secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, is a disciple. In the age of Trump, Christian nationalists like Wilson, who once presided over a fringe wing of American
- [The Mind of MAGA](https://arcmag.org/the-mind-of-maga/) - Fifteen years ago, Yoram Hazony was a medium-size star in the small constellation of conservative Jewish intellectuals. He was provost of the Shalem Center in Jerusalem, a conservative think tank he had founded in the nineties, and headed up its Institute for Advanced Study. He taught Jewish and conservative ideas to college-aged students during semester
- [Teaching “Hamlet” to Conservatives](https://arcmag.org/teaching-hamlet-to-conservatives/) - Only a small sliver of the students who attend the University of Austin (henceforth UATX) already care about writing. True in any school, perhaps, but in other schools, there are many students interested in writing-adjacent things: other arts, like dance, or critical disciplines engaged with art, such as art history. UATX disproportionately draws young people
- [Ahead of Their Time](https://arcmag.org/ahead-of-their-time/) - Cameron Awkward-Rich first got national notice for reading aloud his early poems, on stage and on videos: my students, years ago, showed me those videos as dramatic introductions to trans and asexual identities. He then got attention for poems that fit well on the page, concise elegant verse about growing up Black, coming out as
- [An Exodus from History](https://arcmag.org/an-exodus-from-history/) - Solace comes from strange places. In the wake of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, I found mine in a once-famous novelist who sold millions of books in the 1960s but is largely forgotten today, a hyper-Zionist whose romantic views of Israel bear little resemblance to the grim realities of today: Leon Uris.
- [Some of the News That’s Fit to Print](https://arcmag.org/some-of-the-news-thats-fit-to-print/) - Adam Valen Levinson yearned to learn Arabic. He did and wrote about it in The Abu Dhabi Bar Mitzvah: Fear and Love in the Modern Middle East. His publisher, W.W. Norton, successfully placed an excerpt in Literary Hub, the website widely known as LitHub. The excerpt ran on Dec. 7, 2017. It begins with Levinson—who
- [Boys Line Up on the Right, Girls on the Left](https://arcmag.org/boys-line-up-on-the-right-girls-on-the-left/) - Let me start off by saying that I got the inspiration for this data exercise from reading Dan Cox’s excellent newsletter American Storylines. It was specifically his post from March 20, “The Gender Gap in Church is Growing.” Dan took from the Pew Religious Landscape study four questions that focused on social issues and demonstrated
- [Between the Covers](https://arcmag.org/between-the-covers/) - Instead of running a traditional review of Ilana Kurshan’s Children of the Book: A Memoir of Reading Together (St. Martin’s, 2025), I invited four fellow parents to discuss it with me, to have a kind of virtual book club. My fellow book clubbers are Molly Worthen, University of North Carolina professor, Arc contributor, and author
- [Seeing through Fog](https://arcmag.org/seeing-through-fog/) - To reach the basilica at the top of Monte Santa Luzia, which overlooks the Portuguese city of Viana do Castelo and a sizable portion of the Iberian coast, you can either climb six hundred and sixty stone steps, or ride a funicular etched into the mountain in 1923. After flying four thousand miles and walking
- [The Eugenics Roots of Evangelical Family Values](https://arcmag.org/the-eugenics-roots-of-evangelical-family-values/) - Beth Moore is still making waves. On April 7, soon after announcing her departure from the Southern Baptist Convention, she took to Twitter to proclaim complementarianism “a doctrine of MAN” and to beg forgiveness for supporting the theology of male headship. “I could not see it for what it was until 2016,” she wrote. (Moore
- [Peter Beinart After Gaza](https://arcmag.org/peter-beinart-after-gaza/) - Nearly ten years ago, I sat in the audience at the 92nd Street Y in New York City for a conversation among a handful of prominent Jewish leaders and intellectuals, all men. The hour-plus affair was given the ever-green billing: “What’s Next for Israel?” It took place in June 2015, three months after Congressional Republicans
- [An Online Oklahoma Charter School Might Upend Public Education in America](https://arcmag.org/an-online-oklahoma-charter-school-might-upend-public-education-in-america/) - The Catholic school at the heart of what may become the most consequential court decision regarding American public education in decades is named for the patron saint of the internet, and takes that mission seriously. St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School does not have a building, or classrooms, or a cafeteria, or any of
- [DOGE Comes for Catholic Education](https://arcmag.org/doge-comes-for-catholic-education/) - The dizzying Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) news cycle may seem to many like the distant past, but the slimming down of the federal government continues. Two separate initiatives—an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, and the Defense Department cancelling millions of dollars in contracts—are still causing aftershocks across the country, even—or perhaps
- [The Jesus-Loving Rabbi of Litchfield County](https://arcmag.org/the-jesus-loving-rabbi-of-litchfield-county/) - Here’s a picture familiar to most Jews: it’s Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year. A Torah reader clad in white ascends to the front of the sanctuary to chant the story of the scapegoat, the biblical tale in which a goat bearing the sins of the Jewish people is sent into the wilderness
- [The Ethics of In Vitro Fertilization](https://arcmag.org/the-ethics-of-in-vitro-fertilization/) - Louise Joy Brown, the first child conceived by in vitro fertilization (IVF), was born in 1978. Since then, ethicists, theologians, and activists have expressed religiously-based objections to the practice of IVF, notwithstanding the joy it has brought to countless families. In this essay, I wish to survey the whole range of these objections and offer
- [Zohran Mamdani and the Making of a “Muslim Menace”](https://arcmag.org/zohran-mamdani-and-the-making-of-a-muslim-menace/) - In a campaign mailer designed by a PAC supporting disgraced former New York governor and current mayoral hopeful Andrew Cuomo, Queens assembly member Zohran Mamdani’s image appears with his beard digitally altered to look longer, fuller, and darker. This manipulation invokes tired Islamophobic tropes that cast bearded brown Muslim men as dangerous, violent, and in
- [Where is the Catholic Church on Climate Change?](https://arcmag.org/where-is-the-catholic-church-on-climate-change/) - When Pope Francis’s first encyclical on the environment was released ten years ago this summer, it made headlines beyond Catholic media. The 184-page document, a call to caring for the environment as a religious and moral duty, was published just before the 2015 Paris Agreement treaty on climate change, Laudato Sí, or “Praise be to
- [The Scopes Trial Turns 100](https://arcmag.org/the-scopes-trial-turns-100/) - The second floor of the Rhea County courthouse in the sleepy town of Dayton, Tenn., is rather unremarkable, a cavernous space with windows opening out onto the courthouse lawn. The redbrick building itself was constructed in the early 1890s and includes a bell tower that, from a distance, could be mistaken for a steeple. In
- [How Many Hail Marys for a Lost Sacrament?](https://arcmag.org/how-many-hail-marys-for-a-lost-sacrament/) - The year is 1951. A Hollywood fixer named Eddie Mannix kneels in a confessional booth. “It’s been twenty-four hours since my last confession,” he tells the priest. “I lied to Connie—that’s my wife. I promised her I quit smoking … but I snuck a couple of cigarettes, maybe three.” Every element in this scene, which
- [Living a Life of Appstinence](https://arcmag.org/living-a-life-of-appstinence/) - We’ve all been there—mindlessly scrolling through our social media feeds, only to look up from the blue-lit glow to wonder where the time’s gone. Our phones ping and we reach for them without thought. Even when our phone doesn’t demand attention, we feel its gravitational pull. Gabriela Nguyen founded Appstinence, a peer-led collective, to help
- [Does Art Still Matter?](https://arcmag.org/does-art-still-matter/) - The most successful social movements sustain themselves in part because they’re fun. The activist push in the LGBTQIA+ community that began with the Stonewall riots in 1969 and proceeded through the AIDS epidemic and the legalization of same-sex marriage went hand in hand with an outpouring of culture. William S. Burroughs novels and Stone Butch
- [Where to Bury the Father](https://arcmag.org/where-to-bury-the-father/) - From December 1799 to May 1800, as ordinary American Protestants erected monuments to Washington’s corpse and collected his relics in the form of locks of hair and images, members of the House of Representatives dithered over plans to entomb his remains in the Capitol. They disagreed over the type of marble monument that would be
- [Mass Deportation](https://arcmag.org/mass-deportation/) - On July 8, 2025, Alberto Rojas, the Bishop of San Bernardino, offered a dispensation to faithful in his diocese from the holy Catholic obligation of attending Mass. This dispensation extends to those who have genuine fear of immigration enforcement actions. This document is the first dispensation for reasons of immigration enforcement in U.S. history. The
- [The IRS Amens Political Endorsements from the Pulpit](https://arcmag.org/the-irs-amens-political-endorsements-from-the-pulpit/) - For seventy years, it has been the law of the land: pastors may not tell their flocks what name to check at the ballot box. To officially endorse any candidate—even one who attends the same church—is to risk the punishment of the Internal Revenue Service, which can revoke a church’s tax-exempt status as punishment for
- [The Illiberalism of Marilynne Robinson](https://arcmag.org/the-illiberalism-of-marilynne-robinson/) - Marilynne Robinson has been, for at least a generation, the most widely read and highly celebrated Christian writer in the United States. In her fiction and essays, she has positioned herself as the leading representative of what she holds to be the central, but increasingly embattled or ignored, tradition within American Christianity: the strain of
- [The Disappearance of the Closeted Clergyman](https://arcmag.org/the-disappearance-of-the-closeted-clergyman/) - An eleventh-century Benedictine bishop believed there were so many gay men in the Catholic priesthood that he wrote a diatribe against his bretheren. “The Book of Gommorrah,” as he called it, was part condemnation, part sex catalogue. His call for reform went as high as then-pope Benedict IX, whom he named the chief “devil” behind
- [Opus Dei, Embezzlement, and Human Trafficking](https://arcmag.org/opus-dei-embezzlement-and-human-trafficking/) - Most Americans, if they know Opus Dei at all, know it as a fictionalized cabal in The Da Vinci Code. But the Catholic order is real, has branches all over the world, and, according to journalist Gareth Gore, has a deep history of unethical and illegal behavior, including fraud and human trafficking. In his recent
- [The Spiritual Journey of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez](https://arcmag.org/the-spiritual-journey-of-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/) - In January, at a Martin Luther King, Jr., Faith Leadership Breakfast, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) spoke in detail about how the Standing Rock protests catalyzed her spiritual and political calling. “It was truly one of the most spiritually transformative experiences of my life,” she said. Ocasio-Cortez, who is Catholic, began her remarks by saying that
- [The Buddha In “The White Lotus”](https://arcmag.org/the-buddha-in-the-white-lotus/) - What to make of the teachings of Luang Por Tira, an elder monk and ajaan (teacher) whom Piper Ratliff, one of the characters in season three of The White Lotus, wishes to move to Thailand to study with? The monk’s initial words to Tim, Piper’s father, would sound more at home in the works of
- [Why a New Generation of Catholic Women Is Wearing Chapel Veils](https://arcmag.org/why-a-new-generation-of-catholic-women-is-wearing-chapel-veils/) - Many American young people are eager to shed light on and address legacies of repression and toxic masculinity in the United States. And yet, a minority of Catholic young people have been looking to the past for inspiration, adopting older and more traditional practices. Some are drawn to the Latin Mass. Others wear scapulars, or
- [The Gods of Silicon Valley](https://arcmag.org/the-gods-of-silicon-valley/) - JD Vance met Peter Thiel in 2011, when Thiel gave a speech at Yale Law School. Vance had moved up from Ohio State to Yale, rocketing through the American elite. Thiel was a former lawyer turned venture capitalist turned Silicon Valley mogul. At the time, as Vance puts it, Thiel was “hardly a household name,”
- [ Judaism Is a Map, Not a GPS](https://arcmag.org/judaism-is-a-map-not-a-gps/) - Myths are born, they serve a purpose, and they die. When we reside inside them, we swear by them, we invest in them, we think they precede us, and we think they will survive us. They define us, and they alienate us. Myths provide vehicles of meaning, sources of hope, and ways to make sense
- [Religion in the Lands That Became America](https://arcmag.org/religion-in-the-lands-that-became-america/) - Over eleven thousand years ago, a group of hunter-gatherers congregated to bury two individuals, an adult male and a young girl, in what is now Waco, Texas. In 1970, the burial sites were discovered on the property of Herman and Adeline Horn, thus becoming known as the Horn Shelter; the two bodies are known as
- [“Lord, teach my hands to war, my fingers to fight”](https://arcmag.org/lord-teach-my-hands-to-war-my-fingers-to-fight/) - What I call the cowboy apocalypse is a fictional trope, seen in movies, video games, and other media. It is drawn from a dark fantasy of the American frontier blended with a desire for return to that frontier environment after an apocalyptic transformation. In the cowboy apocalypse, America’s frontier past is idealized, depicting white gun-toting
- [From “Make Love, Not War” to “Globalize the Intifada”](https://arcmag.org/from-make-love-not-war-to-globalize-the-intifada/) - Neil Rudenstine was born in 1935 and grew up in Danbury, Connecticut. His father was a Ukrainian Jewish immigrant who became a prison guard; his mother was the daughter of Italian immigrants. He attended Princeton, became a scholar of Renaissance literature, and served as president of Harvard University from 1991 to 2001. His new book,
- [“Devout” or “Observant”?](https://arcmag.org/devout-or-observant/) - I really enjoyed your conversation with Molly Worthen. So interesting to hear an intellectual talk about what it's like to become an evangelical Christian. I'm Jewish, live in Berkeley Cal., and attend a Modern Orthodox shul, though I myself am not orthodox. I'm writing to point out something I noticed recently: Christians of faith are
- [Possessed by Charisma](https://arcmag.org/possessed-by-charisma/) - Historians have long struggled to describe and corral the amoeba-like diversity of American religious history into a comprehensible narrative. How does one sketch a through-line that makes sense of everything from Huguenots and Schwenkfelders to Black Muslims and Heaven’s Gate? It’s not for lack of trying. One possible theme is populism (historian Peter W. Williams)
- [Why Everyone Hates White Liberals](https://arcmag.org/why-everyone-hates-white-liberals/) - Although it wasn’t obvious at the time, 1988 would turn out to be a pivotal year in reshaping the conservative assault on white liber­als and eventually pushing it to ridiculous extremes. In that year, President George H.W. Bush’s antiliberal campaign met up with two other forces also using the specter of “1960s liberalism” as constitutive
- [But for the Grace of Wall Street Go I](https://arcmag.org/but-for-the-grace-of-wall-street-go-i/) - Where would we be without the market? The stock market, the bond market, the financial markets in general—all of these institutions, journalists tell us, are the ultimate, perhaps only, check on President Trump’s power. Esteemed scholars reassure us of the same—that the world’s oldest constitution is backstopped by Wall Street and the dollar. Investors, the
- [Jew? Not a Jew?](https://arcmag.org/jew-not-a-jew/) - Since its founding, Israel’s effort to define Jewish status—codified in the Law of Return, which determines eligibility for Israeli citizenship—has had profound consequences for Jews inside and outside its borders, making it a reliable pain point between Israel and American Jewry decade after decade. Perhaps one of the most emotional episodes in the ongoing drama
- [Pope Leo XIV Returns to Tradition](https://arcmag.org/pope-leo-xiv-returns-to-tradition/) - When the monks of Canterbury Cathedral prepared Thomas Becket’s body for burial in the year 1170, they discovered a hairshirt hidden under his vestments. The British faithful considered it evidence of the martyred archbishop’s piety. G.K. Chesterton considered it symbolic of the relationship between beauty and asceticism. “Becket got the benefit of the hair shirt,”
- [Who Gets a Seat at the Last Supper?](https://arcmag.org/who-gets-a-seat-at-the-last-supper/) - Donald Trump’s re-election has sent many scrambling for historical comparisons. There is somehow comfort in the discovery (or at any rate the assertion) that there are precedents for even the most confusing and chaotic aspects of our uncertain present. Some will turn to the purging of dissent and anti-immigrant campaigns in the first and second
- [When Christians Divorce](https://arcmag.org/when-christians-divorce/) - In the decade since the Supreme Court affirmed the right of same-sex couples to marry, theologically conservative Christian institutions have been severing their relationships with each other. The year of the Obergefell decision, Union University, Oklahoma Wesleyan University, and The Master’s College and Seminary quit the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), the main
- [A Peanut Farmer and Hasidic Rabbi Helped Build the Department of Education. Can Their Legacy Save It?  ](https://arcmag.org/a-peanut-farmer-and-hasidic-rabbi-helped-build-the-department-of-education-can-their-legacy-save-it/) - On July 14, 1981—the twelfth day of the Hebrew month of Tamuz in the year 5741—the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, addressed thousands of his followers from a long white table in a crowded ballroom in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Ronald Reagan was president, having just recovered from an assassination attempt that lodged a bullet
- [Remembering Martin Marty](https://arcmag.org/remembering-martin-marty/) - Martin E. Marty died on February 25, 2025. He was ninety-seven years old. Marty Marty, as he always introduced himself, was an ordained Lutheran minister, an editor and columnist for The Christian Century, and a professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School, where he taught for thirty-five years, until his retirement in 1998. Marty
- [Where are all the anti-gambling Christians?](https://arcmag.org/where-are-all-the-anti-gambling-christians/) - The national sports betting honeymoon is coming to a close. On May 14, 2018, a Supreme Court decision opened the doors for states to legalize sports betting. Seven years and nearly $500 billion in bets later, lawmakers are beginning to wonder what exactly they have unleashed. Studies show that a state’s legalization of online sports
- [The Now-Vacant Church Pope Leo XIV Attended Growing Up](https://arcmag.org/the-now-vacant-church-pope-leo-xiv-attended-growing-up/) - Excitement over Robert Francis Prevost’s ascendancy to becoming Pope Leo XIV is inescapable in his hometown of Chicago. Billboard ads on the highway read “Deep Dish. Now available in Rome,” followed by a congratulatory note. The Cubs declared premature victory by claiming the pope is a Cubs fan, only for his brother to tell the
- [Blacklists and Civil Liberties](https://arcmag.org/blacklists-and-civil-liberties/) - When one mentions deportations of immigrants for their political views and activism, or the antagonistic relationship between the government and higher education, it conjures up the current news cycle in the second Trump era. However, as the New York Times editor and writer Clay Risen shows in his recently published book, Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism,
- [Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, Strangers in a Strange Land](https://arcmag.org/ezra-klein-and-derek-thompson-strangers-in-a-strange-land/) - Picture the year 2050: a world of ubiquitous renewable energy, cheap desalinated water, vertical skyscraper farms, lab-grown meat, “star pills” manufactured in orbit that reverse aging, addiction, and obesity. “Your friends are flying from New York to London” in a supersonic jet powered by “a mix of traditional and green synthetic fuels that release far
- [Tolkien and the Tech World](https://arcmag.org/tolkien-and-the-tech-world/) - To the Editor: Related to Lee Konstantinou's essay on the influence of Tolkien's work on the tech world, I have been maintaining a list for a couple years called Tech of the Rings. It's an ever-growing collection of tech companies with names inspired by The Lord of the Rings and the Tolkien legendarium, from Palantir to Valinor.
- [“A Jewess Would Not Be Acceptable”](https://arcmag.org/a-jewess-would-not-be-acceptable/) - Thanks to Donald Trump’s attempts to link federal funding of elite colleges to their efforts to combat campus antisemitism, Jewish college students are in the news. And not for the first time. A hundred years ago, the Ivy League colleges launched systematic campaigns to deny entry to Jewish American applicants. In place of an admission
- [Slow Down, You Move Too Fast](https://arcmag.org/slow-down-you-move-too-fast/) - On or about 2007, to paraphrase Virginia Woolf, human character changed. Steve Jobs released the iPhone, Twitter formed, Facebook opened itself to anyone and changed its algorithm to a news feed, the cloud entered its first year, and a host of other tech breakthroughs occurred—it was “the official start date of the digital age,” John
- [Is Huck Finn still a classic?](https://arcmag.org/is-huck-finn-still-a-classic/) - About fifteen years ago, when I was twenty-three, I decided to read the Great Books. And the list of Great Books that I followed was detailed in a guide called The New Lifetime Reading Plan, edited by Clifton Fadiman and John S. Major. Huckleberry Finn was one of these books, and I duly read it
- [Mythic Capital](https://arcmag.org/mythic-capital/) - In 1993, Giorgia Meloni—now Italy’s prime minister and leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy—attended a revival of Camp Hobbit. The original Camp Hobbit was staged in 1977 by the youth wing of the Italian neo-fascist party, the Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI). Dubbed the “Woodstock of Italy’s far right,” these outdoor festivals repurposed imagery from
- [The Bitter Wisdom of Moshe Dayan](https://arcmag.org/the-bitter-wisdom-of-moshe-dayan/) - The eulogy famed Israeli military commander Moshe Dayan delivered for Roi Rotberg on April 30, 1956, sixty-nine years ago today, has been called “the defining speech of Zionism.” Like most things having to do with Zionism, it is complicated, at once aspirational and combative, lofty and edgy. And like the most memorable valedictions, it is
- [Papal Envy](https://arcmag.org/papal-envy/) - I am an Episcopal priest, which means that my kids are “PKs.” In Protestant culture, a PK is a “preacher’s kid,” but “priest’s kid” also works. And the thing about PKs is that usually they chafe against the role their clergy parents have. So although I was sad about it, it came as little surprise
- [After the Century of Jewish Eminence](https://arcmag.org/after-the-century-of-jewish-eminence/) - I have only one complaint about Eminent Jews: Bernstein, Brooks, Friedan, Mailer (Holt, 2025), David Denby’s artfully realized, gracefully written biographical tetralogy about four brilliant, nervy, pathbreaking members of the tribe: I wish Bella Abzug had been the fifth. Best remembered for her Bronx-brassy voice and broad-brimmed hats, Abzug, the fiery civil rights lawyer, New
- [The Untapped Power of Jewish Fellowships](https://arcmag.org/the-untapped-power-of-jewish-fellowships/) - In a recent documentary exploring his work, Harvard professor Robert Putnam describes the experience of standing on the national mall for John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inauguration. As Kennedy intoned the iconic phrase “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,” Putnam felt it was “like a
- [Bless Me, Father, For You Have Stolen Money](https://arcmag.org/bless-me-father-for-you-have-stolen-money/) - Christ the King Catholic Church in Tampa, Fla. offers daily Mass throughout the week, and five services on Sunday. Parishioners can enroll their kids at the parish school (awarded the National Blue Ribbon Award for Excellence in 2020), and their parish’s ministry page boasts a variety of service organizations, volunteer opportunities, and social events. To
- [Tithe Empire](https://arcmag.org/tithe-empire/) - Before he reinvented himself as a start-up founder hawking the transformative potential of his subscription-based church administration software, Dean Sweetman was a charismatic pastor. Onstage at this past October’s Modern Church Leader Conference at the Irving Convention Center, outside Dallas, the natural overlap between these two roles was obvious. Equal parts TED-talk disrupter and sanctimonious
- [Fly Free](https://arcmag.org/hex-appeal/) - In seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Maryland, colonial authorities tried and convicted seven women of witchcraft. One was hanged in 1685. Now, Heather Bagnall, a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, has introduced legislation to exonerate them. Some critics have disparaged Bagnall’s efforts, suggesting that the gesture is frivolous, in light of more pressing threats and
- [Confessions of a Once-Bearded Lady](https://arcmag.org/confessions-of-a-once-bearded-lady/) - I started to grow a beard when I was around fourteen. It didn’t happen overnight, no Kafkaesque horror. It was slow and steady, more terrifying by half. My gender identity did not match this physical manifestation. I fought it as hard as I could with depilatories, bleaches, home wax kits, and tweezers. Spent countless hours
- [The Ugly and Beautiful Gods](https://arcmag.org/the-ugly-and-beautiful-gods/) - Literature begins with the silence of the gods. As long as extra-human powers spoke to human beings, who communicated their messages in poems, stories, and dramas, “literature” in our contemporary sense could not exist. That we can now see writing as the free expression of personal views and talents (or as a move within systems
- [Whither the Lord's Prayer?](https://arcmag.org/whither-the-lords-prayer/) - Maggie Phillips's article about the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in American schools provokes a consideration of another issue: the recitation of the Lord's Prayer. Is this still part of daily school life? When I was in elementary school (the Dark Ages of the 1950s), we recited both the pledge and the prayer every
- [The Lizard Theory of Higher Ed](https://arcmag.org/the-lizard-theory-of-higher-ed/) - Universities face an existential crisis. A huge portion of the American public no longer sees their point or purpose. As a result, when the government slashes NIH funding, or cancels $400 million of contracts with Columbia, or forces the layoffs of two thousand workers at Johns Hopkins University, the broader public shrugs. Not their problem.
- [Make Asceticism Great Again?](https://arcmag.org/make-asceticism-great-again/) - One morning in Egypt, sometime around A.D. 270, a Christian man quietly departed into the desert. In Egypt, of course, the desert was ever near, relentlessly encroaching with its dry winds threatening the fragile crops around the narrow fertile band of land around the Nile River. This oasis of life had been Rome’s bread basket
- [“Get Married or Chai Trying”](https://arcmag.org/get-married-or-chai-trying/) - Dressed in a rust-orange hijab and a contrasting green dress, Mariam waits in the aisle of an appliance store in Houston. She and professional matchmaker Hoda Abrahim are waiting for Omar, who is flying in from Los Angeles to meet Mariam for the first time. Mariam has no tolerance for coffee-shop first dates. “I studied
- [More Than Sunday](https://arcmag.org/more-than-sunday/) - My twenty-fifth birthday celebration was typical for a young New Yorker: black going-out tops, alcohol, songs from college on loop, and friends, new and old, filtering in and out of my walk-up apartment. Around midnight, we hit the second location: a club in one of the seedier parts of the Lower East Side, complete with
- [Adichie's American Blues](https://arcmag.org/adichies-american-blues/) - In 2013, the publication of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah made the Nigerian author something of a household name. Reviews were positive, and the novel won the National Book Critics Circle award. Adichie’s profile increased further when Beyoncé used a sample from the author’s TED Talk, “We Should All Be Feminists,” on the track “Flawless.” Americanah
- [The Liberatory Art of Allan Crite](https://arcmag.org/the-liberatory-art-of-allan-crite/) - In his decades-long project to capture an image of humanity, Allan Crite (1910-2007) defined himself as a distinctive “liturgical artist,” relying on religious symbolism to relate his experience as Black and Christian in twentieth-century America. Crite moved to Boston with his parents as a toddler and remained there for the rest of his life, committing
- [Is Religious Freedom for Liberals, Too?](https://arcmag.org/is-religious-freedom-for-liberals-too/) - It goes without saying that we are, as the not-actually-Chinese curse has it, living in interesting times. The Supreme Court will likely soon hear not only challenges to individual Trump administration policies, but to the Constitutional order itself. Can a president refuse to execute laws passed by Congress? And if the Supreme Court orders him
- [Beyond Monotheism](https://arcmag.org/beyond-monotheism/) - We are accustomed to thinking of monotheism as an idea that rejects the worship of objects and deities, calling into being a singular, unified belief in a creator God. “Abraham the Hebrew,” according to the biblical narrative and its reception, ushered in the diverse theologies of monotheism at the heart of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. But is
- [The Settled Future](https://arcmag.org/the-settled-future/) - I live in a country dreamt up by mystics and seers and built by generals and politicians. It has been more than a century since the illegal settlements—homes with red-tiled roofs, villages surrounded by fortified fences, towns featured on newscasts from Delhi to London, from Washington to Beijing, that define the reality of Israel and
- [Wellness Unto Death](https://arcmag.org/wellness-unto-death/) - Apple Cider Vinegar is thoroughly modern. Sickeningly modern. Shake your head, “look what’s become of us” modern. The six-part Netflix miniseries, based on the scandal of disgraced Australian wellness maven Belle Gibson, is twenty-first-century all the way through, just another story of entrepreneurial grift made possible by social media. In this case, the ruse involves
- [Revolutionary Jews](https://arcmag.org/revolutionary-jews/) - Historians are convinced that something pivotal occurred for or by Jews during the American Revolution, they just don’t agree what it was. A Promised Land: Jewish Patriots, the American Revolution, & the Birth of Religious Freedom (Oxford University Press, 2024), by the Auburn historian Adam Jortner, is not a history of these histories, but in
- [Rescued](https://arcmag.org/rescued/) - For decades, klezmer musicians have kept traditional Jewish music alive despite war, genocide, and erasure. They’ve done so by playing a small handful of surviving songs again and again. Many more songs—a trove of tunes with the potential to redefine the genre—have sat just out of reach, in a former Soviet archive. This music was
- [Deep State, German-Style](https://arcmag.org/deep-state-german-style/) - In early November, German authorities arrested eight members of the Saxony Separatists, one of a rising number of extremist groups planning for Day X, a coup that will, adherents believe, restore a Third Reich-style government. “The organisation believes beyond doubt that Germany is nearing ‘collapse,’” prosecutors said in charging the suspects. Another adherent to such
- [God’s Goodbye](https://arcmag.org/gods-goodbye/) - On Oct. 7, 2023, as Hamas terrorists attacked the Nova music festival, a young man named Itamar ran from the festival grounds, avoiding gunmen until he found relative safety in a ditch. “I lay in the ditch with my face looking up to the sky,” Itamar wrote. “I said Shema yisrael adonai elohaynu adonai echad”
- [Is Empathy for Immigrants a Sin?](https://arcmag.org/is-empathy-for-immigrants-a-sin/) - Is empathy a sin? Right now, if you’re a Christian, your head might be spinning a bit. Maybe not over whether empathy in general is a sin, but perhaps over who God thinks deserves it, and by extension, to whom you should extend it. The current kerfuffle centers squarely on issues surrounding illegal immigrants. At
- [Only A God Can Save Us](https://arcmag.org/only-a-god-can-save-us/) - The atheistic interregnum is over, but much of its work is done. Of the four New Atheists who made a splash in the noughts, with books with titles like God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, The God Delusion, and The End of Faith, two (Daniel Dennett and Christopher Hitchens) are no longer with
- [Let Us Now Praise Sanctuary Cities](https://arcmag.org/let-us-now-praise-sanctuary-cities/) - During a campaign rally in mid-October in Coachella, Cal., Donald Trump asked a throng of supporters if they know what a "sanctuary city" is. “That’s a place where you keep criminals, right? Who the hell wants that? The mass migration invasion has crushed wages, crashed school systems.” According to Trump, these sanctuary states and their
- [I Pledge . . . Allegiance?](https://arcmag.org/i-pledge-allegiance/) - This past election cycle, patriotism was suddenly cool again. In one typical rally, Kamala Harris spoke of “the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earth: the privilege and pride of being an American.” The crowd of seventeen thousand responded with a chant of “U.S.A.!” This was quite the turnaround: back in 2020,
- [Did Church Once Make Us Good?](https://arcmag.org/did-church-once-make-us-good/) - Jonathan Rauch’s Cross Purposes: Christianity’s Broken Bargain with Democracy (Yale University Press, 2024) is both an apology and an apologia. It’s an apology to a dear Christian friend whose beliefs he once scorned, and it’s an apologia, or defense, of the role of Christianity in public life, a position that as a lifelong atheist he
- [I Got Synod-Pilled](https://arcmag.org/i-got-synod-pilled/) - The Catholic Church is, famously, not a democracy. But popes do seek advice; popes convene councils, gathering the world’s bishops and Catholic authorities, as in the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. Before Vatican II, there was not just a preparatory period but an “antepreparatory” period (God’s bureaucracy is beyond satire), in which the Vatican
- [Lusting for Zion](https://arcmag.org/lusting-for-zion/) - The family, declared the highest leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1995, is ordained by God. “Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan.” The Proclamation on the Family functions as quasi-scripture for Latter-day Saints, but it has not settled anything. Since 1995, the church has become
- [Sticker Shock](https://arcmag.org/sticker-shock/) - I am an American, so I have grown up with American bumper stickers. Once upon a time, they were earnest: “COEXIST.” “A WOMAN NEEDS A MAN LIKE A FISH NEEDS A BICYCLE.” More recently, American bumper stickers have gravitated toward the absurd and ironic: “PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF THERE IS ANYTHING I CAN DO
- [Protest and Politics](https://arcmag.org/protest-and-politics/) - John Lewis did not know how to swim. He confessed that fact before two of the pivotal events of the civil rights movement. The first moment was comical, the second deadly serious. On August 25, 1963, three days before the March on Washington, Lewis and other young activists decamped to a friend’s home outside New
- [When Is David Brooks a Christian?](https://arcmag.org/when-is-david-brooks-a-christian/) - At the end of his essay on Mark Oppenheimer’s “David Brooks, Please Stop Saying You Are Jewish,” Shaul Magid asks, “If Heine was ‘baptized but not converted,’ is Brooks then ‘converted but not baptized’? And what would that mean for Christians?” As an Episcopal priest, a Christian theologian, and a scholar of Jewish-Christian relations, my
- [The Consolations of Poetry](https://arcmag.org/the-consolations-of-poetry/) - It was not Charles Taylor, the noted nonagenarian Canadian philosopher, who lamented that “Man needs a metaphysics; / he cannot have one.” Instead, it’s the great contemporary poet Frank Bidart, meditating on his own—and “man’s”—felt lack of connection to something beyond us: a community, a divinity, a Nature that might give purpose to this world.
- [“Heretic” Rescues Horror from the Catholics](https://arcmag.org/heretic-rescues-horror-from-the-catholics/) - The recent horror movie Heretic, which opened in November, received much attention because of its exploration of Latter-day Saint (Mormon) theology. In this at times deeply terrifying film, which will forever rescue Hugh Grant from his association with romantic comedies, two LDS missionaries knock on the door of a potential convert, played by Grant, who
- [President Biden, Please Commute the Death Sentence of the Man Who Tried to Kill My Husband](https://arcmag.org/president-biden-please-commute-the-death-sentence-of-the-man-who-tried-to-kill-my-husband/) - Just Before Christmas, President Biden commuted the sentences of thirty-seven prisoners on federal death row to life in prison without possibility of parole. This made sense for his legacy, as both a politician and a Catholic—Pope Francis encouraged Biden to take this step. And Biden had campaigned as being against the death penalty, so in
- [Brooks and Oppenheimer Both Get It Wrong](https://arcmag.org/brooks-and-oppenheimer-both-get-it-wrong/) - Mark Oppenheimer’s rejoinder to David Brooks gave me, as a theologian and Episcopal priest, much to think about, and helped me clarify my own dissents from (and discomforts with) Brooks’s piece, and especially with the piece’s treatment of Judaism. I take his response to be a Jewish critique of Brooks’s account, and I think what
- [Against Bad Writing](https://arcmag.org/against-bad-writing/) - No piece I have ever written generated as much feedback as my essay replying to David Brooks’s “The Shock of Faith.” It turns out that writing about Brooks touches many nerves, not just the ones I might have expected to touch; I got multiple emails from people angry about Brooks’s columns from a decade ago,
- [Being a Jewish Muslim Is Easier than Being a Jewish Christian](https://arcmag.org/being-a-jewish-muslim-is-easier-than-being-a-jewish-christian/) - As Mark Oppenheimer writes in his critique of David Brooks, “For the Jew, Christianity is a heresy, an elevation of a false messiah.” While Judaism plays a significant role within Christianity, which views itself as the fulfillment of Judaism’s theological promises, for Jews, writes Oppenheimer, the two religions “contradict each other.” Oppenheimer is right. To
- [David Brooks Is Right](https://arcmag.org/david-brooks-is-right/) - David Brooks is one of my least favorite journalists, and Mark Oppenheimer is one of my favorite ones. He is also a friend and, at times, my editor. So it is with some trepidation that I find myself admiring Brooks’s spiritual autobiography and disagreeing with Mark’s rejoinder to it. The core of the disagreement, I
- [That Spiritual Stuff? Jews Have It, Too](https://arcmag.org/that-spiritual-stuff-jews-have-it-too/) - I heard from many people about David Brooks’s essay, “The Shock of Faith.” I won’t speak for him (he does that for himself in two thousand words). Nor do I really want to have a conversation about whether Brooks, who talks about his Jewish life, is really a Christian at this point (he deals with
- [“I have been baptized but not converted”](https://arcmag.org/i-have-been-baptized-but-not-converted/) - I admit I only read David Brooks’s most recent confessional after reading Mark Oppenheimer’s response in Arc. I have read similar essays by Brooks in the past, tracing his “journey” from agnostic to believer. In his latest missive, he continues his syncretistic tacking between Judaism and Christianity but confesses to aligning himself with “the whole
- [Has Jeffrey Kripal Gone Mad, or Normal?](https://arcmag.org/has-jeffrey-kripal-gone-mad-or-normal/) - Jeffrey Kripal is one of our most fascinating scholars of religious studies. For thirty years, he has combined rigorous, even obsessive, readings of religious texts with expansive philosophical and theoretical capacity; he works both small and big. But he has also courted controversy. In the first phase of his career, Kripal’s work on eroticism and
- [David Brooks, Please Stop Saying You Are Jewish](https://arcmag.org/david-brooks-please-stop-saying-you-are-jewish/) - About ten years ago, New York Times columnist David Brooks, who had spent most of his career as an irreligious political columnist, with forays into wry sociological observation—he coined the terms “patio man” and “bobo,” both still useful—began writing about his own “faith journey,” to use the cloying evangelical phrase that, alas, is perfect for
- [Something Wicked—or Perhaps Halfway Decent!—Your Way Comes](https://arcmag.org/something-wicked-or-perhaps-halfway-decent-your-way-comes/) - The biggest surprise of my November 2024—and remember, that’s a pretty high bar—was that I didn’t totally hate Wicked. Beyond the franchise-driven drek lie a good story, truly great performances, and brisk pacing that makes the film’s two hours-and-forty-minute run time sail by. And yet, as much as I enjoyed the movie, I was sad
- [Let's Play Jewish Geography!](https://arcmag.org/lets-play-jewish-geography/) - Here’s a story I love to tell. I am Jewish (that’s not the story). When I graduated from college, I moved to Boston. One night I went out with a non-Jewish friend of mine and we met up at a bar with a girl who was Jewish. She was from Michigan; I am from Mississippi.
- [Why Do Youth Pastors Keep Getting Arrested?](https://arcmag.org/why-do-youth-pastors-keep-getting-arrested/) - When John W. Radcliff II, a longtime youth pastor at Southern Baptist churches in West Virginia, was charged recently with nearly two hundred counts of sexual abuse crimes, involving children and family members, the jokes could almost write themselves—not just about stereotypes of Appalachia, but about youth pastors. Because, to judge from the news, it
- [Mangione and Melodrama](https://arcmag.org/mangione-and-melodrama/) - Since the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the alleged killer, Luigi Mangione, has been either venerated as a folk hero or disparaged as a left-wing crank, a symptom of the rising violence infecting the American political system. But such polarized responses misread Thompson’s death as a simple case of heroic populism or left-wing
- [Come Together](https://arcmag.org/come-together/) - Kacey Sycamore, 33, grew up in the Los Angeles area. She went to Chico State to study journalism before working in radio and marketing. She lived a life she describes as “pretty average,” which is why it may seem surprising that Sycamore now lives in upstate New York with the Bruderhof, a communal Christian movement
- [The Resistance Is Far from Dead](https://arcmag.org/the-resistance-is-far-from-dead/) - As someone who has been connected to "the resistance" since my early twenties, I can assure you: it is far from dead. The resistance has always been mycelial—decentralized, connective, and highly adaptive. This sprawling organic structure is both its strength and the key to its resilience and success. Our methods stand in stark contrast to
- [School's Out](https://arcmag.org/schools-out/) - In late August, at a Moms for Liberty event in Washington, DC, Donald Trump falsely asserted that public schools are performing surgeries on children to force them to be transgender. “Think of it,” he said. “Your kid goes to school and comes home a few days later with an operation. The school decides what’s gonna happen
- [Mr. President, We Need More than a Pardon](https://arcmag.org/mr-president-we-need-more-than-a-pardon/) - As a lame-duck president, Joe Biden faces some tough choices on criminal justice, including whether or not to fulfill his earlier campaign promise to commute the sentences of the forty people on federal death row and respond to various demands from Democratic lawmakers, like granting clemency to those whom progressives believe are serving unduly harsh
- [The Unhumans](https://arcmag.org/the-unhumans/) - Behold, a book that lusts openly for revenge: Humiliate the unhumans. Ridicule the unhumans. Disgrace, debase, and deride the unhumans. Put the unhumans to shame. Tease and taunt and parody the unhumans. Scorn, scoff, and sneer. Who are these “unhumans”? According to Unhumans: The Secret History of Communist Revolutions (and How to Crush Them), by
- [Jordan Peterson’s Rambling, Hectoring, Mad New Book](https://arcmag.org/jordan-petersons-rambling-hectoring-mad-new-book/) - The last time I reviewed a book by Jordan Peterson, a cleverly edited excerpt of my negative opinion (I described it as “bonkers”) appeared on the cover of the paperback edition, giving readers the misleading impression that I had endorsed it. So this time I shall have to be clear. The new book is unreadable.
- [Hot Rabbi Fall](https://arcmag.org/hot-rabbi-fall/) - You’re pretty smooth for a rabbi. These words, spoken by Kristen Bell’s Joanne as she lingers by her car after a dinner party where she’s met Adam Brody’s Noah, are thrilling. “You’re not, by chance, wrestling with your faith, are you? Considering throwing it all away? Cause with all the ‘fucks’ and the flirting, you
- [Jon Stewart, Religion Teacher Extraordinaire](https://arcmag.org/jon-stewart-religion-teacher-extraordinaire/) - As difficult as it is to find good writing about religion, it is harder still to find good television about religion. Most televangelists do not do good (challenging, nuanced) religious television: one of their goals may be to educate, or win converts, but they have to raise money, and offering sophisticated portraits of religion is
- [Louisiana and the Twelve Commandments](https://arcmag.org/louisiana-and-the-twelve-commandments/) - Robert Baker and Martin Lucas made a mistake. A big one. In the year 1631, these royal printers reissued the King James Authorized Bible, first published a mere twenty years prior. But they trusted the wrong person. The typesetter accidentally forgot a word. In some cases, no one would notice. In many instances, it might
- [The Resistance Is Dead](https://arcmag.org/the-resistance-is-dead/) - On the social media site formerly known as Twitter, the famed Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones recently claimed Donald Trump’s victory was a function of “anti-Blackness” and misogyny. David Corn, the prominent Mother Jones reporter, fumed about Russia interfering with another presidential election. A random person in my feed screamed about light-skinned Latino men dooming the
- [Literary Awards Ought to Be a Popularity Contest](https://arcmag.org/literary-awards-ought-to-be-a-popularity-contest/) - Every fall, the National Book Awards releases a list of books that've been selected as finalists for the award, and maybe every other year the list will cause a stir because there is a single book on it that isn't one of the usual suspects—a book that wasn’t published by a big New York press
- [Fishing Without My Father](https://arcmag.org/fishing-without-my-father/) - In the weeks after my father died, I did a lot of fishing. It was one of the few things that afforded a modicum of comfort or distraction. I spent entire days unable to focus on larger tasks, mainly tinkering with my own verses and with English translations of my father’s poetry, until the evening,
- [It's the Charisma, Stupid](https://arcmag.org/its-the-charisma-stupid/) - In nearly every presidential election in my lifetime, since Jimmy Carter defeated Gerald Ford when I was two years old, the winning candidate has had more charisma. That’s charisma, from the Greek charisma, for “favor” or “gift.” That pattern continued yesterday, with Donald Trump’s defeat of Kamala Harris. If you’re a Democrat, and you want your
- [Our Polling Places, an Ungodly Mess](https://arcmag.org/our-polling-places-an-ungodly-mess/) - Consider the tens of millions of Americans descending upon their polling places, this blood-begotten rite and right, now thought by half the country’s citizens to be bullshit. “Eighty-two percent of the country understands that [2020] was a rigged election,” Donald Trump said at a rally this past spring. The number is far less, and Trump
- [Thanks to Hamas, Milk-Carton Abductee Pictures Are Back](https://arcmag.org/thanks-to-hamas-milk-carton-abductee-pictures-are-back/) - Growing up in the 1980s, I used to eat breakfast with the grainy faces of missing children staring back at me. Printed on the sides of milk cartons, these photographs of abducted children instructed me to fear strangers. At school, we memorized a script with a family code word to use if a stranger ever
- [Trump and the Cult of Bigness](https://arcmag.org/trump-and-the-cult-of-bigness/) - As someone who grew up in a cult-like community dedicated to the teachings of a charismatic guru, I have, lately, been watching Donald Trump and getting goosebumps. With charismatic religious leaders, I have the same test that Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart used with obscenity: “I know it when I see it.” It was hard
- [Helping Josh Hawley Get Elected Was the Biggest Mistake I Ever Made](https://arcmag.org/helping-josh-hawley-get-elected-was-the-biggest-mistake-i-ever-made/) - Right now, my senator in Missouri, Josh Hawley, has what seems to be an insurmountable lead over his Democratic challenger, Lucas Kunce. In all likelihood, Hawley is going to win a second term, and he may well win more after that. We may be stuck with him forever. As a retired three-term Republican senator, I
- [Why Is a Publisher of Antisemitic and Homophobic Authors Winning a National Book Award?](https://arcmag.org/why-is-a-publisher-of-antisemitic-and-homophobic-authors-winning-a-national-book-award/) - Even in our busy news season, a time of elections and wars, one might have thought that the announcement that a National Book Award will be given next month to a purveyor of antisemitic and homophobic tracts would have caused a bit more of a stir. It seems like the kind of story that would
- [Abortion Is a Medical Procedure](https://arcmag.org/abortion-is-a-medical-procedure/) - To the Editor: I read Marvin Olasky’s essay (“Love Will Save More Lives Than Law,” Sep. 13, 2024) prepared to disagree with his theological rationale for opposing abortion and defending the “unborn,” but I was surprised by how many factual errors he made. He misrepresents abortion procedures and vouches for notoriously ideological “crisis pregnancy centers”
- [The Politics of Bad Faith](https://arcmag.org/the-politics-of-bad-faith/) - Early in Megan Basham’s new book, Shepherds for Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda (Broadside Books, 2024), we are introduced to a Christian in-joke concerning an Eleventh Commandment: “Thou shalt not criticize church leaders.” The joke is that naming this additional commandment achieves the very thing it ironically circumscribes, calling
- [Trump's Favorite Newspaper](https://arcmag.org/trumps-favorite-newspaper/) - The New York Post is a vile newspaper, its pages full of resentments and lies, racist fearmongering, casual misogyny, xenophobia, and right-wing propaganda. I should know, since I read it every day. If that strikes you as conflicted, you should hear out some of the Post writers and high-profile readers who spoke to Susan Mulcahy
- [A Jewish Footballer Comes to Leeds](https://arcmag.org/a-jewish-footballer-comes-to-leeds/) - I am an adherent of two religions: Judaism and Leeds United Football Club. Generally, despite a narrow swath of vocal racists in the LUFC crowd and on social media, the two combine pretty well. When my Jewish friends who support Leeds United go to Elland Road, our home stadium, they refer to it as “going
- [Cult or Cure?](https://arcmag.org/cult-or-cure/) - On Aug. 9, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finally delivered a ruling that a small but passionate group of doctors and patients were eagerly awaiting. At long last, the FDA determined whether MDMA, the drug known to recreational users (at raves, at Burning Man, and in pursuit of mind-altering self-medication) as molly, could be
- [It's Yom Kippur, and Humanity Is Deeply Flawed](https://arcmag.org/its-yom-kippur-and-humanity-is-deeply-flawed/) - Because of the unusual nature of the Jewish calendar—part lunar, part solar—the Jewish holidays fall on different dates in the Gregorian calendar each year. This can sometimes be a blessing. Perversely, Hamas’s massacres, rapes, and kidnappings of October 7, 2023, coincided with the joyous Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. Among the many greater horrors of
- [The Rent’s Too Goddamned High](https://arcmag.org/the-rents-too-goddamned-high/) - In 2019, St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, San Diego’s oldest Protestant church, sold off a portion of its campus to Greystar, a global real estate company. Within three years, something called 525 Olive Apartments arose on that site. While the church retains 6 percent ownership of the property, used for their offices and meeting spaces, the apartment
- [What’s a Catholic School to Do?](https://arcmag.org/whats-a-catholic-school-to-do/) - The past year we have witnessed a level of turmoil on college and university campuses across the United States at a scale not seen in at least a generation. The Hamas assault on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, with spillover effects now threatening a wider
- [Voting for Palestine](https://arcmag.org/voting-for-palestine/) - Growing up in Palestine, in the city of Ramallah on the West Bank, I learned about voting by watching the television series Little House on the Prairie. In the show’s third season, there was a school election. Nellie, a wealthy, arrogant figure, ran against Mary, who was popular, and Elmer, who was quiet and kind.
- [Is Religion Really the Problem?](https://arcmag.org/is-religion-really-the-problem/) - The era before the Civil War, Walt Whitman argued, was the “before-times,” suggesting that everything after the Civil War was categorically different. In some way, all days before Oct. 7, 2023, were Israel’s “before-times”; the country now exists in the afterward. Before Oct. 7, Israel was in the throes of one of the most divided
- [Ralph Waldo Emerson Meets His Spirit Animal](https://arcmag.org/americans-have-stopped-trusting-traditional-institutions-and-authorities-where-then-will-they-find-the-truth/) - The average Sunday in the sanctuary at Mile Hi Church, just west of Denver, is at first glance indistinguishable from a service at an evangelical megachurch. Onstage, a rock band plays under pastel stage lights. Congregants wander past the control booth, where a black-clad techie fiddles with the sound board. They hug friends, ask about
- [Hail Mary](https://arcmag.org/hail-mary/) - Historically, Christians have an ambiguous relationship with sports. From the religion’s earliest days, Christian leaders have expressed concern that sporting spectacles might encourage idolatry instead of true Christian worship. At the same time, the Christian Scriptures also include positive references to sports, with athletic competition used as a metaphor for the Christian life. “Run in
- [Introducing <br /><i>Arc: Religion, Politics, Et Cetera</i>](https://arcmag.org/introducing-arc-religion-politics-etc/) - Dear Readers: On May 1, 2012, the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis debuted Religion & Politics, an online magazine that would, its mission statement promised, “feature articles from scholars and journalists” reflecting “a range of views, rather than promoting a specific political perspective.” The magazine would
- [Love Will Save More Lives Than Law](https://arcmag.org/love-will-save-more-lives-than-law/) - For half a century, Americans’ inherent contrarianism worked for the pro-life movement, of which I have been a member for forty years. In 1973, the Supreme Court had declared abortion legal in almost all cases—making abortion access the law of the land. Partly in response, large numbers of Americans took a contrary view, inclining toward
- [Let’s Focus On Policy, Not Just Theology](https://arcmag.org/lets-focus-on-policy-not-just-theology/) - At a campaign stop in Winston-Salem, North Carolina when he was running for president in 1976, Jimmy Carter was answering questions from supporters when one asked if he was “a born-again Christian.” Southern politicians were used to such questions, and Carter didn’t hesitate. “Yes,” he said, before explaining that while he had grown up in
- [Faith Is a Factor for Voters, and Rightly So](https://arcmag.org/faith-is-a-factor-for-voters-and-rightly-so/) - If Robert Jeffress—who famously called Mormonism a “cult” and Romney “not a Christian”—had merely urged Christians to prefer their fellow Christians amongst equally qualified candidates, he would not have found himself in such hot water. A simple thought experiment shows us that most of us are, in fact, willing to consider a candidate's faith in
- [Churches Need Strong Federal Programs to Help the Vulnerable](https://arcmag.org/churches-need-strong-federal-programs-to-help-the-vulnerable/) - Our government has a responsibility to address issues that impact people in need. As Christians, the Bible tells us to, “Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute. Speak out, judge righteously, [and] defend the rights of the poor and needy” (Proverbs 31:8-9). What this passage means is that
- [When It Comes to Complex Needs, Government Can’t Provide What Matters Most](https://arcmag.org/when-it-comes-to-complex-needs-government-cant-provide-what-matters-most/) - When Kenny’s mother caught him selling marijuana at age 14, she flushed the drugs and kept the roll of cash hidden in his jacket. That wasn’t enough. After more than 20 arrests, an armed robbery landed Kenny in federal prison. Six years later he emerged desiring a fresh start. But his old habits, old friends
- [Government Is Not the Enemy, Nor the Only Answer](https://arcmag.org/government-is-not-the-enemy-nor-the-only-answer/) - Last December, the Gallup organization published the results of a poll about what Americans think “will be the greatest threat to the country in the future.” Sixty-four percent of respondents named “big government” as the greatest threat. Almost immediately a conservative blogger declared, “It is official. Government is the enemy.” Commentary’s Peter Wehner read the numbers as
- [Ryan Speaks the Language of "Faithful Catholics"](https://arcmag.org/ryan-speaks-the-language-of-faithful-catholics/) - “Paul Ryan’s Catholic Problem.” “Catholics for Ryan.” “Representative Ryan’s Ayn Rand Problem.” “Congressman Ryan Denounces Ayn Rand’s Ideology.” “Ryan’s a Packers Fan?” “Paul’s Favorite iTunes playlist.” These and other similarly cliff-hanging headlines leave one wondering whether Representative Paul Ryan is running for vice president of the United States or set to marry into the British
- [In Ryan, Romney Has an Ally for the Unborn](https://arcmag.org/in-ryan-romney-has-an-ally-for-the-unborn/) - When trying to determine the effect of something, say a hammer on a nail, we deem it quite useful to know the difference between the nail and your thumb. In other words, we must define our terms. When trying to determine the effect of Romney's pick of the Catholic Paul Ryan as his running mate
- [Memo to Ryan: "Life Issues" Go Beyond Abortion](https://arcmag.org/memo-to-ryan-life-issues-go-beyond-abortion/) - We already know that no homogeneous “Catholic vote” exists in presidential elections. Catholics present themselves along the entire political spectrum, with a strong “middle” of undecided voters. Like all Catholics, those in the middle must balance individual issues like abortion and marriage with church teachings about helping people in poverty. While abortion and gay marriage
- [Ryan's Catholic Problem? A Century of Papal Teachings](https://arcmag.org/ryans-catholic-problem-a-century-of-papal-teachings/) - Congressman Paul Ryan’s economic views are at odds with more than 100 years of Catholic social teaching. It is no wonder that he’s had trouble arguing that his views are consistent with the teachings of his own church, including those issued directly from the Vatican. Yet this spring, in a speech at Georgetown University, Ryan
- [The Cracks Beneath Obama's Winning Coalition](https://arcmag.org/the-cracks-beneath-obamas-winning-coalition/) - Despite a flagging economy and energized opposition, President Obama assembled a winning coalition that delivered him a second term in the White House. Yet even in the wake of this successful election, it is important to note that the championing of liberal social issues that formed a key part of the Obama campaign’s rhetoric poses
- [What Romney Wouldn't Say](https://arcmag.org/what-romney-wouldnt-say/) - During his long pursuit of the presidency, three M-words rarely passed Mitt Romney’s lips: Massachusetts, Mandate, and Mormonism. This first two silent M’s were, at least politically, understandable; the third perhaps less so. Instead of uttering the word Massachusetts, Romney typically referred to “my state,” as in, “My state had the best . . .
- [Why My Church Avoids Taking Political Positions](https://arcmag.org/why-my-church-avoids-taking-political-positions/) - It’s surprisingly tempting for pastors like me to devalue, of all things, Jesus. I was in a conversation just the other day with an awesome, dedicated minister who argued that, yes, Jesus could do all sorts of tremendous things for people, but what was really important was what we in the trade call “doctrine”—one-step-removed implications
- [The Church’s Right to Religious Freedom (And its Place in the Public Square)](https://arcmag.org/the-churchs-right-to-religious-freedom-and-its-place-in-the-public-square/) - With the inauguration over, along with the 2012 election, it’s time to count casualties. The first, as in warfare, is truth. A second might be an understanding of who can speak in a democracy. Misrepresentations abounded. Spinmeisters turned the Catholic Church’s right to religious freedom—including its right to practice what it preaches—into a war over
- [Rhetoric Versus Reality: The Contraception Benefit and Religious Freedom](https://arcmag.org/rhetoric-versus-reality-the-contraception-benefit-and-religious-freedom/) - Editor's Note: The comment period for the latest proposed accommodation to the Affordable Care Act's requirement to provide contraception coverage ended on April 8. We asked legal thinkers if this round of proposed exemptions to the HHS mandate is adequate. The Catholic bishops argue that the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that health plans include contraception
- [How about a “Do Over” for the HHS Mandate?](https://arcmag.org/how-about-a-do-over-for-the-hhs-mandate/) - Editor's Note: The comment period for the latest proposed accommodation to the Affordable Care Act's requirement to provide contraception coverage ended on April 8. We asked legal thinkers if this round of proposed exemptions to the HHS mandate is adequate. Judging by critics’ reactions to the Obama Administration’s latest tweaking of the HHS Mandate, you
- [To Teach or Not to Teach?](https://arcmag.org/to-teach-or-not-to-teach/) - The question of whether religion should be taught in public schools has been debated at length. In theory, since the Supreme Court explained that we are to “teach not preach” and “educate not indoctrinate,” the analysis could be simple. The only question would be, “What is the underlying purpose behind the content?” If, for example,
- [We Must Teach about Religion in High Schools](https://arcmag.org/we-must-teach-about-religion-in-high-schools/) - In September, Hendersonville High School in Hendersonville, Tennessee, made national news when it suspended field trips to religious sites as part of an elective class in world studies. The elective, which has been taught at Hendersonville for a decade, includes a unit on world religion covering five traditions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In
- [The Dangers of Religious Instruction in Public Schools](https://arcmag.org/the-dangers-of-religious-instruction-in-public-schools/) - When I heard the question, “Should we teach religion in public schools?” it made me cringe. Why? The United States is currently in the unenviable position of being near the bottom of the list of industrialized nations when it comes to teaching evolution in our public schools. As a consequence, at least half of adults
- [Ben Horowitz Is Boring](https://arcmag.org/ben-is-boring/) - The year was 1995. The venture capitalist Ben Horowitz, who recently made news by endorsing Donald Trump for president, was in his late twenties, working as a computer engineer for a software company in Silicon Valley. He was good at his job, but not obviously headed for great things. Marc Andreessen, on the other hand,
- [We Are All Imperialists Now](https://arcmag.org/we-are-all-imperialists-now/) - One of the oddest features of the university pro-Palestine protests since the October 7 massacre a year ago has been the habit of attaching to the Palestinian cause any number of seemingly unrelated causes. Adam Kirsch, the literary critic and poet, has brought out a book just now discussing the political ideas that have animated
- [An Atheist, Thank God](https://arcmag.org/an-atheist-thank-god/) - I grew up in suburban Philadelphia, within walking distance of two synagogues, one Reform and the other (my family’s) Conservative, housed in a concrete and glass temple that was one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s final projects. Normative Judaism had, at best, an anodyne effect on this bookish boy in the late 1950s. A four-hour service
- [The Culture War That's Ended](https://arcmag.org/the-culture-war-thats-ended/) - One could be forgiven for thinking that the debate over “school choice”—the option for parents to use taxpayer dollars to send their children to private, often religiously-affiliated schools—has somehow gone away. Nobody seems to be talking about school choice in this election cycle; for culture warriors of the left and the right, issues like abortion
- [We Must Fix Our Broken Immigration System](https://arcmag.org/we-must-fix-our-broken-immigration-system/) - The U.S. immigration system is broken. Republicans, Democrats, and Independents have argued that the immigration system is in urgent need of an overhaul. Essentially we have a twentieth-century immigration system addressing twenty-first century immigration realities. The question is not whether or not we need to repair a broken system but rather what should be done
- [The Blame Belongs to House Republicans](https://arcmag.org/the-blame-belongs-to-house-republicans/) - Long a priority of the faith community, comprehensive immigration reform is dead. Our response to thousands of unaccompanied children arriving at our southern border points to the consequences of our broken immigration system and our broken politics. Instead of using the legislative process to institute a reform that a majority of the people and their
- [Amnesty Is Not the Answer Without Genuine Border Security](https://arcmag.org/amnesty-is-not-the-answer-without-genuine-border-security/) - Over the last several years numerous prominent evangelical officials and agencies have assertively advocated mass legalization of illegal immigrants as a biblical imperative. They joined more liberal Mainline Protestant agencies and officials, who have for many years urged this same policy. Both liberal Protestants and evangelicals frequently cited Old Testament commands to offer hospitality to
- [For Mormons, a Contested Legacy on Capital Punishment](https://arcmag.org/for-mormons-a-contested-legacy-on-capital-punishment/) - Over the past century and a half, numerous authors, from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to Jon Krakauer, have been fascinated—and horrified—by the nineteenth-century Mormon teaching of “blood atonement.” Particularly during the Mormon Reformation of 1856-57, in which leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sought to curtail apparent backsliding and inspire repentance
- [Let's Reform Our Broken Criminal Justice System](https://arcmag.org/lets-reform-our-broken-criminal-justice-system/) - Never Murder. –Exodus 20:13 (God’s Word Translation) As an African American woman who identifies with the Hebraic roots of the Christian faith and who has found a theological home in womanist theology, my religious tradition informs my views of the death penalty in general and as it affects Black women in particular. As a follower
- [Capital Crime Calls for Capital Punishment](https://arcmag.org/capital-crime-calls-for-capital-punishment/) - It is one of those recurring issues, at least in the American context, that refuses to leave us alone. The increasingly pointless face of crime, coupled with a growing sense of exasperation over pandemic violent crime at both state and federal levels, guarantees that the debate over capital punishment not only will not disappear but
- [Let's Recognize the Human Dignity of All People](https://arcmag.org/lets-recognize-the-human-dignity-of-all-people/) - It’s the sound of splashing that still, six years later, haunts me. I was in Budapest as part of a trip to Europe and touring the infamous “House of Terror” Museum. The building had been a headquarters for the Nazi regime as they moved into Hungary. In this house, victims of Hitler’s reign of terror
- [We Must Engage with Shared Values in the Abortion Debate](https://arcmag.org/we-must-engage-with-shared-values-in-the-abortion-debate/) - In the abortion debate, we often focus on whose beliefs are right or wrong. We use this approach to persuade politicians to legislate and judges to rule based on their alignment with one side of this debate or other. This approach absorbs us in the battle in public political arenas to win our respective arguments.
- [The Abortion Conversation Needs New Language](https://arcmag.org/the-abortion-conversation-needs-new-language/) - In this moment of crushing political polarization, looking for common ground in the abortion debate can feel to both sides like abandoning their most cherished values. For pro-choice leaders, the other side wants to strip women of fundamental rights in a quest to regain power over women’s bodies. For pro-life leaders, the other side wants
- [We Should Be Peacemakers in the Abortion Wars](https://arcmag.org/we-should-be-peacemakers-in-the-abortion-wars/) - Where can opposing sides of the abortion debate find common ground? This is a good question but only one of many. What do we mean by “common ground” and who wants it? Who doesn’t? What would it look like? Are there different kinds of common ground? Would finding common ground end the abortion wars; lead to
- [Ella Baker, Pragmatism, and Black Democratic Perfectionism](https://arcmag.org/ella-baker-pragmatism-and-black-democratic-perfectionism/) - Ella Baker (1903-1986) believed, and enacted this belief in the way she organized, that what the Black freedom struggle needed most, what America needed most, was “the development of people who are interested not in being leaders as much as in developing leadership among other people,” as she would tell historian Gerda Lerner. She had
- [Hey Siri, How Are You?](https://arcmag.org/alexa-how-are-you/) - All of a sudden we are like God in Genesis: We speak, and there is light. From Claude, the chatbot that obliged me by drafting an email yesterday, to the Amazon Echo I address every night to conjure bedtime music for my youngest child, language functions as the magical formulas of our current technological moment.
- [The Circle Is Not Unbroken](https://arcmag.org/the-circle-is-not-unbroken/) - Shortly before Black History Month in 2020, Bethany Stewart, a member of a Philadelphia church called Circle of Hope, asked pastor Rod White if she might draft topical prayers for the church website. No, said the pastor. As journalist Eliza Griswold tells the story, White said they “didn’t need prayers for Black History Month,” because
- [The Mask as Symbol and Weapon ](https://arcmag.org/the-mask-as-symbol-and-weapon/) - Political stories are often told in terms of binaries and lines. Here’s the right, there’s the left, and these are the lines that divide them. But then there are political stories that are more like spinning vortices of multiple causes and conditions, defying easy categorization. The debate over “mask bans”—laws that would criminalize the wearing
- [The Spirit Lives On](https://arcmag.org/the-spirit-lives-on/) - It was a startling, uncanny moment—and all the stranger when watched again. At the first Democratic primary debate of the 2020 election cycle, the candidates were each given 45 seconds for their closing statements. Eric Swalwell discussed student loan debt, John Hickenlooper methane regulations. Kamala Harris had her talking point ready about a “3 a.m.
- [As Artificial Intelligence Advances, What Are its Religious Implications?](https://arcmag.org/as-artificial-intelligence-advances-what-are-its-religious-implications/) - The concept of artificial intelligence has been fuel for science fiction since at least 1920, when the Czech writer Karel Čapek published R.U.R., his play about a mutiny led by a throng of robots. Speculation about the future of intelligent machines has run rampant in the intervening decades but recently has taken a more critical
- [Kanye and the Troubling History of Persistent Antisemitism](https://arcmag.org/kanye-and-the-troubling-history-of-persistent-antisemitism/) - In October 2022, the rapper Ye—formerly known as Kanye West—was suspended from Twitter after posting that he was planning to go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.” In the weeks to come, Ye claimed during a podcast interview that “Jewish Zionists” were responsible for various professional setbacks he had experienced; blamed his marital woes on
- [A Kind of Homelessness: Evangelicals of Color in the Trump Era](https://arcmag.org/a-kind-of-homelessness-evangelicals-of-color-in-the-trump-era/) - Before the 2016 election, Nikki Toyama-Szeto had thought of the term “evangelical” as neutral. “It was about theology,” she told me recently. She had a long history working with evangelical organizations like International Justice Mission and Intervarsity, and as the executive director of Evangelicals for Social Action, she was a well-known speaker and activist in
- [Violence in Mormon Ways: A Review of "Under the Banner of Heaven"](https://arcmag.org/violence-in-mormon-ways-a-review-of-under-the-banner-of-heaven/) - Nearly 40 years after Latter-day Saint Brenda Lafferty and her 15-month-old daughter Erica were brutally murdered by brothers-in-law Dan and Ron Lafferty, the troubling case has returned once again to the public spotlight. The case has been a staple of pop culture since Jon Krakauer’s 2003 book Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of
- [Oklahoma: A Public Radio Host Uncovers Socialism in the Sooner State](https://arcmag.org/oklahoma/) - I grew up in Shawnee, Oklahoma, the granddaughter of a Southern Baptist preacher. But I went to college in what my father called “the Godless East.” When I spent a semester in Cold War East Germany, someone asked him if I had ever been to a Communist country before. “Sure,” he replied, “she’s been to
- [Pennsylvania: A Progressive Theologian Recalls His Republican Roots](https://arcmag.org/pennsylvania/) - I grew up in an intensely political household in Chester County, Pennsylvania. My parents and grandparents were Republicans, active in local, county and state politics. Although I changed considerably in my political views since my childhood, I still admire their persistence, dedication and hard work. They not only believed politics made a real difference, they
- [Utah: A Mormon Scholar Meets Latter-Day Libertarians](https://arcmag.org/utah-a-mormon-scholar-meets-latter-day-libertarians-2/) - In March, I found myself in Bountiful, Utah, just north of Salt Lake City. There, in the classrooms and gymnasiums of Millcreek Junior High School, I gathered with area Republicans to watch their 2012 caucus. It’s a meaningful quirk that both Republican Party precincts and the wards of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
- [Texas: A Longhorn Remembers the Alamo](https://arcmag.org/texas-a-longhorn-remembers-the-alamo/) - In January 2012, as Texas Governor Rick Perry campaigned before the Iowa Caucuses, the former candidate launched television advertisements in which he announced that, as president, “I’ll end Obama’s war on religion.” The spot decried the president’s stand on gays in the military and prayer in school, but the newspaper account of that ad didn’t
- [Montana: A Bozeman Native Explores Environmentalism in Big Sky Country](https://arcmag.org/montana-a-bozeman-native-explores-environmentalism-in-big-sky-country/) - When Joseph Kinsey Howard wrote Montana: High, Wide, and Handsome in 1943, he wrote of the wide "Montana Margins" he wanted in life, "room to swing my arms and to swing my mind." He went on: Where is there more opportunity than in Montana for the creation of these broad margins, physical and intellectual? Where
- [Wisconsin: A Political Scientist Surveys the Recall Election](https://arcmag.org/wisconsin-a-political-scientist-surveys-the-recall-election/) - Editor’s Note: Today (June 5) Wisconsin voters head to the polls in a special recall election, where they will decide either to keep Governor Scott Walker in office or to replace him with Democratic challenger Tom Barrett. Momentum for the recall election was ignited by a controversial budget bill, which eliminated most collective bargaining rights
- [California: A Dreamer Walks With Cesar Chavez](https://arcmag.org/california-a-dreamer-walks-with-cesar-chavez/) - “We need a cultural revolution. And we need a cultural revolution among ourselvesnot only in art but also in the realm of the spirit.” —Cesar E. Chavez (1927-1993) On Easter Sunday, 1966, Cesar Chavez and a cadre of renegade Catholic priests, nuns, rabbis, and Protestant ministers converged on the steps of California’s capitol building in
- [Wyoming: A Westerner Encounters Open Range Religion](https://arcmag.org/wyoming-a-westerner-encounters-open-range-religion/) - "Oh give me a homeWhere the buffalo roamAnd the deer and the antelope playWhere never is heard a discouraging wordAnd the sky is not clouded all day."–Brewster Higley, “My Western Home” Although I grew up singing “Home on the Range,” I never thought it described an actual place. Then I moved to Wyoming. Buffalo roaming?
- [Rhode Island: A Resident Hears Dissent in Roger Williams' State](https://arcmag.org/rhode-island-a-resident-hears-dissent-in-roger-williams-state/) - Conflicts over religion and politics are alive and well in Roger Williams’ state. Yet in the former English colony that Williams founded in 1636 on the principles of religious liberty and church-state separation, these conflicts have little to do with the “red” and “blue” political identities so commonplace in our political discourse. We Rhode Islanders
- [Minnesota: A Professor Tells a Tale of Two Congressional Districts](https://arcmag.org/minnesota-a-professor-tells-a-tale-of-two-congressional-districts/) - Editor’s Note: On July 13, Michele Bachmann sent a 16-page letter to fellow Minnesotan Keith Ellison. In it, she raised questions about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s aide Huma Abedin, charging that her family had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. The missive came after Ellison had challenged Bachmann on similar statements she and colleagues had made
- [Massachusetts: A Teacher Strolls Along the Freedom Trail](https://arcmag.org/massachusetts-a-teacher-strolls-along-the-freedom-trail/) - Every year, at least 3 million visitors to the capital of Massachusetts walk the Freedom Trail, a two-and-a-half-mile red-brick pathway that winds through the streets of Boston. The trail passes historic churches, houses of government, and cemeteries where revolutionary-era heroes like Samuel Adams and John Hancock are interred. On April 24, 2012—the day that former
- [Alabama: A Son of the South Returns to the Heart of Dixie](https://arcmag.org/alabama-a-native-son-returns-to-the-heart-of-dixie/) - When I tell people that I was raised by Alabama Baptists, people sometimes think that I am joking. When I assure them that I really was raised by Alabama Baptists, people sometimes give me their condolences. Better to have been raised by a pack of wild wolves, some people seem to believe, than to have
- [Indiana: A Hoosier Remembers Eating Government Cheese](https://arcmag.org/indiana-a-hoosier-remembers-eating-government-cheese/) - I can’t remember when I bought it. But I do remember that I got it from Von’s Books and Records in West Lafayette, near Purdue University. My three friends and I made a pilgrimage to the record shop any time we drummed up some cash, and could get someone to drive us the 40 miles
- [North Carolina: A Southerner Mines the Meaning of Progress](https://arcmag.org/north-carolina-a-southerner-mines-the-meaning-of-progress/) - Before leaving home and heading off to college, I mastered the art of making that staple of any good, Southern, home-cooked breakfast—grits. Just the right amount of butter melted in a small pot of water, a tad (or more) salt, set atop a low-burning eye for God-knows hoowwwww long. Additional instructions? “Just keep stirrin’.” Lumpy
- [Connecticut: A Blogger Revisits the Yale Athletic Fields](https://arcmag.org/connecticut-a-blogger-revisits-the-yale-athletic-fields/) - The sober folk of Connecticut refer to their state as the “land of steady habits,” a motto that honors their refusal to let the civic order be disrupted by irrational hatreds or enthusiasms. Yet their habit of keeping religion out of politics is a relatively recent one. To understand how they acquired it, we need
- [Colorado: A Scholar Drives Through a Swing State](https://arcmag.org/colorado-a-historian-drives-through-a-swing-state/) - As you enter the state of Colorado, signposts along its borders beckon, “Welcome to Colorful Colorado.” In recent years, one color—purple—has dominated political discussions of the state, which went easily for Bush in 2004 and just as easily for Obama in 2008. Driving the region’s scenic highways, in and out of congressional districts where the
- [Nevada: A Novelist Tours a Nuclear Testing Site](https://arcmag.org/nevada-a-novelist-tours-a-nuclear-testing-site/) - The day is not a hot one, but gray and rainy. This weather is unusual for Las Vegas in October. The roads grow slick, but no one slows their cars. It is 2010, weeks before the Nevada Senate election between Harry Reid and Sharron Angle. I have driven the 440 miles from Salt Lake City,
- [Mississippi: A Historian Challenges H.L. Mencken](https://arcmag.org/mississippi-a-historian-challenges-h-l-mencken/) - In 2011, the Colorado-based Personhood USA ministry made Mississippi the latest staging ground in its campaign to amend a state constitution to define “personhood” to “include every human being from the moment of fertilization.” Personhood USA chose Mississippi for a specific reason. America’s most religious state (at least according a recent Pew poll) is home
- [Iowa: A Pastor's Son Notes When Politics Came to the Pulpit](https://arcmag.org/iowa-a-pastors-son-notes-when-politics-came-to-the-pulpit/) - “I prefer to think of Iowa as I saw it through the eyes of a ten-year-old boy,” Herbert Hoover, the only Iowan ever elected president of the United States, wrote at the beginning of his memoir. “Those were eyes filled with the wonders of Iowa’s streams and woods, of the mystery of growing crops.” Having
- [South Carolina: A Reporter Trails Nikki Haley and Mark Sanford](https://arcmag.org/south-carolina-a-reporter-trails-nikki-haley-and-mark-sanford/) - Editor’s Note: On Tuesday (March 19), South Carolina will hold primaries in a special election to fill a congressional seat. Candidates for the post include former Governor Mark Sanford, magnate Ted Turner’s son, and Elizabeth Colbert Busch, comedian Stephen Colbert’s sister. For our latest from The States of the Union Project, we give you this
- [New Hampshire: A Protester Fights to Live Free or Die](https://arcmag.org/new-hampshire-a-protester-fights-to-live-free-or-die/) - If the Granite State is known for anything, it’s politics. Every four years politicos fix their sights on this tiny sliver of New England as New Hampshire hosts the first-in-the-nation presidential primary. State law requires New Hampshire to maintain its privileged primary position. This suits its residents, who seem to believe their idiosyncratic political culture
- [Kentucky: A Priest Takes on the Coal Industry](https://arcmag.org/kentucky-a-priest-takes-on-the-coal-industry/) - “Both beauty and destruction call us to prayer.”— Father John Rausch Pine Mountain, a ridge that runs for more than 100 miles and includes some of the highest elevations in Kentucky, is revered for its relatively undisturbed terrain and beauty—an embodiment of the Appalachian Mountain ecosystem. Pine Mountain contains almost no coal but yields startling
- [Maine: A Spiritual Frontier Opens for Business](https://arcmag.org/maine-a-spiritual-frontier-opens-for-business/) - When most people think of the state of Maine, they think “Vacationland,” a place of dramatic natural beauty, lobster, and leisurely summer afternoons. That’s true in part, and we did have “Vacationland” on our license plates for years. But the term is a little, well, soft to describe the whole state. The official state motto,
- [Illinois: An Autoworker Reconciles God and Mammon](https://arcmag.org/illinois-an-autoworker-reconciles-god-and-mammon/) - Growing up in an Illinois factory town that seemed to have as many corn silos as smokestacks, I often wondered why everything around me sounded so cosmopolitan and French. My grandfather, for example, worked more than half his life in a Chrysler Automotive Plant in Belvidere, a town named after a French term of Italian
- [Nebraska: A Cornhusker Prays with FCA](https://arcmag.org/nebraska-a-cornhusker-prays-with-fca/) - My childhood was oriented around Nebraska Cornhusker football. A pastor’s kid growing up in McCook, a town of 8,000 in southwest Nebraska, I came of age during the Cornhuskers’ string of championship runs in the 1990s. I was more likely to skip church on Sunday than miss the Saturday radio or television broadcast of the
- [Louisiana: A French Teacher Lives Among the Cajuns](https://arcmag.org/louisiana-a-french-teacher-lives-among-the-cajuns/) - “So, what do you think about moving to the Third World?” This was the first question that Lynn Blevins, the head of the upper school of the Episcopal School of Acadiana (ESA), asked me during a phone interview in April 2003 for a job as a French teacher at the small, independent day school located
- [Ohio: An Atheist Finds (Some) Reasons to Believe in Her Old Church](https://arcmag.org/ohio-an-atheist-finds-some-reasons-to-believe-in-her-old-church/) - It’s been years since I last had this feeling, that the place I considered a home wasn’t what I thought it was. On election night, I watched my state turn red—something I haven’t seen it do since college—and the majority of my neighbors standing with a man who to me represents bigotry and hate. I
- [Missouri: An Ozarks Native Crosses the Show Me State](https://arcmag.org/missouri-an-ozarks-native-crosses-the-show-me-state/) - “I’m from Missouri,” the old saying goes, “you’ll have to show me.” There are as many tales about the origin of this saying as there are stars in a moonless Ozarks sky. It may have been the Confederate commander who, when told to surrender or suffer peril, didn’t believe the Union soldier’s boast of outnumbered
- [If a Candidate Talks Faith, We Should Talk About Everything](https://arcmag.org/if-a-candidate-talks-faith-we-should-talk-about-everything/) - I loathe subjectivity and relativity. I am with Plato in wanting to make mathematics my touchstone for knowledge. And yet, sometimes a seemingly simple question proves remarkably difficult to answer. Moreover, giving an answer forces you into pastures that you don’t much care for. Speaking to the question of how much it is permissible—perhaps even
- [Let’s Remember History, When Religious Institutions Welcomed Government Support](https://arcmag.org/lets-remember-history-when-religious-institutions-welcomed-government-support/) - It is commonplace to complain about government mismanagement of welfare and social reform, and to speak wistfully of days when religious institutions did much better. Yet if we look back to the moment when the state began to take on some responsibility for those in need, what is most striking is the relief, and even
- [We Need Less Religion in our Politics and Less Politics in our Religion](https://arcmag.org/we-need-less-religion-in-our-politics-and-less-politics-in-our-religion/) - A few weeks before last November’s election, a yard sign popped up in front of First Baptist Church of West Harwich, Massachusetts, not far from my Cape Cod home. “Scott Brown He’s For Us,” it read, giving a thumbs up to the incumbent Republican senator in his race with Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren (who eventually
- [How Should We Teach the Bible in Public Schools?](https://arcmag.org/how-should-we-teach-the-bible-in-public-schools/) - This past summer marked the fiftieth anniversary of the United States Supreme Court decision in Abington Township v. Schempp. That case is most famous for its prohibition of school-sponsored Bible reading in public schools, but it also figures prominently in American educational history for its endorsement of the academic, nonsectarian study of religion in that
- [The United States Should Abolish the Death Penalty, as Pope Francis Implores](https://arcmag.org/the-united-states-should-abolish-the-death-penalty-as-pope-francis-reminds-us/) - In his recent address before Congress, Pope Francis gave his support and encouragement to the call to abolish the death penalty in the United States. In offering papal support to end capital punishment before the representatives of the American people, the pope raised the hope that America, a beacon of freedom and justice in the
- [“We Will Fight You for It”: Can Womenpriests Save the Catholic Church?](https://arcmag.org/we-will-fight-you-for-it-can-womenpriests-save-the-catholic-church/) - Every Sunday, 17,000 Roman Catholic parishes in the United States hold Mass. For the most part, the service in Brownsburg, Indiana, looks and sounds like the rest. There are songs and Scripture readings. The white-robed priest delivers the homily. The Eucharistic Prayer features the consecration of the bread and wine on the altar, transforming them
- [Obama Backs Marriage Equality: A Christian Ethicist Responds](https://arcmag.org/obama-backs-marriage-equality-a-christian-ethicist-responds/) - On Wednesday (May 9), President Obama announced his support for same-sex marriage in an interview with ABC News. He noted that he and the first lady “are both practicing Christians,” and that his faith helped inform his shifting views on marriage equality. “When we think about our faith,” he said, “the thing at root that
- [What War on Religion?](https://arcmag.org/what-war-on-religion/) - In July of 1844, word reached New York that Joseph Smith Jr., founder of the LDS Church, had been murdered by a mob in Illinois. Reporting for the New York Herald, James Gordon Bennett wrote, “There can be no doubt that political feeling entered largely into the popular excitement in that region against the Mormons.”
- [A Status Update](https://arcmag.org/a-status-update/) - Recently, Religion & Politics reached a milestone. Sometime after the start of the RNC in Tampa, and before the conclusion of the DNC in Charlotte, our site surpassed half a million pageviews. For a small, start-up journal, one that is just four months old, we were thrilled and wanted to share this achievement with our
- [Pastor on Pulpit Freedom Sunday: “Why I Cannot Support Barack Obama for President”](https://arcmag.org/pastor-on-pulpit-freedom-sunday-why-i-cannot-support-barack-obama-for-president/) - It was raining, and chilly, when Hope Christian Church celebrated Pulpit Freedom Sunday this past weekend. Some 150 congregants gathered for the special 8 a.m. service, where Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Jr. stood at the lectern and announced, “Today, 1,500 pastors and counting are purposely preaching a message that violates the 501(c)(3) status of our
- [The Election By the Numbers: An Interview with Robert P. Jones](https://arcmag.org/the-election-by-the-numbers-an-interview-with-robert-p-jones/) - Robert P. Jones is the founding CEO of Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and education organization that works at the intersection of religion, values, and public life. Jones notably works across disciplinary divides, bridging the gap between sociology and political science. Having studied religious ethics and the sociology of religion, his
- [Why We Wait for a Non-European Pope](https://arcmag.org/why-we-wait-for-a-non-european-pope/) - As Pope Benedict steps down this week, speculation stirs that the next pontiff could be a man of color or from outside Europe. And while many qualifications trump nationality when it comes picking the leader of 1.1 billion Catholics, an end to the European dominance of the Holy See is still an enticing suggestion. On
- [The Intellectual Civil War within Evangelicalism: An Interview with Molly Worthen](https://arcmag.org/the-intellectual-civil-war-within-evangelicalism-an-interview-with-molly-worthen/) - Last month, Molly Worthen traveled to the John C. Danforth Center on Religion & Politics to take part in a symposium for the inaugural Danforth Distinguished Lecture series at Washington University in St. Louis. During her stay, she sat down with Managing Editor Tiffany Stanley to discuss her latest book, Apostles of Reason: The Crisis
- [Obama and the Paradoxes of Progressive Christianity: An Interview with James Kloppenberg](https://arcmag.org/obama-and-the-paradoxes-of-progressive-christianity-an-interview-with-james-t-kloppenberg/) - On March 27-29, scholars gathered in St. Louis, Missouri, at the Danforth Center on Religion & Politics for the conference “Beyond the Culture Wars: Recasting Religion and Politics in the Twentieth Century.” At the pinnacle of the three-day event, James T. Kloppenberg delivered the keynote lecture, entitled “Barack Obama and the Paradoxes of Progressive Christianity.”
- [The Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer: An Interview with Charles Marsh](https://arcmag.org/the-life-of-dietrich-bonhoeffer-an-interview-with-charles-marsh/) - On April 9, 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Christian theologian who opposed the Nazis, was hanged by the regime on the grounds of a concentration camp. Nearly seven decades later, his theological writings and work continue to engage and inspire readers. In a comprehensive new biography, scholar Charles Marsh reconstructs the pastor’s life, providing intimate details
- [For Charleston's Emanuel A.M.E., a Legacy of Hope and Resistance](https://arcmag.org/for-charlestons-emanuel-a-m-e-church-a-legacy-of-hope-and-resistance/) - Charleston is known as the holy city, for its many steeples and spires that tower above the landscape. On Wednesday night, a most unholy act happened in one of the city’s congregations. Suspect Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old white man, is believed to have entered the doors of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. According to authorities, he
- [American Catholicism in Public Life: An Interview with Cardinal Timothy Dolan](https://arcmag.org/american-catholicism-in-public-life-an-interview-with-cardinal-timothy-dolan/) - Last month, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Catholic archbishop of New York, gave a public lecture at Washington University in St. Louis. It was a homecoming for the cardinal, who is a St. Louis native. The Danforth Center on Religion and Politics sponsored the event. Over his 40 years in ministry, Dolan has served in Missouri,
- [In the Age of Trump, Muslim Voters Mobilize](https://arcmag.org/in-the-age-of-trump-muslim-voters-mobilize/) - Equipped with burner phones and laptops, the volunteers took their seats. A dozen voices echoed around the Muslim community space in Alexandria, Virginia, as they cold-called phone numbers from a database. “As-salamu Alaikum,” read the traditional Arabic greeting in their script. “Are you planning on voting in the upcoming election?” Farheena Mustafa, 22, asked the
- [The Revival of the Old Religious Right](https://arcmag.org/the-revival-of-the-old-religious-right/) - The obituary has been written many times over. The old-guard Religious Right would be diminished, perhaps vanquished, over its support of Donald Trump. In its place were new evangelical leaders—the Russell Moores and the Never Trumpers—who would preach piety, and not politics. There were growing numbers of evangelicals of color who were changing the face
- [A Time of Transition at <em>Religion & Politics</em>](https://arcmag.org/a-time-of-transition-at-religion-politics/) - For all of us at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis, this is a time of transition. As I conclude 12 years as the Center Director on June 30, we await news on the next Director. Tiffany Stanley, the longtime managing editor of our flagship journal,
- [The Museum of the Bible and the Politics of Interpretation](https://arcmag.org/the-museum-of-the-bible-and-the-politics-of-interpretation/) - White evangelicals have an outsized influence in the public sphere compared to their percentage of the population. This influence was evident in the 2016 presidential election and the pro-life activism that culminated in the Supreme Court’s recent overturning of Roe v. Wade. And within evangelicalism, few are as influential as the Green family, the owners
- [The Editor Who Championed Martin Luther King’s Bestsellers](https://arcmag.org/the-editor-who-championed-martin-luther-kings-bestsellers/) - The story of the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, is widely told, so much so that Rosa Parks, who inspired it, and Martin Luther King Jr., who led it, are now two of the best-known figures in U.S. history. Less known is how the events of that protest turned King into a bestselling author. On
- [The Myth of American Individualism](https://arcmag.org/the-myth-of-american-individualism/) - In America, so the myth goes, freedom favors the bold and ambitious individual. From Benjamin Franklin to Steve Jobs, our national mythology has lionized and celebrated bright, plucky, self-motivated characters who work hard to realize innovative ideas. Though born and raised in families, communities, and other collectives, the story goes, these singular personalities rise above
- [The Mundane History of White Christian Nationalism](https://arcmag.org/the-mundane-history-of-white-christian-nationalism/) - Of all the songs I loved singing as a child at my church’s Vacation Bible School every summer, my favorite was one called, “I’m in the Lord’s Army.” We sang the lyrics—“I may never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery. I may never fly o’er the enemy, but I’m in
- [The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover: An Interview with Lerone Martin](https://arcmag.org/the-gospel-of-j-edgar-hoover-an-interview-with-lerone-martin/) - In his new book The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover, Lerone A. Martin shows how the FBI was a major force enabling white Christian nationalism in the modern United States. As FBI director, Hoover built a religious culture at the bureau with the aim of forming agents to do battle against what he saw as
- [Marvin Olasky Still Wants to Make Journalism Biblically Objective](https://arcmag.org/marvin-olasky-still-wants-to-make-journalism-biblically-objective/) - In June of 2021, Marvin Olasky eased his lanky, 71-year-old frame into a desk chair and began writing his bimonthly magazine column. The title: “One Year to Go.” After nearly three decades as editor-in-chief at WORLD, the muckraking evangelical news magazine known for its “biblically objective” reporting, Olasky was ready for a gradual, understated retirement
- [The Future of Religion in American Diplomacy](https://arcmag.org/the-future-of-religion-in-american-diplomacy/) - To be invited by the secretary of state to launch a new office on religion and global affairs, and then to be able to lead that office for almost four years, was the opportunity of a lifetime. It is impossible to fully convey the challenges and joys of that task. The team we built, the
- [The Concerns of Young Evangelicals Offer Political Insights for 2024](https://arcmag.org/the-concerns-of-young-evangelicals-offer-political-insights-for-2024/) - One of the best-known changes happening in American religion over the last few decades is the meteoric rise in the share of the general public that claims no religious affiliation on surveys. In the 1970s, it was just 5 percent of the public and now it has risen to nearly 3 in 10 adults. Among
- [Bad Preachers’ Wives](https://arcmag.org/bad-preachers-wives/) - On a hot pandemic day in 2020, Jerry Falwell Jr., president of the fundamentalist Christian Liberty University, was caught with his pants down. To be fair, Falwell voluntarily posed for the compromising photograph, which he then posted to his 25,000 Instagram followers. In the photo, the evangelical leader stands with his pants unzipped to reveal
- [How Mainline Protestants Help Build Christian Nationalism](https://arcmag.org/how-mainline-protestants-help-build-christian-nationalism/) - As the first members of the pro-Trump mob waltzed into the U.S. Senate chamber on Jan. 6, 2021, they looked for “evidence” of wrongdoing. A few made their way to the podium, where one shouted, “Jesus Christ, we invoke your name!” That declaration inspired Jacob Chansley—nicknamed the “QAnon Shaman” for pushing conspiracy theories while wearing
- [Rick Warren: The Purpose-Driven Pastorpreneur](https://arcmag.org/rick-warren-the-purpose-driven-pastorpreneur/) - When Rick Warren stepped behind his church’s hand-carved pulpit for the last time as Saddleback’s senior pastor in August, he did something unexpected. The 68-year-old founder told his congregation that he would repeat word for word his first sermon at Saddleback in 1980. “It is the dream of welcoming 20,000 members into the fellowship of
- [The Pitfalls of Christian Celebrity: An Interview with Katelyn Beaty](https://arcmag.org/the-pitfalls-of-christian-celebrity-an-interview-with-katelyn-beaty/) - Evangelicalism has long been fraught with scandals, and in recent years, much of it has centered around megachurches and prominent pastors. Christian celebrities such as Carl Lentz, Bill Hybels, and the late Ravi Zacharias have all fallen from grace. Documentaries and podcasts have documented the abuses carried out by megachurch ministries like Mars Hill and
- [Political Church Shopping is Further Polarizing America](https://arcmag.org/political-church-shopping-is-further-polarizing-america/) - As the 2022 midterm elections wrap up, candidates in most states will be temporarily retiring the attack ads. Both parties are preparing for an era of divided government, meaning compromises will need to be made to govern the country. In his post-election address, President Biden highlighted: “On this election season, the American people made it
- [My Evangelical Anxiety](https://arcmag.org/my-evangelical-anxiety/) - “I need help. I feel worse now than I’ve ever felt, and I’ve felt bad for a long time,” I told the attending nurse at the student health clinic at the university where I was writing a doctoral dissertation on the integrity of the self in modern Christian thought. The methods of coping that had
- [A Mosque of Her Own](https://arcmag.org/a-mosque-of-her-own/) - The Women’s Mosque of America (WMA) was conceived as a space to elevate Muslim women’s voices. Its services officially began in Janu­ary 2015, when it held its inaugural Jummah (Friday prayer) for an all-female congre­gation at the Pico Union Project near downtown LA. At the service, one woman called the adhan (call to prayer) while
- [Telling the Story of a Global Catholic Faith: An Interview with John McGreevy](https://arcmag.org/telling-the-story-of-a-global-catholic-faith-an-interview-with-john-mcgreevy/) - Few institutions are both as successful and as embattled as the Roman Catholic Church. Today it reaches over a billion adherents across the globe—roughly 17.7 percent of the world’s population, by some estimates—and, as John T. McGreevy writes in his latest book, “No institution is as multicultural or multilingual.” Throughout the world, the church wields
- [Revisiting the Legacy of Jackie Robinson: the Christian, the Athlete, and the Activist](https://arcmag.org/revisiting-the-legacy-of-jackie-robinson-the-christian-the-athlete-and-the-activist/) - Fifty years ago this October, Jackie Robinson’s final autobiography, I Never Had It Made, was published, just one week after Robinson died. It’s a book that I assigned as a history professor when teaching a post-1877 U.S. history class, because it’s fundamentally a book about America—about politics, race, and sports, about a changing post-World War
- [Religious Nationalism Holds Sway as Virginia Revokes the Rights of Trans Students](https://arcmag.org/religious-nationalism-holds-sway-as-virginia-revokes-the-rights-of-trans-students/) - The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), with board members newly appointed by Governor Glenn Youngkin, issued the “2022 Model Policies on the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools” on Friday, September 16. The document is a complete reversal of the 2021 guidelines, which were devised to offer transgender
- [How Religion Became More Conservative and Society More Secular: An Interview with David Hollinger](https://arcmag.org/how-religion-became-more-conservative-and-society-more-secular-an-interview-with-david-hollinger/) - For all of the influence wielded and attention received by American evangelicals today, one could be forgiven for concluding that evangelicalism and Christianity are synonymous in America. But such a mistake would have been impossible a few decades back, when the liberal “mainline” denominations outpaced and overshadowed evangelicals in the contest for control of Christianity’s
- [How Queuing to Pay Respect to the Queen Became a Pilgrimage](https://arcmag.org/how-queuing-to-pay-respect-to-the-queen-became-a-pilgrimage/) - Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8, 2022. As the longest-reigning monarch in British history and the head of one of the most famous families in the world, her death sparked an outpouring of devotion. Stories of her passing clogged global news outlets. “Operation London Bridge,” the Queen’s funeral plan, had been in the works
- [Christians Love a Comeback Story. Too Often It’s Cheap Grace.](https://arcmag.org/christians-love-a-comeback-story-too-often-its-cheap-grace/) - For the first time in nearly two years, Carl Lentz, former pastor of Hillsong New York, recently shared an update. “It’s been a challenging road but we are alive, we are at peace and thanks to the grace of God we are TOGETHER,” he posted on social media alongside several family portraits. That day, his
- [Religious Appropriation Depends on Whiteness Too](https://arcmag.org/religious-appropriation-depends-on-whiteness-too/) - Most progressive liberals are aware of the dangers of borrowing from racially marginalized communities. My students are no exception. They are quick to identify and condemn forms of cultural appropriation when white folks adopt styles of communities of color for financial benefit or to increase their coolness quotient. Which is all to say we are
- [A Climate Activist Reconsiders History: An Interview with Bill McKibben](https://arcmag.org/a-climate-activist-reconsiders-history-an-interview-with-bill-mckibben/) - Bill McKibben is a living legend in environmental activism. A journalist and educator, he is the founder of the global climate organization 350.org, a longtime opponent of the Keystone XL Pipeline, and a leader in the divestment movement, which today claims to have withdrawn more than $40 trillion from fossil fuel funds. He is also
- [Conversion Isn’t a Ticket Out of White Supremacy](https://arcmag.org/conversion-isnt-a-ticket-out-of-white-supremacy/) - White Christian nationalism has recently come into sharper focus because of the January 6 insurrection and controversial Supreme Court rulings regarding reproductive rights and the separation of religion and state. Yet, the influence of whiteness on religion extends beyond Christianity, which often becomes equated with “religion” itself. Despite the growing number of white people converting
- [A Decade After the First Reason Rally, What Happened to America’s Atheist Revolution?](https://arcmag.org/a-decade-after-the-first-reason-rally-what-happened-to-americas-atheist-revolution/) - Ten years ago, thousands of atheists, humanists, and skeptics descended by the busload upon the National Mall in Washington to attend the Reason Rally, the largest-ever gathering of nonbelievers. “We’re here, we’re godless, get used to it,” chanted the crowd, estimated to have between 10,000 and 30,000 people. For America’s growing non-religious movement, it was
- [Empowered by Magic: The Christians and "Nones" Exploring Witchcraft](https://arcmag.org/empowerment-through-magic-the-christians-and-nones-exploring-witchcraft/) - I began using occult practices—drawing salt circles around the perimeter of my home and burning candles for protection—when a devastating gynecological health condition baffled my doctors. I had the symptoms of a urinary tract infection, but no medically discernible infection. I took half a dozen rounds of powerful antibiotics that only made my symptoms worse.
- [The Future of Religion in the Metaverse](https://arcmag.org/the-future-of-religion-in-the-metaverse/) - Tech companies are investing in the metaverse and increasingly recognizing that religious communities, some which have already been meeting in virtual reality, will play a key role in the digital future. Many questions remain, however, as to whether that relationship will be good for the religious communities themselves or merely prioritize profits through engagement at
- [The Faith-Based Politics of El Salvador’s Millennial President](https://arcmag.org/the-faith-based-politics-of-el-salvadors-millennial-president/) - Religion was at the center of El Salvador’s controversial presidential election in 2019. For the first time since the negotiated settlement of the country’s traumatic civil war in 1992, Nayib Bukele, a young candidate of Palestinian descent unaffiliated with either the main conservative or leftist political party, was the favorite to win. In the weeks
- [The Religious and Anti-Chinese Roots of "Replacement" Theory](https://arcmag.org/the-religious-and-anti-chinese-roots-of-replacement-theory/) - The “Great Replacement" theory didn’t just emerge in Buffalo, El Paso, Pittsburgh, Charleston, or any of the other racist mass murders of the 21st century. There’s a long history to white Americans’ fear of being replaced. This history is often traced back to the early 20th century when falling birth rates among Anglo-American families, coupled
- [Dobbs and Fetal Personhood](https://arcmag.org/dobbs-and-fetal-personhood/) - The pro-life movement has long vilified Justice Harry Blackmun, whose majority opinion in Roe v. Wade struck down laws prohibiting or restricting abortion in many states and created a broad, constitutionally protected right to abortion. The most egregious part of the opinion, in the perspective of pro-life activists and citizens, is its flat denial of
- [The Women Left Behind by the Pro-Life Movement](https://arcmag.org/the-women-left-behind-by-the-pro-life-movement/) - A thin layer of watery ice covered the street between me and my parked car. The slick road wouldn’t have bothered me—except that I was nine months pregnant and carrying a laundry basket full of baby gifts as well as my book bag for teaching. I made it safely across, shuffling slowly in a pair
- [The Supreme Court Is Decimating Public Education as a Common Good](https://arcmag.org/the-supreme-court-is-decimating-public-education-as-a-common-good/) - As two Supreme Court cases decided this term demonstrate, white evangelicals want both religious schools funded by the state and religion in public schools—and the Supreme Court’s (Catholic) majority is eager to assist. The goal is religion-state consolidation, not separation. This development is not accidental; it is the result of decades of attacks on the
- [Separation of Church and State Has Always Been Good for Religion](https://arcmag.org/separation-of-church-and-state-has-always-been-good-for-religion/) - During the autumn of 1831, as the United States was in the midst of fervent religious revivals known as the Second Great Awakening, the French intellectual Alexis de Tocqueville attended a service at a Quaker meeting house in Philadelphia. Tocqueville was initially confused by the experience, writing in his classic 1835 account Democracy in America
- [Can AIPAC Still Claim the Middle Ground?](https://arcmag.org/can-aipac-still-claim-the-middle-ground/) - Can the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), arguably one of the most influential lobbying groups in the nation, still claim the middle ground it has long cultivated in American politics? After nearly 60 years of insisting on a bipartisan, behind-the-scenes strategy of lobbying for pro-Israel policies without endorsing or funding political candidates, AIPAC has
- [Banning Nancy Pelosi from Communion May Have Backfired](https://arcmag.org/banning-nancy-pelosi-from-communion-may-have-backfired/) - When San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone announced last month that he was barring House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from receiving communion over her support for abortion rights, the move was widely viewed as an escalation of the Catholic hierarchy’s campaign against pro-choice Catholic Democrats and liberals. The move by Cordileone, a leader of the culture war
- [King and Today's Global Democratic Struggles](https://arcmag.org/king-and-todays-global-democratic-struggles/) - “The shape of the world does not permit us the luxury of an anemic democracy,” Martin Luther King, Jr. once stated. Nonviolence, he understood, has never been about the absence of force. It has always been about getting to the negotiating table without massive death and destruction as we see around the globe today. To
- [Why Trump's MAGA Resonates With White Christian Nationalism](https://arcmag.org/why-trumps-maga-resonates-with-white-christian-nationalism/) - On January 6, 2021, when a mob of Donald Trump’s most fervent and militant supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s election, Christian symbolism was on prominent display. Video and photography shot on the Capitol steps captured a mix of Christian and American flags swaying in the wind, a man
- [Evangelical Women Revisit Feminism and Faith](https://arcmag.org/evangelical-women-revisit-feminism-and-faith/) - In the early 1970s, the radical feminist theologian Mary Daly made some startling pronouncements. First, she called herself “postchristian,” and declared that all religions “are infrastructures of the edifice of patriarchy.” Then, she called for “the castration of sexist religion,” and demanded “the death of God the Father.” Daly, who held two doctorates—in religious studies
- [Burka Enforcement and Burka Bans: Where Extremist Policies Meet](https://arcmag.org/burka-enforcement-and-burka-bans-where-extremist-policies-meet/) - On May 7, the Taliban introduced a new law that makes wearing of the burka, a traditional garment that covers the entire body with just a grille for the eyes, compulsory for women in Afghanistan. The new law follows the shuttering of secondary schools for girls in March. These actions demonstrate that the Taliban’s promises
- [American Christians "Backing the Blue": On Faith and Policing](https://arcmag.org/american-christians-backing-the-blue-on-faith-and-policing/) - Blue lives matter and they matter especially to God. Or so goes the thinking in certain law enforcement circles. Recently, a Louisville newspaper revealed that a Bible verse along these lines was used in a 2017 police department firearms training. The verse, Romans 13:4, adorned a “thin blue line” symbol often associated with the “blue
- [Coexistence After The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting](https://arcmag.org/coexistence-after-the-tree-of-life-synagogue-shooting/) - On Oct. 27, 2018, a gunman killed 11 Jews who were worshipping at the Tree of Life Congregation in Squirrel Hill in the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in American history. In his recent book, Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood, Mark Oppenheimer has offered a piercing portrait of
- [The Decline of Church-State Separation](https://arcmag.org/the-decline-of-church-state-separation/) - In his new book, Separating Church and State: A History, legal scholar Steven K. Green provides a comprehensive backstory to the fraught and turbulent historical relationship between religion and government in the United States. A concept important to many of the founders and firmly enshrined by past justices of the Supreme Court, the separation of
- [Liberal Protestants and the Polarization of the U.S.](https://arcmag.org/liberal-protestants-and-the-polarization-of-the-u-s/) - Early in the twentieth century, a subset of American Protestants began to tour the globe. They also built international NGOs and created new connections with their fellow believers in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In the process, these ecumenical Protestants—sometimes called “liberal” or “mainline” Protestants—transformed American domestic politics from the 1920s to the 1960s.
- [The Supreme Court and the Strange Politics of the “Sincere Believer”](https://arcmag.org/the-supreme-court-and-the-strange-politics-of-the-sincere-believer/) - John Ramirez is a sincere religious believer. On that, almost everyone agrees—with one notable exception. On March 24, the Supreme Court handed down an 8-1 decision in Ramirez v. Collier that protected Ramirez’s free exercise of religion. The decision allows Ramirez, who is on death row, to have his pastor lay hands on him and
- [New Smithsonian Exhibit Explores the Complexity of Science and Religion](https://arcmag.org/new-smithsonian-exhibit-explores-the-complexity-of-science-and-religion/) - When the people of Dayton, Tennessee, welcomed the world’s attention to their community for the 1925 Scopes trial, municipal leaders printed an informational brochure on whose cover was the question: “Why Dayton of all places?” Their answer was not that their town was a unique place in the American landscape, but rather the opposite. With
- [The Constitutional Roots of Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Public Faith](https://arcmag.org/the-constitutional-roots-of-ketanji-brown-jacksons-public-faith/) - Standing behind a podium bearing the presidential seal, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson—President Biden’s pick to replace Justice Stephen Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court—introduced herself to the nation by “thanking God for delivering me to this point in my professional journey.” “My life,” she continued, “has been blessed beyond measure, and I do know that
- [Zelensky Is a Jewish Hero. Some Jews Worry the Acclaim Won’t Last.](https://arcmag.org/zelensky-is-a-jewish-hero-some-jews-worry-the-acclaim-wont-last/) - Most American Jews, like most Americans, view the war in Ukraine as a horrific human catastrophe that demands political support, philanthropic dollars, and fervent prayers. We are entreated to attend rallies, assist refugees, and raise funds; some are participating in humanitarian missions to the neighboring countries that are reeling from waves of desperate Ukrainians fleeing
- [The Rise and Fall of Evangelical Influencers](https://arcmag.org/the-rise-and-fall-of-evangelical-influencers/) - In early 2021, social media influencer and pastor’s wife Caressa Prescott made the startling admission that she had just come out of rehab. Prescott told her followers on Instagram that her ongoing mental health struggles, including an eating disorder and substance abuse, had led her to seek help in a treatment facility for several weeks.
- [What Do the Nation of Islam and Marjorie Taylor Greene Have in Common?](https://arcmag.org/what-do-the-nation-of-islam-and-marjorie-taylor-greene-have-in-common/) - Last November, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia tweeted about the “common ground” shared by the GOP and the Nation of Islam (NOI). It was a surprising pronouncement, given that the far-right politician and social media star has risen to prominence on her Christian nationalist and, at times, anti-Muslim rhetoric. Her personal Twitter account
- [What Does the Russian Invasion Mean for Religious Minorities in Ukraine?](https://arcmag.org/what-does-the-russian-invasion-mean-for-religious-minorities-in-ukraine/) - Last week, the Washington Post obtained a letter from the U.S. to the United Nations warning of further Russian human rights abuses against vulnerable groups in Ukraine, including religious minorities. While the letter did not specify which religious groups would be targeted, it alleged that “Russian forces are creating lists of identified Ukrainians to be
- [The Dueling Abortion Sanctuaries of California and Texas](https://arcmag.org/the-dueling-abortion-sanctuaries-of-california-and-texas/) - A new form of sanctuary is taking shape in California. In December 2021, after a Texas law severely curbed abortion rights and Roe v. Wade looked increasingly endangered, the state of California announced its intention to become a legal sanctuary for those seeking abortions. The idea of sanctuary has deep religious roots, and sanctuary movements
- [Hijacking History: Why What We Teach Matters](https://arcmag.org/hijacking-history-why-what-we-teach-matters/) - Kathleen Wellman’s new book begins with a quote from historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. “History is to the nation as memory is to the individual,” he wrote in the New York Review of Books in 2004. “As a person deprived of memory becomes disoriented and lost, not knowing where he has been or where he is
- [States of Disbelief: Non-Believers Wrestle with Life After Religion](https://arcmag.org/states-of-disbelief-non-believers-wrestle-with-life-after-religion/) - Homeschooled in a strict Christian household in western Maryland, Laura Parks* would murmur to herself “thank you so much, God” when things went well; and “help me, God” when they didn't. She huddled in prayer almost every night with her parents and five siblings, and remembers peeking out during prayers to catch the eye of
- [Why the U.S. Presidency Demands Theological Universalism](https://arcmag.org/why-the-u-s-presidency-demands-theological-universalism/) - The American presidency contains a number of puzzles concerning religion. The country is ever more diverse and secular, but many citizens still say they want the president to be a person of faith. Yet aside from any personal religious commitments, the president is a functionary in the country’s robust civil religion, the set of national
- [The Untold Stories of AIDS and the Catholic Church](https://arcmag.org/the-untold-stories-of-aids-and-the-catholic-church/) - Between 1980 and 1996, more than 581,000 Americans were diagnosed with AIDS. Most were gay men, and approximately 362,000 of them would die from the disease. Those who survived carried the memories of those lost, bearing witness at once to the horrors of the plague itself and to the stigma born by its victims. Rejected
- [Why the LDS Church Welfare System Cannot Replace Government Assistance](https://arcmag.org/why-the-lds-church-welfare-system-cannot-replace-government-assistance/) - Last month, ProPublica co-published a piece with The Salt Lake Tribune that exposed what the Tribune’s editorial board later dubbed Utah’s “unholy merger of church and state.” Investigative journalist Eli Hager explained how intertwined Utah’s public assistance programs are with those offered by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Hager revealed that Utah’s
- [AIDS Activist Steve Pieters Revisits His Pivotal Interview with Tammy Faye Bakker](https://arcmag.org/aids-activist-steve-pieters-revisits-his-pivotal-interview-with-tammy-faye-bakker/) - The Rev. A. Stephen Pieters is a wellspring of joy and optimism. He is also one of the longest-term survivors of HIV/AIDS in the United States. For more than 35 years, Pieters has worked to raise awareness and empathy on behalf of those living with AIDS. Pieters was ordained in the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC),
- [What Does It Mean to Say Jesus Was a Refugee?](https://arcmag.org/what-does-it-mean-to-say-jesus-was-a-refugee/) - On December 25, 2019, then-presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg tweeted a Christmas message celebrating “the arrival of divinity on earth, who came into this world not in riches but in poverty, not as a citizen but as a refugee.” A few weeks earlier, the Claremont United Methodist Church in Southern California unveiled their annual Nativity scene,
- [How Pat Robertson Changed Television and American Politics](https://arcmag.org/how-pat-robertson-changed-television-and-american-politics/) - In October, Pat Robertson, at the age of 91, announced he was retiring as the long-reigning host of The 700 Club after 54 years on the air. He told viewers on the 60th anniversary of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), which Robertson founded and which hosts the program. His son Gordon will take over as
- [Justice for All: The Religious Legacy of “All in the Family”](https://arcmag.org/justice-for-all-the-religious-legacy-of-all-in-the-family/) - On January 12th, 1971, American television changed forever. A new sitcom on CBS was set to premiere, and the industry was at a fever pitch. The new project from television producer and writer Norman Lear would be the first of its kind, but few knew exactly how, or why. Despite the confidence CBS had in
- [New Documentary “Keep Sweet” Follows Mormon Fundamentalists](https://arcmag.org/the-new-documentary-keep-sweet-follows-mormon-fundamentalists/) - If one were to look at Amazon’s “Best Sellers in Mormonism” list on any given week, it is populated by books about Mormon fundamentalism. Jon Krakauer’s Under the Banner of Heaven, a tale of the Lafferty brothers who killed an innocent woman and child in 1984, is usually in the top three spots, and memoirs
- [How Meatpacking Work and Faith Intersect in the Heartland](https://arcmag.org/how-meatpacking-work-and-faith-intersect-in-the-heartland/) - In the Heartland, things are changing. Over the past century, the expansion of the meatpacking industry in rural areas has created high demand for workers willing to perform difficult and dangerous jobs. In recent years, these positions have been filled mostly by migrants, asylees, and refugees seeking some measure of stability and security in the
- [Is Kosher Pork Still Impossible?](https://arcmag.org/is-kosher-pork-still-impossible/) - It almost sounds like a joke: Kosher pork? Impossible! In late September, the Orthodox Union (OU)—the world’s largest organization certifying kosher foods—announced that Impossible Foods’s new vegan “pork” product would not be labeled as kosher. Pork is one of the most explicitly prohibited foods in kashrut—the collection of Jewish rules regarding food preparation and consumption.
- [Reframing the Story of Harvard’s Humanist Chaplaincy](https://arcmag.org/reframing-the-story-of-harvards-humanist-chaplaincy/) - The New York Times ran an article at the end of August under the headline, “Harvard’s Chief Chaplain Is an Atheist,” which generated the head-snapping attention it was designed to produce. The university’s diverse body of chaplains had recently voted to make the humanist leader Greg Epstein the administrative head of its group, but it
- [The Christian Nationalism Behind the New “God’s Not Dead” Film](https://arcmag.org/the-christian-nationalism-behind-the-new-gods-not-dead-film/) - In a rare moment of brevity in the most recent addition to the conservative Christian God’s Not Dead film franchise, protagonist Pastor Dave Hill advises his adversary, “I’d be careful about going to war against God’s church…The gates of hell will not prevail against it.” The liberal congressman, having relentlessly toiled to deny patriotic Bible-believing
- [The Religious Conversions That Changed American Politics](https://arcmag.org/the-religious-conversions-that-changed-american-politics/) - The global competition between capitalism and communism began to implicate the hearts and minds of Americans around the middle of the twentieth century. Questions of conscience, belief, and commitment arose, and Americans were scrutinized for conflicts, disloyalties, and deceptions. For some public figures, including Clare Booth Luce, Sammy Davis, Jr., Muhammed Ali, and Charles Colson,
- [Covid-19 Vaccines: Why Some Christians Decry Them as the “Mark of the Beast”](https://arcmag.org/covid-19-vaccines-why-some-christians-decry-them-as-the-mark-of-the-beast/) - The controversy surrounding the Covid-19 vaccine has been monumental, with conspiracy theories abounding. One particular fringe theory arose out of evangelical apocalypticism: that the Covid-19 vaccine is the “mark of the beast”—a sign of the end times and a symbol of alignment with the Antichrist. This fear has driven some Christians to request religious exemptions
- [Is Religion Good for Democracy? An Interview with Robert Wuthnow](https://arcmag.org/is-religion-good-for-democracy-an-interview-with-robert-wuthnow/) - Debates over whether diverse viewpoints are an asset or a hindrance are prevalent in American politics. On the one hand, different views can allow for new ideas to develop, and old modes of thinking to be challenged, altered, and maybe abolished. On the other hand, they can create disunity, so evident today in culture war
- [Abortion Through the Lens of Germany’s (Catholic) Compromise](https://arcmag.org/abortion-through-the-lens-of-germanys-catholic-compromise/) - Americans are proud to be number one in many areas, but we have a blind spot when it comes to recognizing and confronting our weaknesses. We rank, for example, 73rd in maternal mortality rate, 95th in homicide rate, and 97th in access to quality health care. The Social Progress Index, which assesses measures of well-being,
- [Climate Scientist Katharine Hayhoe’s Faithful Quest to Heal a Divided World](https://arcmag.org/climate-scientist-katharine-hayhoes-faithful-quest-to-heal-a-divided-world/) - Of all the problems we face in 2021, none is so overarching and all-encompassing as climate change. And yet, despite this massive scope—or rather, perhaps, because of it—many people prefer to downplay or ignore the threat, a pervasive attitude that inhibits effective response. When the danger is so large, and the nation is so polarized,
- [The 20-Year Media Spectacle of Saving Afghan Women](https://arcmag.org/the-20-year-media-spectacle-of-saving-afghan-women/) - At the end of a live BBC interview in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 31, 2021, correspondent Secunder Kermani asked the founder and president of the Afghan Women’s Network, Mahbouba Seraj, “Do you feel safe here [Kabul] as a woman’s rights activist?” Seraj, in her seventies, answered, “I don’t really know what is the meaning of
- [Why Creationism Appears in Debates About Scientific Racism](https://arcmag.org/why-creationism-appears-in-debates-about-scientific-racism/) - Almost a century ago, the American politician and anti-evolution activist William Jennings Bryan asserted at the 1925 Scopes trial that he did not believe that the creation account in Genesis took place in “six days of twenty-four hours.” Others apparently did, and it’s been clear ever since that there is a range of different beliefs
- [Amid Covid Surge, Loved Ones Worry for These Unvaccinated Evangelicals](https://arcmag.org/amid-covid-surge-loved-ones-worry-for-these-unvaccinated-evangelicals/) - For Michelle King, vaccination was supposed to mark the end of more than a year of Covid-related anxiety. However, with several close family members refusing the vaccine, what should have felt like a victory lap is quickly turning into a new wave of uncertainty and anxiety. She characterizes those loved ones as conservative, vaccine-hesitant, white
- [American Democracy Nearly Failed in its Early Decades. It’s Important to Remember Why.](https://arcmag.org/mormons-lds-american-democracy-nearly-failed-in-its-early-decades-its-important-to-remember-why/) - After detailing how he was called a racial expletive and physically assaulted while defending the U.S. Capitol on January 6, police officer Harry Dunn asked a poignant question: “Is this America?” The congressional committee that heard his remarks in person, and the general public who listened to them at home, likely wished they could answer
- [New Research Suggests Christians See LGBT Progress as Threatening](https://arcmag.org/new-research-suggests-christians-see-lgbt-progress-as-threatening/) - It is the dawn of a new era for sexual and gender minorities in the United States. The Senate and presidential transitions at the beginning of 2021 brought about increased political representation and power for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals. President Biden reversed former President Trump’s ban on transgender people from serving in
- [Netflix’s “Pray Away” Confronts the Lies of the Ex-Gay Movement](https://arcmag.org/netflixs-pray-away-confronts-the-lies-of-the-ex-gay-movement/) - In the new Netflix documentary, Pray Away, former ex-lesbian Yvette Cantu Schneider revisits earlier versions of herself. In one video clip she’s wearing a pink suit with padded shoulders, addressing a fundraiser in a swank Laguna Hills living room. She tells the women gathered that homosexuals are getting “special rights.” “We’re not talking about equal
- [The Religious Activism Behind U.S. Refugee Policy](https://arcmag.org/the-religious-activism-behind-u-s-refugee-policy/) - This summer marked the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 20th anniversary of World Refugee Day. Both came at a moment of unprecedented crisis. The UN Refugee Agency reports that as of the end of 2020, some 82.4 million people—about 1 in 95 people
- [Why Is Critical Race Theory Being Banned in Public Schools?](https://arcmag.org/why-is-critical-race-theory-being-banned-in-public-schools/) - On July 26, Florida’s ban on teaching “critical race theory” (CRT) in public schools went into effect. In June, Governor Ron DeSantis had strongly supported the ban and urged the State Board of Education to pass it. He was not alone; many other states have enacted or proposed similar regulations and legislation. DeSantis told the
- [The Changing Faces of American Rabbis](https://arcmag.org/the-changing-faces-of-american-rabbis/) - When famous artists like Chagall depict rabbis, they are painted as bearded men, often hunched over ancient texts or wrapped in their prayer shawls. When depicted in film, a rabbi is almost always shown as a saintly older man, most often with a European accent, with Hollywood representations almost exclusively always showing rabbis as men.
- [Religious Conservatives Won the Legal Battle Over COVID-19, But Not the War](https://arcmag.org/religious-conservatives-won-the-legal-battle-over-covid-19-but-not-the-war/) - Few are likely to remember the year 2020 with much fondness. Within the church-state arena, however, the year 2020 has given rise to an unexpected windfall of legal victories—at least for religious conservatives. Even as many realms of life were put on pause or otherwise restricted in response to the global pandemic, U.S. courts were
- [Irreconcilable Similarities: Why Jews in Israel and the United States Are Drifting Apart](https://arcmag.org/irreconcilable-similarities-why-jews-in-israel-and-the-united-states-are-drifting-apart/) - The violence that erupted in Israel and Gaza in May 2021 had a ripple effect. Synagogues were attacked in Lod and New York, and Jews were subjected to antisemitic attacks across Europe and the United States. Following massive anti-Israel demonstrations in the world’s capitals, hundreds of Jewish counter-demonstrators stood up for Israel in American cities,
- [How White Southern Christians Fought to Preserve Segregation](https://arcmag.org/how-white-southern-christians-fought-to-preserve-segregation/) - Americans are in the midst of a reckoning about systemic racism and its history in the United States. “Critical race theory” and “anti-racism” have become a hotly debated topics in the media, in politics, in churches, and in schools. Protesters are fighting against new voting restrictions that some liken to old Jim Crow laws. Black
- [U.S. Catholic Bishops Succumb to Partisan Politics in Eucharist Debate](https://arcmag.org/u-s-catholic-bishops-succumb-to-partisan-politics-in-eucharist-debate/) - That the U.S. Catholic bishops voted by a 168-to-55 margin last Thursday to draft a document on eucharistic integrity does not justify this column. That they did so only five months after the inauguration of a pro-choice, faithful Catholic as president is more newsworthy. That they did so after being explicitly discouraged by the prefect
- [The Tragedy of Russell Moore](https://arcmag.org/the-tragedy-of-russell-moore/) - Everybody has to draw the line somewhere. For the Rev. Russell Moore, it appears to have happened over the way the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has handled racism and sexual abuse allegations within its ranks. Last month, he resigned as president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, the SBC’s public policy arm in Washington,
- [Faith and the Fight for a $15 Minimum Wage](https://arcmag.org/faith-and-the-fight-for-a-15-minimum-wage/) - Commentators have already been comparing the Biden administration’s expansive legislative agenda to the New Deal ambitions of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The mixture of a global pandemic, racial protests, and national political turmoil have ignited a political urgency not seen since the Great Depression. The American Rescue Plan Act, which was signed into law in March,
- [The Atlanta Shootings, Evangelical America, and the Korean War](https://arcmag.org/the-atlanta-shootings-evangelical-america-and-the-korean-war/) - On March 16, 2021, Robert Aaron Long, a white Southern Baptist man, murdered eight people in the greater Atlanta region, six of whom were women of Asian descent: Suncha Kim, Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Yong Ae Yue, Xiaojie “Emily” Tan, and Daoyou Feng. In May, a grand jury indicted Long with the following
- [Taking on the Christian Patriarchy: An Interview with Beth Allison Barr](https://arcmag.org/taking-on-the-christian-patriarchy-an-interview-with-beth-allison-barr/) - Beth Allison Barr had had enough. To all appearances, she was perfectly content in her roles within her evangelical church and her marriage to a youth pastor. Though she had her own accomplished career as an academic, at church she had also been for several decades an adherent of the traditional gender norms enforced by
- [Making the World Over: Confronting Racism, Misogyny, and Xenophobia in U.S. History](https://arcmag.org/making-the-world-over-confronting-racism-misogyny-and-xenophobia-in-u-s-history/) - "We made the world we’re living in and we have to make it over." —James Baldwin, “Notes for a Hypothetical Novel: An Address” What can we do? This question, often asked in a tone of desperation if not despair, is one that audiences around the United States over more than a decade have repeatedly asked,
- [What Senator Mike Lee Tells Us About the Future of the GOP](https://arcmag.org/what-senator-mike-lee-tells-us-about-the-future-of-the-gop/) - In his biting critique of the Democratic Party’s election reform bill in early March, Mike Lee, the senior senator from Utah, said it was “written by the devil himself.” Clearly meant as sarcasm—Lee also said he disagreed with “every single word” in the bill, including “the words ‘but’ and ‘the’”—the statement’s extremity was far from
- [White Evangelical Racism: An Interview with Anthea Butler](https://arcmag.org/white-evangelical-racism-an-interview-with-anthea-butler/) - The academic literature on American evangelicalism is broad, deep, and largely sympathetic, authored in many cases by evangelical scholars who hope to preserve and nurture as well as document the tradition. Though many writers have conceded certain flaws and failings on matters like race and sex, such problems are most often treated as exceptions to
- [A Malcolm For Our Times](https://arcmag.org/a-malcolm-for-our-times/) - Since the global protests for Black Lives Matter gained momentum last summer, activists have continued to gather to protest police and state violence against Black people. At rallies all over the country and world, there have been signs with quotations and faces of civil rights leaders, including that of Malcolm X. The late leader and
- [When Promoting Religious Freedom Abroad Threatens Minority Communities Back Home](https://arcmag.org/when-promoting-religious-freedom-abroad-threatens-minority-communities-back-home/) - On December 2, 2020, Senator Ted Cruz reintroduced the “Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act.” In a press release, Cruz stated that the bill would advance America’s war against “radical Islamic terrorism.” If it had passed, it would have required the State Department to report if the Muslim Brotherhood—the transnational Muslim organization originally founded in Egypt
- [Is Social Media Fueling a Women's Rights Revolution in the Orthodox Jewish Community?](https://arcmag.org/is-social-media-fueling-a-womens-rights-revolution-in-the-orthodox-jewish-community/) - Dalia Oziel is no seasoned social justice warrior. She is a 25-year-old influencer, with an Instagram following of 34,000. She is known for her ubiquitous beanie plopped on top of her long wig, her sales of long-lasting lipstick, and her signature color: salmon pink. But Oziel was propelled into activism when she received a direct
- [Amanda Gorman’s “City on a Hill”](https://arcmag.org/amanda-gormans-city-on-a-hill/) - The transition from Black History Month to Women’s History Month is an occasion for commemorating the contributions of Black women to our nation’s history—and to the very idea and identity of America. Inaugural poet Amanda Gorman’s “The Hill We Climb” continues a line of prominent Americans who have called the nation to reflect on the
- [Analog Faith in a Digital Age](https://arcmag.org/analog-faith-in-a-digital-age/) - Data from around the world indicate that religious belief is in decline. This trend began long before the internet and social media were invented. But it has accelerated and intensified dramatically since their arrival. According to sociologist Jean Twenge, between 2004 and 2016, religious belief among young adults “fell off a cliff.” For a time,
- [The Power of Crafting as Jewish Practice](https://arcmag.org/the-power-of-crafting-as-jewish-practice/) - Religious practices are not confined to houses of worship. They arise and entwine in daily life, in ritual observance, and in creative works. A new book follows Jewish American crafters, many of them women, for whom these forces are deeply, quietly enmeshed in acts of tactile creation. In Painted Pomegranates and Needlepoint Rabbis: How Jews
- [“Jezebel”: The Dehumanizing History of Name-Calling in the Name of God](https://arcmag.org/jezebel-the-dehumanizing-history-of-name-calling-in-the-name-of-god/) - Shortly after the Biden administration commenced, a small but vocal minority of white evangelical pastors revived a familiar insult from history. After only two days in office, cries of “Jezebel” began to appear on social media from self-identified Christians describing Vice President Kamala Harris. Most stemmed from an initial tweet by Tom Buck, pastor of
- [These Online Learning Platforms Offer a Surprising Lack of Church-State Separation](https://arcmag.org/these-online-learning-platforms-offer-a-surprising-lack-of-church-state-separation/) - When the school board of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, voted to reopen public schools in October, one reason they felt comfortable doing so was their Cyber Pathways Academy. The district’s fully online school had served students with a remote learning environment since 2013, and it was presented as an alternative for those who did not feel comfortable
- [White Hauntings, Black Hoops: The Ghosts of Kyrie Irving](https://arcmag.org/white-hauntings-black-hoops-the-ghosts-of-kyrie-irving/) - At the start of the current NBA season, Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets walked around the famed parquet basketball court of the Boston Celtics at TD Garden waving burning sage in his hands, orchestrating the smoking plant like a magical wand in order to cleanse the arena. Later in the season, Irving, who identifies
- [A Chaplain Creates Community for Young Shiite Muslims](https://arcmag.org/a-chaplain-creates-community-for-young-shiite-muslims/) - In 2005, Faiyaz Jaffer, then a freshman at Stony Brook University, walked into the campus prayer room on a Friday. He was there for a weekly Jummah service with the Muslim Student Association. Jaffer began to pray as he always did. He let his arms fall to his sides, instead of across his chest like
- [The Politics of Nostalgia](https://arcmag.org/the-politics-of-nostalgia/) - On January 20, after new Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff was sworn in, he tweeted that he had carried in his jacket pocket copies of the 1911 and 1913 manifests of ships on which his great-grandparents had arrived at Ellis Island. Ossoff’s photocopies were more than good luck charms. He used them as a religious artifact—“a
- [Debunking the Gospel of Jesus' Wife: An Interview with Ariel Sabar](https://arcmag.org/debunking-the-gospel-of-jesus-wife-an-interview-with-ariel-sabar/) - In 2012, Karen L. King, the Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard, traveled to Rome to deliver a conference presentation on a compelling historical artifact that had recently come into her possession. It was a piece of papyrus, about the size of a business card, inscribed with several lines of Egyptian Coptic and culminating in
- [The Good Catholic](https://arcmag.org/the-good-catholic/) - Catholics are self-appointed experts at pointing out who has been bad and who has been good. In many respects, Americans know that Biden is a “good” Catholic. He goes to Mass. He belts out that Catholic anthem “On Eagles’ Wings.” He quotes St. Paul with ease. He has endured unspeakable personal suffering. He invokes St.
- [What the Attacks on Raphael Warnock’s Faith Reveal about Christian Nationalism](https://arcmag.org/what-the-attacks-on-raphael-warnocks-faith-reveal-about-christian-nationalism/) - After his landmark victory in the Georgia Senate race, the Rev. Raphael Warnock told CNN that he planned to return to his pulpit to preach the following Sunday. As the senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, the home church of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Warnock’s progressive faith was a consistent part of his
- [Scholars of Religion and Politics Respond to the Capitol Insurrection](https://arcmag.org/scholars-of-religion-and-politics-respond-to-the-capitol-insurrection/) - January 6, 2021, is a day that will live in infamy. A sitting president, abetted by congressional leaders, incited a violent mob of his supporters, who sieged the United State Capitol in an attempted coup, the scope of which we are still uncovering. All along the route from Trump’s rally on the Ellipse to the
- [Sean Feucht Plans NYE Worship Events. They May Endanger Homeless Residents.](https://arcmag.org/sean-feucht-plans-nye-worship-events-they-may-endanger-homeless-residents/) - Sean Feucht didn’t like the headlines about him. The controversial Christian worship leader had spent months touring the country and putting on large outdoor concerts protesting Covid-19 restrictions, and what Feucht calls the “mainstream media” was taking notice. Politico described his style as “hippie-religious Covid skepticism” (the “hippie” designator in part a reference to Feucht’s
- [Black Lives Matter and the Color of the Public Square](https://arcmag.org/black-lives-matter-and-the-color-of-the-public-square/) - This past summer, three men filed a complaint against the mayor of Washington D.C., Muriel Bowser, for mixing up church and state by endorsing a religion. As protests for racial justice spread across the country, leaders like Bowser tried to signify support for the cause. To that end, the District painted “BLACK LIVES MATTER” in
- [The Long Road to White Christians’ Trumpism](https://arcmag.org/the-long-road-to-white-christians-trumpism/) - Donald Trump’s staunch support from white Christians has invited a lot of handwringing throughout his political career. Why would Christians vote for a man whose life flaunts their norms? What about his treatment of women? What about his racism and his anti-immigrant policies? After nearly five years of questions, white American Christians still overwhelmingly supported
- [Remembering the Right Rev. Barbara Harris, the First Female Bishop in the Anglican Communion](https://arcmag.org/remembering-the-right-rev-barbara-harris-the-first-female-bishop-in-the-anglican-communion/) - When President Trump had protesters cleared from Lafayette Square near the White House in June, so that he could stand on the steps of St. John’s Episcopal Church and display a Bible for the cameras, he did not give the church’s clergy the opportunity to speak. Given what happened next, however, he may as well
- [Biden Can Restore America’s Credibility on Religious Freedom](https://arcmag.org/biden-can-restore-americas-credibility-on-religious-freedom/) - In his victory speech on November 7, President-Elect Joe Biden quoted from the book of Ecclesiastes, saying, “The Bible tells us to everything there is a season. A time to build, a time to reap, and a time to sow. And a time to heal. This is the time to heal in America.” Biden’s aspiration
- [Why the Partisan Divide? The U.S. Is Becoming More Secular—and More Religious](https://arcmag.org/why-the-partisan-divide-the-u-s-is-becoming-more-secular-and-more-religious/) - From a global pandemic and nationwide protests to a contested presidential election, this year seems tailor-made to expose America’s partisan fault lines. Those hoping for a blue or red wave to unite the country on election night were undoubtedly disappointed. What the returns revealed instead was a divided electorate. Even before the election results underscored
- [The Work We Still Have to Do](https://arcmag.org/the-work-we-still-have-to-do/) - One week after the last presidential election in 2016, I published an editor’s note titled “Where Do We Go from Here?” It began: The 2016 election is history, and several things are clearer to us now than they were before. It turns out that vast swaths of Americans are comfortable voting for a presidential candidate
- [Will Catholic Voters Decide the Election?](https://arcmag.org/will-catholic-voters-decide-the-election/) - On Ash Wednesday, which begins the Christian season of Lent, presidential candidate Joe Biden participated in a CNN town hall. Remnants of ashes—a public declaration of penitent faith—could be seen on Biden’s forehead as he spoke to a minister whose wife was murdered in the Charleston church shooting. “I happen to be a practicing Catholic,”
- [Across the Country, Muslims Are Fighting Voter Suppression and Intimidation](https://arcmag.org/across-the-country-muslims-are-fighting-voter-suppression-and-intimidation/) - A Muslim activist in Lackawanna, New York, said she suspected her vote had not been counted after she dropped off her absentee ballot in the town’s June primary elections. An attorney then asked the local board of elections to see the names of voters whose ballots had objections. Of about 200 ballots with objections filed
- [QAnon’s “Messianic Secret”](https://arcmag.org/qanons-messianic-secret/) - In his NBC Town Hall last Thursday with Savannah Guthrie, President Trump awkwardly danced around the subject of what he supposedly does not know about QAnon. Friday morning’s headlines left sane audiences everywhere scratching their heads regarding the extent to which so many Christians are willing to shill for the man. Actually, it’s not even
- [The Eagle Scout and the President: What a Utah Politician Tells Us about LDS Ambivalence to Trump](https://arcmag.org/the-eagle-scout-and-the-president-what-a-utah-politician-tells-us-about-lds-ambivalence-to-trump/) - Standing before a crowd of Latter-day Saints in Mesa, Arizona, on August 11, Vice President Mike Pence lifted his head and assured the cheering audience that they could count on President Donald Trump to do everything in his power to protect their religious liberty. More telling than anything Pence said, however, was the fact that
- [The Book of Ruth: Justice Ginsburg on Religious Freedom](https://arcmag.org/the-book-of-ruth-justice-ginsburg-on-religious-freedom/) - In what turned out to be her final dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg opened with a warning: “In accommodating claims of religious freedom, this Court has taken a balanced approach, one that does not allow the religious beliefs of some to overwhelm the rights and interests of others who do not share those beliefs.” But,
- [Amy Coney Barrett’s Confirmation Would Be a Major Victory for the Christian Legal Movement](https://arcmag.org/amy-coney-barretts-confirmation-would-be-a-major-victory-for-the-christian-legal-movement/) - Nearly three years ago, Amy Coney Barrett, then a professor at Notre Dame Law School, made her first appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The senators were weighing her nomination to the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and the hearing would have typically received little attention. Then, in a line of questioning directed
- [White Evangelicals and the New American Exceptionalism of Donald Trump](https://arcmag.org/white-evangelicals-and-the-new-american-exceptionalism-of-donald-trump/) - On September 17, President Donald Trump announced he was establishing “the 1776 Commission,” a plan to “promote patriotic education” and a “pro-American curriculum.” Trump defined his commission against critical race theory and The New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project, which examines the legacy of slavery in the United States. He claimed that such projects “teach
- [The New Godless Religions: An Interview with Tara Isabella Burton](https://arcmag.org/the-new-godless-religions-an-interview-with-tara-isabella-burton/) - The United States has seen an increase in the so-called “nones”—people who don’t identify with any religious tradition. Some scholars have viewed this growing group as a sign that Americans are becoming more secular. Tara Isabella Burton argues in her new book, Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World, that this notion is misguided.
- [The Pandemic Created a Surge in Homeschooling—and Concerns about the Movement’s Christian Culture](https://arcmag.org/the-pandemic-created-a-surge-in-homeschooling-and-concerns-about-the-movements-christian-culture/) - Millions of children and their families are navigating a world without in-person school this fall, as the Covid-19 pandemic continues. A nationwide surge in homeschooling seemed far-fetched six months ago, but today, 60 percent of parents say they are likely to pursue at-home learning options this fall. These options extend far beyond remote learning provided
- [Imagining a “Judeo-Christian” Nation](https://arcmag.org/imagining-a-judeo-christian-nation/) - Imagining Judeo-Christian America: Religion, Secularism, and the Redefinition of Democracy K. Healan Gaston The University of Chicago Press, 2019 Unlike our current era, the 1940s and 1950s are often imagined as an age of consensus in the United States, when Americans agreed that their democracy flourished because it was rooted in shared ethical commitments common
- [For Neil Gorsuch, Religious Freedom Hasn’t Gone Far Enough](https://arcmag.org/for-neil-gorsuch-religious-freedom-hasnt-gone-far-enough/) - Earlier this summer, as the Supreme Court began to hand down its final decisions, political liberals were singing the praises of Justice Neil Gorsuch. The Trump appointee penned the majority opinion in a landmark case that extended employment anti-discrimination protections to LGBT Americans. Following almost immediately on that decision’s heels, however, came a series of
- [A Century of Women's Suffrage](https://arcmag.org/a-century-of-womens-suffrage/) - A Century of Votes for Women Christina Wolbrecht and J. Kevin Corder Cambridge University Press, 2020 This year marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Years of struggle for women’s suffrage finally bore fruit when the amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920. Women across different
- [A Community Space Emerges in the Shadow of a Confederate Monument](https://arcmag.org/a-community-space-emerges-in-the-shadow-of-a-confederate-monument/) - I recently spent an afternoon with my wife Lynn at a now highly publicized site in Richmond, Virginia: Lee Circle on Monument Avenue. The site has been renamed by its current custodians as Marcus-David Peters—those in the know say “MDP”—Circle. Peters was a Black Richmond high school teacher who was unarmed and fatally shot by
- [A Pastor’s Take: Repairing Democracy for Black Lives](https://arcmag.org/a-pastors-take-repairing-democracy-for-black-lives/) - “The bones of love are everywhere but I won’t let it be. There will be no love dying here for me.” Gregory Porter, “No Love Dying” The bones of love, of Black lives, are everywhere in America. As a co-pastor providing congregational care and delivering sermons to a Black congregation each week, it is
- [Trump’s Unholy Alliances: An Interview with Sarah Posner](https://arcmag.org/trumps-unholy-alliances-an-interview-with-sarah-posner/) - Of the various groups that came together in support of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential run, two in particular have drawn a lot of media attention: the Christian Right and the white nationalist “alt-right” movement. Trump’s early supporters included white evangelical figures commonly associated with the Christian Right, such as Jerry Falwell, Jr., and Robert Jeffress.
- [Before Trump, College Students Were Growing Fonder of Conservatives](https://arcmag.org/college-students-of-all-faiths-were-growing-fonder-of-conservatives-then-trump-happened/) - By now, it’s no secret that a majority of political conservatives are deeply concerned that America’s colleges and universities have a liberalizing effect on students. In a recent survey by Pew Research, 73 percent of Republicans expressed concern about the direction of higher education (compared to 52 percent of Democrats), while 79 percent cited professors
- [Are Pandemic Protests the Newest Form of Science-Religion Conflict?](https://arcmag.org/are-pandemic-protests-the-newest-form-of-science-religion-conflict/) - Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, a number of religious institutions have defied recommended health and safety orders. Some churches refused to close their doors. Schools like the evangelical Liberty University wanted to keep holding in-person instruction. In Brooklyn, members of the Haredi Jewish community continued to hold large weddings in March, even as the virus
- [The Price of White Evangelical Patriarchy](https://arcmag.org/the-price-of-white-evangelical-patriarchy/) - In 2008, the Gaither Vocal Band released a song called “Jesus and John Wayne,” about a young man’s struggle to live a godly life. Though striving after the soft purity of Jesus as exemplified by his mother, the man often finds himself living like a rough and rugged John Wayne as modeled by his father.
- [The Coming “Religion Recession”](https://arcmag.org/the-coming-religion-recession/) - As a stir-crazy nation slowly emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic, debates about what our “new normal” will be like are intensifying. Will the shock of the lockdown bring a transformative moment of social solidarity? Or tear us apart in tribal strife? Will there be a baby boom or baby bust? More marriages or more divorces?
- [Why Some Vaccine Skeptics Are Fighting Covid-19 Restrictions](https://arcmag.org/why-some-vaccine-skeptics-are-fighting-covid-19-restrictions/) - “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Covid 19!” read a sign at a protest in Olympia, Washington, in April. Another sign at a rally in Boston in early May stated, “No Forced Vaccines, Stop Medical Tyranny!” and on May 11 in Sacramento, California, another sign called for “No Phases, No Masks, No Vaxxs [sic], Freedom
- [The Dangerous Power of the Photo Op](https://arcmag.org/the-dangerous-power-of-the-photo-op/) - On June 1, 2020, within the space of 48 minutes, Washington’s Lafayette Square went from being a peaceful protest site to a presidential photo opportunity. In between those two realities, police forcibly removed demonstrators who had assembled across from the White House to protest against police brutality and systemic anti-black racism. Rubber bullets, smoke grenades,
- [Lessons from James Baldwin: An Interview with Eddie Glaude](https://arcmag.org/lessons-from-james-baldwin-an-interview-with-eddie-glaude/) - Eddie Glaude is a public voice for this present moment. As a scholar and a pundit, he speaks prophetically about race and racism. His latest book, due out in August, covers the life and work of the writer James Baldwin, delving into their lessons for our own time. Last fall, Glaude visited the John C.
- [Former Obama Staffer Offers a Primer on Religion in Public Life](https://arcmag.org/former-obama-staffer-offers-a-primer-on-religion-in-public-life/) - Though Thomas Jefferson once famously imagined a “wall of separation” between church and state, subsequent events have often revealed the wall to be relatively lowly and largely permeable. The interactions between government and religion have long left the public—and the courts—to wrestle with a host of questions. What, exactly, constitutes an “establishment” of religion? In
- [Defend the Sacred: How Native Americans Protect Their Religious Freedom](https://arcmag.org/defend-the-sacred-how-native-americans-protect-their-religious-freedom/) - Cannonball, North Dakota, 2016 The three bustling camps of water protectors near the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline’s crossing of the Missouri River lay along the placid banks of the Cannonball River as it joins the Missouri. The pipeline would pump nearly half a million barrels of crude daily under the river a half mile upriver
- [Kentucky Gov. Beshear Inspires Revival of Civil Religion](https://arcmag.org/kentucky-gov-beshear-inspires-revival-of-civil-religion/) - Every day at five in the afternoon, my governor, recently elected Democrat Andy Beshear, delivers an update on the Covid-19 pandemic in our state of Kentucky. Watching these televised press conferences has quickly become a quarantine ritual in my household. My family gathers in one room, in front of one television, to hear what Governor
- [In “Mrs. America,” Conservative Activist Phyllis Schlafly Takes Center Stage](https://arcmag.org/in-mrs-america-conservative-activist-phyllis-schlafly-takes-center-stage/) - In the first episode of the new Hulu miniseries Mrs. America, the anti-feminist activist Phyllis Schlafly (played by Cate Blanchett) addresses the well-coifed attendees of a mother-daughter luncheon hosted in her home. The year is 1972 and her topic is the women’s liberation movement. “Now, the libbers love to say that they’re dedicated to choice,”
- [Who Defines Evangelicalism? An Interview with Mark Noll](https://arcmag.org/who-defines-evangelicalism-an-interview-with-mark-noll/) - Now more than three years into Donald Trump’s presidency, amid the coronavirus pandemic and his run for reelection, the debate over his white evangelical base continues to rage. Columns and editorials have been written, pundits have clashed, friendships and family ties have been strained. Through it all, some basic questions have underwritten the exchange—What is
- [NYC Medical Ethicist: It’s Time We Learned to Talk about Death](https://arcmag.org/nyc-medical-ethicist-its-time-we-learned-to-talk-about-death/) - Despite the bloom and new life of springtime across the U.S., in many cities, the sound of sirens is a constant reminder that death looms near. The coronavirus pandemic has, in a matter of weeks, taken more than 170,000 lives worldwide. More losses are expected among the nearly 800,000 Americans who have tested positive for
- [Beyond Bernie: Where Do American Muslim Voters Go From Here?](https://arcmag.org/beyond-bernie-where-do-american-muslim-voters-go-from-here/) - Last week, Senator Bernie Sanders ended his presidential campaign, making former Vice President Joe Biden the presumptive Democratic nominee. Sanders had suffered a string of losses in recent contests, before the novel coronavirus pandemic upended American life and politics as we know them. In a video address, Sanders said, “As I see the crisis gripping
- [Religious Leaders Work to Respond to the Coronavirus Pandemic](https://arcmag.org/religious-leaders-work-to-respond-to-the-coronavirus-pandemic/) - “Has anyone written a call n response liturgy specifically for Coronavirus?” I tweeted hastily at 9 a.m. on March 15. Our Sunday service—which would be live-streamed via Facebook to our 500-person congregation—was starting in an hour, and at the last minute, we realized that our Lenten liturgy no longer felt appropriate. Our pastor at Forefront
- [The Painful Necessity of Social Distancing](https://arcmag.org/the-painful-necessity-of-social-distancing/) - At no time in the memory of those living today has human flourishing appeared to rely so heavily on separating ourselves from one another. In this era marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, that separation goes by the name of social distancing, a practice to prevent the spread of this virus. We avoid others so as
- [The Gospel of Climate Change Skepticism](https://arcmag.org/the-gospel-of-climate-change-skepticism/) - The United Nations has called climate change “the defining issue of our time.” In some corners, the global response to climate change is more urgently discussed than ever. In towns and cities around the planet, demonstrations and strikes have brought millions into the streets. Scientific bodies, including the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and
- [The Democratic Party Is Not Antithetical to Religion](https://arcmag.org/the-democratic-party-is-not-antithetical-to-religion/) - For decades, the Democratic Party has been diagnosed with a “religion problem,” an accusation that still makes headlines. In the fall of 2019, the Washington Examiner detailed the party’s apparent aversion to any mention of prayer, Scripture, or God’s will, and a Religion News Service column pointedly asked the question: “Do the Democrats have a
- [Will Pete Buttigieg Win Over South Carolina’s Black Voters?](https://arcmag.org/will-pete-buttigieg-win-over-south-carolinas-black-voters/) - In the first television ad that his presidential campaign released statewide in South Carolina in December, Mayor Pete Buttigieg drew on the New Testament gospel of Matthew. The South Bend, Indiana, politician quoted a line from the popular biblical passage that speaks to caring about those in need. Buttigieg promised, “In our White House, you
- [“City on a Hill” and the Making of an American Origin Story](https://arcmag.org/city-on-a-hill-and-the-making-of-an-american-origin-story/) - What is the origin of America? Ask that question systematically to more than 2,000 people, and a wide variety of answers will arise. Most focus on the founding era of the United States: the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution, and the Constitution. Others turn to the colonial days observing that “America” existed long before
- [Mormon Votes Are Valued. Too Often Mormon Convictions Are Not.](https://arcmag.org/mormon-votes-are-valued-too-often-mormon-convictions-are-not/) - Last week, Mitt Romney gave an emotional speech on the Senate floor, explaining why he was voting to impeach President Trump. “I am a profoundly religious person,” he said. “My faith is at the heart of who I am. I take an oath before God as enormously consequential.” Romney, a member of the Church of Jesus
- [Who Is Jay Sekulow, President Trump’s Lawyer?](https://arcmag.org/who-is-jay-sekulow-president-trumps-impeachment-lawyer/) - Last month, as the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump got underway, the president’s defense team took center stage. Among them was one of Trump’s personal attorneys, Jay Sekulow. It was a career-defining moment for Sekulow, who forcefully made the case against removing the president from office, saying, “Danger! Danger! Danger! To lower the bar
- [Why These Young American Christians Embraced Socialism](https://arcmag.org/why-these-young-american-christians-embraced-socialism/) - “This feels a lot like church,” I thought. It was 2017, and I was seated with a hundred other people for a Brooklyn chapter meeting of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Like many of those who have joined DSA recently, I came of age during the Occupy protests, was inspired by Bernie Sanders, and
- [What Does a Progressive or Socialist Foreign Policy Look Like?](https://arcmag.org/elizabeth-warren-bernie-sanders-progressive-socialist-foreign-policy/) - In January, during the last Democratic debate before the Iowa caucuses, the candidates began the night with an extended conversation about foreign policy—a topic that had gotten short-shrift on earlier debate stages. The recent killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani at President Trump’s orders has escalated the tension between Iran and the United States, putting
- [Who Is an Evangelical? An Interview with Thomas Kidd](https://arcmag.org/who-is-an-evangelical-an-interview-with-thomas-kidd/) - In the United States, the word “evangelical” is often confused with a political designation. Though associated with a particular brand of Christianity, it is perhaps more popularly paired with conservative policy views, Republican registration, and an overwhelming whiteness. For several decades, white evangelicals have positioned themselves as moral arbiters calling for decency and godliness. From
- [The Prophetic Witness of the Christianity Today Editorial](https://arcmag.org/the-prophetic-witness-of-the-christianity-today-editorial/) - Not too long after Donald Trump took office in 2017, a reporter told me about a series of interviews she had conducted with Mr. Trump’s evangelical supporters. These folks explained their enthusiasm, she said, for the new president with explicit references to the Bible. A common theme was President Trump is like King David. Morally
- [How Shall We Pray About Impeachment? Process Highlights Opposing Christian Responses](https://arcmag.org/how-shall-we-pray-about-impeachment-congressional-battle-highlights-opposing-christian-responses/) - Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi resisted calls from members of her own Democratic caucus to impeach Donald Trump for months. And as the bells of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors have been ringing over the president’s alleged withholding of military aid for Ukraine in order to get political dirt on Joe
- [Behind the Rise of Evangelical Women "Influencers"](https://arcmag.org/behind-the-rise-of-evangelical-women-influencers/) - The Southern Baptist Convention is, like many institutions, facing an abuse crisis. In February 2019, the Houston Chronicle reported that over two decades, nearly 400 SBC church leaders have been accused of sexual misconduct involving more than 700 victims. In response, SBC leaders hosted the Caring Well conference this fall, giving survivors a platform to
- [How Bad Theology Makes the Opioid Crisis Worse](https://arcmag.org/how-bad-theology-makes-the-opioid-crisis-worse/) - The first time I was ever given morphine I was 25 years old. It was 2010, and I was hospitalized with acute pancreatitis. Doctors sent me home with pills of the potent opioid hydromorphone. My pain was extreme, and my doctors were concerned. The potentially life-threatening condition is rare in young people. Mine was caused
- [Black Churches Join a Green Movement](https://arcmag.org/black-churches-join-a-green-movement/) - Rosie Willis stood amid 54 garden beds filled with tomatoes, collard greens, okra, and sweet potatoes that she needs volunteers to help her dig. This was once just another vacant, overgrown lot in the poverty-stricken JeffVanderLou neighborhood of North St. Louis. Now it’s Fresh Starts Community Garden, a thriving grower that has sold to vendors
- [Remembering Cain Hope Felder, Scholar Who Highlighted the Bible's African Presence](https://arcmag.org/remembering-cain-hope-felder-scholar-who-highlighted-the-bibles-african-presence/) - The first time that I met Cain Hope Felder in person was during a job interview. I was a finalist for a faculty position at Howard University School of Divinity. I had just launched into the start of my presentation when he sauntered into the room. There were students and other faculty present, but to
- [Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Christian and a Democrat](https://arcmag.org/franklin-d-roosevelt-a-christian-and-a-democrat/) - Of all the myriad intersections between religion and politics in the United States, perhaps none is at once so significant and so personal as that occurring within the heart and mind of the nation’s executive. Though all U.S. presidents have claimed membership within a faith—indeed, to this point all have claimed strains of Christian faith
- [The Cult of Trump? What “Cult Rhetoric” Actually Reveals](https://arcmag.org/the-cult-of-trump-what-cult-rhetoric-actually-reveals/) - In August, Anthony Scaramucci—the former White House director of communications turned Trump critic—called for the political left to approach the Trump administration the way that concerned individuals would approach a cult. “When you’re trying to deprogram people from a cult, one of the first things you have to do is allow them to change their
- [For Many Immigration Activists, Welcoming “Strangers” Is an Act of Faith](https://arcmag.org/for-many-immigration-activists-welcoming-strangers-is-an-act-of-faith/) - Readers of different religious traditions, and even those within the same tradition, may read sacred Scripture in radically divergent ways. Among the most pronounced ways this occurs is in the common refrains that religious immigration activists tend to cite. The Hebrew Bible directs adherents to watch over the ger, a term that alludes to a
- [For Yemenis Fleeing War, the U.S. Muslim Ban Means a High Price and Dangerous Wait](https://arcmag.org/for-refugees-from-yemen-the-u-s-muslim-ban-means-a-high-price-and-dangerous-wait/) - Just recently, Fatima,* a U.S. permanent resident originally from Yemen, received a letter from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) asking for more information on her application for an immigrant visa for her husband of four years. Obtaining official paperwork from Yemen right now is not easy given the state of war, but she
- [Islamophobia: A Bipartisan Xenophobia in American Politics](https://arcmag.org/islamophobia-a-bipartisan-xenophobia-in-american-politics/) - The late Palestinian academic giant Edward Said, whose groundbreaking book Orientalism still illuminates how Arabs and Muslims are viewed in the Western world, once wrote, “I have not been able to discover any period in European or American history since the Middle Ages in which Islam was generally discussed or thought about outside a framework
- [Every Day Is Already "Bring Your Bible to School Day"](https://arcmag.org/every-day-is-already-bring-your-bible-to-school-day/) - At schools across the United States this week, students will bring Bibles with them to class. Some will bring them to read devotionally. Others may have to bring them as part of their coursework—as they do for my classes at a private, secular university in Los Angeles. Bringing a Bible to school (public or private)
- [Should College Students Get a Break for Religious Holidays? One State Says Yes.](https://arcmag.org/should-college-students-get-a-break-for-religious-holidays-one-state-says-yes/) - Mennah El-Gammal struggled to juggle finals with her Muslim faith her last three years as a student at the University of Washington in Seattle. She was fasting nearly 18 hours a day during finals week because it coincided with Ramadan, Islam’s holy month. Taking her exams at slightly different times would have helped, but fear
- [For These Progressive Jews, Prayer is Part of the Protest](https://arcmag.org/for-these-progressive-jews-prayer-is-part-of-the-protest/) - On the Jewish holiday of Tisha B’Av, Jews traditionally gather to mourn the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. This year, progressive Jews across the U.S. joined their observance of the holiday to their participation in nationwide protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The protests were organized by a coalition of progressive Jewish organizations that
- [How Race Matters in the Physician-Assisted Suicide Debate](https://arcmag.org/how-race-matters-in-the-physician-assisted-suicide-debate/) - Most Americans believe that physician-assisted suicide, or as some movement advocates prefer, medical aid in dying, is morally acceptable in circumstances such as extreme pain and suffering during a terminal illness. Even in the face of his own terminal brain cancer, Dr. Michael Adams disagreed. The Washington, D.C., physician wrote compellingly to the Health and
- [“American Heretics”: Blue Christians in a Red State](https://arcmag.org/american-heretics-blue-christians-in-a-red-state/) - The film American Heretics: The Politics of the Gospel, now screening in select cities nationwide, celebrates the work of progressive Christian leaders behind the pulpit and in the statehouse, as they carve a narrow path for themselves in the politically conservative, Bible Belt state of Oklahoma. Directed and produced by Emmy award-winning sister documentarians Jeanine
- [Who Benefits from Conflicts Over Religious Freedom?](https://arcmag.org/who-benefits-from-conflicts-over-religious-freedom/) - In November of 1993, members of the U.S. Congress did something that today seems almost inconceivable: they reached near-unanimous agreement on a pressing political question—and not just any question, but a fundamental question concerning the proper parameters of the separation of church and state. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act garnered a unanimous vote in the
- [Marianne Williamson's Unorthodox Campaign](https://arcmag.org/marianne-williamsons-unorthodox-campaign/) - Marianne Williamson says we are all of one mind. The bestselling author of self-help books, disciple of "A Course in Miracles," and spiritual-teacher-turned-2020-presidential-candidate preaches that every person in the world is God and that we are all connected by a single soul residing across billions of bodies. With this unapologetically New Age mindset and air
- [Loving Us, Hating Them: How Trump Uses Jews to Divide a Nation](https://arcmag.org/loving-us-hating-them-how-trump-uses-jews-to-divide-a-nation/) - When a white nationalist man killed Jews at prayer at a Pittsburgh synagogue less than two weeks before the 2018 midterm election, I naively assumed that the massacre would bring anti-Semitism on the right to the center of political discourse. As it turns out, the worst case of anti-Semitic violence in American history created a
- [The Vatican Draws a Line on Gender, and Transgender Catholics Push Back](https://arcmag.org/the-vatican-draws-a-line-on-gender-and-transgender-catholics-push-back/) - In June, the Vatican released “Male and Female He Created Them: Towards a Path of Dialogue on the Question of Gender Theory in Education,” its first extensive statement on transgender identity. While including a call for love and respect, the document rejects the idea that gender is distinct from biological sex. A transgender identity, the
- [First They Came for the Buddhists: Faith, Citizenship, and the Internment Camps](https://arcmag.org/first-they-came-for-the-buddhists-faith-citizenship-and-the-internment-camps/) - This summer, as the Trump administration has overseen the internment of asylum-seekers and unaccompanied minors in overcrowded detention facilities across the Southwest, and as the president himself has issued calls to “send back” congresswomen of color who criticize his policies, the United States seems to be awash in a brash, unveiled nativism. This environment has
- [A Push to Deny Muslims Religious Freedom Gains Steam](https://arcmag.org/a-push-to-deny-muslims-religious-freedom-gains-steam/) - Once a fringe argument restricted to extreme anti-Muslim corners of the internet, the idea that Islam is not actually a religion, and therefore does not qualify for religious liberty protections, has rapidly gained salience in mainstream public discourse in the U.S. among activists, media commentators, and lawmakers alike. In her new book, When Islam Is
- [Time for Deeper Conversations Around “Heartbeat” Bills](https://arcmag.org/time-for-deeper-conversations-around-heartbeat-bills/) - As more state legislatures vote on banning abortion once embryonic cardiac activity is detected, the warfare between supporters and opponents of abortion rights is again escalating. And the stakes are high. To many opponents who consider abortion to be murder, every inching step toward criminalization is progress toward reducing the abortion rate and saving babies.
- [Dangerous Logic at the Border: Religion and the Travel Ban](https://arcmag.org/dangerous-logic-at-the-border-religion-and-the-travel-ban/) - A week after taking office in January 2017, Donald Trump issued Executive Order 13769, “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” suspending entry to the U.S. for citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. The federal courts deemed this order and a second iteration that followed unconstitutional. A
- [Will Young Evangelicals Come Back to Church?](https://arcmag.org/will-young-evangelicals-come-back-to-church/) - Beth Seversen rarely saw young adults at the evangelical church in Kansas where she served as an associate pastor until 12 years ago. But one Sunday, after the service, she spotted a young man sitting in the back of the sanctuary. She hurried to greet him, pushing past, as best she could, the many congregants
- [Oil Patch Religion: How a Passion for Crude Shaped American Faith](https://arcmag.org/oil-patch-religion-how-a-passion-for-crude-shaped-american-faith/) - Americans began hunting for oil shortly after the Civil War, and by the turn of the twentieth century, the nation’s oil pioneers were exerting influence far beyond the oil patch. From East Coast patricians such as John D. Rockefeller to the risk-taking, anti-establishment “wildcat” explorers in the West, the oil barons’ competing views of Christianity
- [Moscow's Patriarch Eyes Paris, and an Orthodox Battle Brews](https://arcmag.org/moscows-patriarch-eyes-paris-and-an-orthodox-battle-brews/) - At 12 rue Daru in Paris’ 8th arrondissement stands the Cathédrale Saint-Alexandre-Nevsky. There on the right bank of the Seine, within walking distance of the Arc de Triomphe and Élysée Palace, Saint-Alexandre-Nevsky’s onion-shaped domes and vaulted stone arches seem both utterly foreign and entirely native pressed against the Parisian skyline. Built in the middle of
- [What Past Attacks on Mormons and Catholics Teach Us About the Threat to Muslims](https://arcmag.org/what-past-attacks-on-mormons-and-catholics-teach-us-about-the-threat-to-muslims/) - In March, an arsonist targeted a mosque in California. Another mosque burned in Connecticut in May. Other mosques have received threats during this holy month of Ramadan. The FBI reported in its latest hate crime statistics that there was a 77 percent increase in anti-Muslim incidents between 2014 and 2017. In these recent attacks on
- [The Politics of Rachel Held Evans](https://arcmag.org/the-politics-of-rachel-held-evans/) - “... faith isn’t about having everything figured out ahead of time; faith is about following the quiet voice of God without having everything figured out ahead of time.” Rachel Held Evans, A Year of Biblical Womanhood These words are from the first book I picked up by Rachel Held Evans, which I delved into shortly
- [Is This the Religious Left's Kairos Moment?](https://arcmag.org/is-this-the-religious-lefts-kairos-moment/) - Ancient Greek had two words for time: kairos, meaning an opportune time, and chronos, meaning chronological or a set amount of time. Christian theology makes a big deal out of kairos moments. Jesus uses kairos for “time” when he declares in the Gospel of Mark: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has
- [Higher Education in a Time of Protest: A Conversation with Robert George and Cornel West](https://arcmag.org/higher-education-in-a-time-of-protest-a-conversation-with-robert-george-and-cornel-west/) - Cornel West and Robert P. George are celebrated public intellectuals from opposite ends of the political and ideological spectrum. George is a conservative legal scholar and Roman Catholic, while West is a democratic socialist philosopher in the progressive Christian tradition. And yet, the two thinkers share a deep, and perhaps unlikely, friendship. In April, Washington
- [How Myanmar’s Kachin Baptists Keep the Faith Far From the Homeland](https://arcmag.org/how-myanmars-kachin-baptists-keep-the-faith-far-from-the-homeland/) - At one point during her high school years in Mandeville, Louisiana, Grace Dumdaw was attending three church services every Sunday. There was the morning service at First Baptist Church, the main church in town where most of her friends went. Then there was the afternoon service at the Burmese Baptist Church, where Christians of various
- [Beating Guns into Garden Tools: An Interview with Christian Activist Shane Claiborne](https://arcmag.org/beating-guns-into-garden-tools-an-interview-with-christian-activist-shane-claiborne/) - The United States is awash in guns. Though it accounts for only 5 percent of the world’s population, the U.S. is home to 42 percent of the world’s firearms—so many, in fact, that guns outnumber people. There are nearly five times more licensed gun dealers in the U.S. than there are McDonald’s restaurants. Guns account
- [How Prominent Women Built and Sustained the Religious Right](https://arcmag.org/how-prominent-women-built-and-sustained-the-religious-right/) - In September 1983, Beverly LaHaye gave a press conference in Washington, DC, to announce that her four-year-old lobbying group Concerned Women for America (CWA) was about to become a force to be reckoned with in the nation’s capital. “This is our message: The feminists do not speak for all women in America,” she asserted. From
- [The Rise of #Exvangelical](https://arcmag.org/the-rise-of-exvangelical/) - I left evangelicalism in 2005 after years of struggling with my church’s stringent theology and narrow approaches to politics. In a matter of months, I went from having an expansive network of church brethren who claimed to love and support me to living in social and emotional exile. As one of the youth ministers at
- [The American Church's Complicity in Racism: A Conversation with Jemar Tisby](https://arcmag.org/the-american-churchs-complicity-in-racism-a-conversation-with-jemar-tisby/) - The fraught racial history of the United States has infiltrated and influenced all of its institutions, including the Christian church. Though certain figures and movements did join the struggle against slavery, segregation, and violence at various times and places, the majority of white American Christendom fell somewhere on the spectrum between open endorsement and quiet
- [Is Schism Inevitable for the United Methodist Church?](https://arcmag.org/is-schism-inevitable-for-the-united-methodist-church/) - In late February, the United Methodist Church voted to keep its ban on same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBT clergy while increasing penalties for those who break the rules. Since 1972, the church’s official guidelines, known as Book of Discipline, have stated that “homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.” Church policies bar United Methodist
- [A Lethal Hatred Spreads, and the Fight to End It Never Stops](https://arcmag.org/a-lethal-hatred-spreads-and-the-fight-to-end-it-never-stops/) - Since last week’s horrific massacre at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, much has been written about the global expansion of race- and religion-based hate. President Trump’s three tweets of “warmest sympathy and best wishes” to New Zealand rang utterly hollow, interspersed as they were amid more than 50 tweets he sent between Friday morning
- [Religion and Polarized Politics: An Interview with Melissa Rogers and Peter Wehner](https://arcmag.org/religion-and-polarized-politics-an-interview-with-melissa-rogers-and-peter-wehner/) - The 2016 election of President Trump highlighted the country’s state of political polarization. Many argue that people have retreated into their respective ideological corners: Democrat and Republican, secular and religious, rural and urban. On February 12, Washington University in St. Louis welcomed two former White House officials to discuss how religion has played a part
- [The Private Faith of Black Public Figures, from Ethel Waters to Muhammad Ali](https://arcmag.org/the-private-faith-of-black-public-figures-from-ethel-waters-to-muhammad-ali/) - Faith and Struggle in the Lives of Four African Americans: Ethel Waters, Mary Lou Williams, Eldridge Cleaver, and Muhammad Ali by Randal Maurice Jelks Bloomsbury, 2019 Black History Month celebrations often follow a familiar pattern of lifting up the bravery and determination of key individuals in Black history. Their religious affiliation is generally not mentioned
- [The Womanist Theology of Katie Geneva Cannon Lives On](https://arcmag.org/the-womanist-theology-of-katie-geneva-cannon-lives-on/) - "Each person’s life must be defined, nurtured and transformed, wherein the self is actualized, affirming the inward authority which arouses greater meaning and potential with each mystical experience." – Katie Geneva Cannon, Black Womanist Ethics In every generation, a “remnant” of scholars emerges that challenges status quo perspectives. Their critiques of normative constructs serve as
- [Revisiting the Legacy of Howard Thurman, the Mystic of the Civil Rights Movement](https://arcmag.org/revisiting-the-legacy-of-howard-thurman-the-mystic-of-the-civil-rights-movement/) - In February, local PBS stations will premiere an hour-long documentary about a theological giant of the twentieth century, Howard Thurman (1899-1981). Famous among activists for his influence on the civil rights movement, Thurman is a complicated figure who defies easy categorization. Capturing the central features of Thurman’s life, ministry, and writings is no easy task.
- [What These Muslim Activists Found at the Women’s March](https://arcmag.org/what-these-muslim-activists-found-at-the-womens-march/) - A few times every block along the route of the third annual Women’s March in Washington, Khadija Husain heard a voice call out from the crowd: “May I take your picture?” Each time, she paused and held her poster high, smiling as the photographer offered a “thank you” or thumbs-up before moving on. Although she
- [What the U.S. Catholic Church Gets Wrong About Native Dispossession](https://arcmag.org/covington-what-the-u-s-catholic-church-gets-wrong-about-native-dispossession/) - On January 18, Pope Francis addressed participants of the World Meeting of Indigenous Youth in Soloy, Panama. In comments via video, Francis urged his audience to “be grateful for the history of your peoples and courageous in the face of the challenges that surround you, to move forward full of hope in the building of
- [We Are All Evangelicals Now](https://arcmag.org/we-are-all-evangelicals-now-race-politics/) - Sometimes it seems like there are two Americas: evangelical America and the rest of us. Reports often highlight conservative political trends in the evangelical community as if they have nothing to do with those outside of that faith community. Religious conservatives, particularly white evangelicals, are regularly cast as outliers in U.S. politics, blindly supporting President
- [How Religious Conservatives Are Grappling with Racism](https://arcmag.org/how-religious-conservatives-are-grappling-with-racism/) - Last August, a few hundred evangelicals packed into the pews at a suburban church in Arlington, Virginia, to hear two men—one black, one white—discuss what they termed “healing racism in America.” African American minister Will Ford shared about racial discrimination in the Dallas area, where he lived in the 1980s and 90s. “I remember being
- [The Political Progression of Modern Mormon Women](https://arcmag.org/the-political-progression-of-modern-mormon-women/) - Even now, more than 100 years after the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints banned polygamy, the practice is often still viewed as stereotypically Mormon. For Mormon women in particular, these outdated polygamous caricatures obscure a rich history and ignore the complicated place Mormon women have held in faith and politics from the nineteenth
- [The Parliament of the World’s Religions Is the Closest Thing We Have to an International Interfaith Movement](https://arcmag.org/the-parliament-of-the-worlds-religions-is-the-closest-thing-we-have-to-an-international-interfaith-movement/) - In 1893, during the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, thousands gathered over 17 days in September to witness a “World’s Parliament of Religions.” For many Americans, it was their first encounter with Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, and other people of non-Christian faith. The meeting had an air of expectation. According to the organizers, the
- [What if the Israel-Palestine Conflict Cannot Be Solved? An Interview with Micah Goodman](https://arcmag.org/what-if-the-israel-palestine-conflict-cannot-be-solved-an-interview-with-micah-goodman/) - Here’s the catch, according to Micah Goodman: Israel cannot continue to occupy the West Bank, because doing so will precipitate a moral and democratic crisis. But Israel cannot withdraw from the West Bank, because doing so will leave a power vacuum on its borders that could lead to regional collapse. In other words: to survive,
- [Eugene Peterson and the Imperative of Biblical Literacy](https://arcmag.org/eugene-peterson-and-the-imperative-of-biblical-literacy/) - "Absolutely not!” I said. “You may not use that Bible in this class.” “Aww, Doc, why can’t we use The Message? I really like it,” my student replied. I sighed. The Rev. Eugene Peterson died at the age of 85 in October. He had been a teacher of biblical Hebrew and Greek, and he founded
- [Ahmadi Muslims Have a Storied American History—And a Legacy That Is Often Overlooked](https://arcmag.org/ahmadi-muslims-have-a-storied-american-history-and-a-legacy-that-is-often-overlooked/) - Hania Mansoor drove for more than 10 hours to catch a glimpse of her caliph. As members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Michigan, the 23-year-old graduate student and her family have spent years listening to the live Friday sermons of His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad and writing letters to him asking for prayers. It
- [What Is the Future of the Evangelical-Republican Coalition?](https://arcmag.org/what-is-the-future-of-the-evangelical-republican-coalition/) - It’s now been two years since Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, lifted to that office by white evangelical voters, and the debriefing continues. The recent midterm elections showed Republican support among white evangelicals remains steadfast, and polling proved that a large majority of white evangelicals still support the president. Articles and
- [Honoring the Latest Lives Callously Stolen by Hate](https://arcmag.org/honoring-the-latest-lives-callously-stolen-by-hate/) - Like countless other U.S. citizens, like untold numbers of people around the globe, we are mournful and livid in the wake of the recent murders in Louisville and Pittsburgh. Maurice Stallard, shot while shopping at Kroger with his 12-year-old grandson, and Vickie Lee Jones, shot subsequently in the store’s parking lot, lost their lives to
- [A Text That Preaches: The Late James Cone’s Final Book Arrives](https://arcmag.org/a-text-that-preaches-the-late-james-cones-final-book-arrives/) - Said I Wasn’t Gonna Tell Nobody: The Making of a Black Theologian By James H. Cone Orbis Books, 2018 On May 7, 2018, the historic Riverside Church in New York City was the site of the homegoing service for James H. Cone, the Bill & Judith Moyers Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological
- [Russia’s Journey from Orthodoxy to Atheism, and Back Again](https://arcmag.org/russias-journey-from-orthodoxy-to-atheism-and-back-again/) - A Sacred Space is Never Empty: A History of Soviet Atheism By Victoria Smolkin Princeton University Press, 2018 In Russia, there is a religious revival happening. Orthodox Christianity is thriving after enduring a 70-year period of atheistic Soviet rule. In 1991, just after the collapse of the USSR, about two-thirds of Russians claimed no religious affiliation.
- [What the Brett Kavanaugh Protests Revealed about Mormonism and Women](https://arcmag.org/what-the-brett-kavanaugh-protests-revealed-about-mormonism-and-women/) - Men who grow up in Mormon communities in the Intermountain West don’t have a lot of familiarity with women shouting in the faces of institutional leaders. Even those like Republican Senator Jeff Flake, who came of age during the heyday of second wave feminism, would have had little firsthand experience with such forceful appeals. However, life in Washington, D.C., is different
- [American Muslim Politicians: A New Generation on the Campaign Trail](https://arcmag.org/american-muslim-politicians-a-new-generation-on-the-campaign-trail/) - When Ahmad Zahra decided to run for city council in Fullerton, California, a politically and racially diverse community about 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles, he knew religion was a topic he could not avoid. Zahra may be the first Muslim to run for local office in Fullerton. He’s also part of a nationwide wave
- [The Radical Rise of Liberation Theology: An Interview with Lilian Calles Barger](https://arcmag.org/the-radical-rise-of-liberation-theology-an-interview-with-lilian-calles-barger/) - Among many other developments, the Donald Trump presidency has prompted a resurgence of Christian leftism in the United States. Groups like the Poor People’s Campaign and the Red Letter Christians have taken to the streets, crowding into state houses and getting arrested, harkening all along to the civil rights movement. When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won her
- [The Politicization of the Catholic Clergy Abuse Crisis](https://arcmag.org/the-politicization-of-the-catholic-clergy-abuse-crisis/) - It has been a season of anguish and rage for Catholics. Sixteen years after the Boston Globe uncovered widespread clergy sexual abuse in a city where the church’s powerful influence once defined a brand of swaggering American Catholicism, those chilling words—“predators” and “cover-up”—are again back in the headlines. The first explosion went off in early
- [Brett Kavanaugh, Christian Conservatives, and the Art of the Deal](https://arcmag.org/brett-kavanaugh-christian-conservatives-and-the-art-of-the-deal/) - In the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump released a list of potential nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court. It was an unusual yet savvy move, meant to convince anxious Republicans that he could be trusted to fill the seat vacated by the late conservative stalwart Antonin Scalia. It was also
- [Football and the Political Act of Prayer](https://arcmag.org/football-and-the-political-act-of-prayer/) - Before the whistle blows for the first time this year and the football goes tumbling through the air, there will be an act dripping with political significance. It will come even before the singer takes the field and thousands stand with hand over heart, keeping one eye on the flag and one eye on the
- [How These Muslim Women Became NYC Civic Leaders](https://arcmag.org/how-these-muslim-women-became-nyc-civic-leaders/) - “It’s difficult to avoid the elephant in the room,” says Faiza Ali, a 33-year-old New Yorker. “Walking the streets of New York, you can’t forget you are Muslim, brown, or black.” The daughter of Pakistani immigrants, Ali describes herself as a community organizer, a civil rights activist, and a proud Mets fan. She works in
- [The Politics of Religious Freedom Under the Trump Administration](https://arcmag.org/the-politics-of-religious-freedom-under-the-trump-administration/) - Last month in Washington, advocates for religious freedom witnessed two high-level, government-sponsored events designed to highlight and clarify the Trump administration’s commitment to protecting religious freedom in the United States and around the world. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo convened a State Department ministerial that included hundreds of stakeholders, including religious and civil society leaders,
- [The Social Gospel Roots of the American Religious Left](https://arcmag.org/the-social-gospel-roots-of-the-american-religious-left/) - Breaking White Supremacy: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Black Social Gospel by Gary Dorrien Yale University Press, 2018 The revitalization of religious left activism has been in the news a lot lately. Last year, Reuters, Bloomberg, and The Washington Post reported on the religious left as a resurgent political movement. Last June, The New York Times
- [The Salvation of Langston Hughes: A Conversation with Wallace Best](https://arcmag.org/the-salvation-of-langston-hughes-a-conversation-with-wallace-best/) - Langston Hughes, the literary titan of the Harlem Renaissance, did not identify as a religious believer. And yet, Hughes wrote as much about religion as he did anything else, according to Wallace D. Best, who argues in his latest book that the religious dimensions of Hughes’s work have too often been dismissed or ignored. In
- [The Christian Nationalism of Donald Trump](https://arcmag.org/the-christian-nationalism-of-donald-trump/) - God and country are persistent themes in President Trump’s rhetoric. In his inaugural address, he predicted Americans “will be protected by God.” He told a crowd at Liberty University that the country is “a nation of true believers.” He often links God and the military in a way that appeals especially with his evangelical supporters.
- [Southern Baptists, Gender Hierarchy, and the Road to Trump](https://arcmag.org/southern-baptists-gender-hierarchy-and-the-road-to-trump/) - It is no exaggeration to say that one of the most consequential political events of the twentieth century was the conservative/fundamentalist resurgence/takeover in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Whether you think it was a good thing (in which case it was a conservative resurgence) or a bad thing (thence a fundamentalist takeover), time is showing
- [Evangelicals and Pentecostals Must Do More to Help Immigrants](https://arcmag.org/evangelicals-and-pentecostals-must-do-more-to-help-immigrants/) - This month, as news spread that the Trump administration was separating immigrant and asylum-seeking children from their parents at the Mexican border, there was a widespread outcry from religious groups. Many of them decried Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ use of the Bible to justify immigrant deterrent methods on the border. It was not only the
- [What Does It Mean to Be Christian in America?](https://arcmag.org/what-does-it-mean-to-be-christian-in-america/) - To claim that America is or was a Christian nation is to assume that the meaning of such a term is unequivocal and clear. And yet, for as long as the term Christian has circulated in the United States, it has been appropriated and deployed by diverse parties, each hoping to meld certain political priorities
- [Sexual Purity, #ChurchToo, and the Crisis of Male Evangelical Leadership](https://arcmag.org/sexual-purity-churchtoo-and-the-crisis-of-male-evangelical-leadership/) - The abuse of male authority within evangelicalism comes in many forms, and these days revelations of indiscretions are coming fast and furious. The largest of the national and ecclesiastical scandals have made plain that many—too many—leaders of conservative evangelicalism have a problem with power. Most recently, Paige Patterson, a prominent leader in the Southern Baptist
- [Christian Ethicist Says to Trust Women on Abortion](https://arcmag.org/christian-ethicist-says-to-trust-women-on-abortion/) - Trust Women: A Progressive Christian Argument for Reproductive Justice By Rebecca Todd Peters Beacon Press, 2018 Most women seek an abortion for the simple reason that they are pregnant and wish to no longer be so. And yet, in much of our contemporary public discourse, this reason is not enough. According to Christian ethicist Rebecca
- [The Mormon Church Grapples with its Global Identity and its Legacy on Race](https://arcmag.org/the-mormon-church-grapples-with-its-global-identity-and-its-legacy-on-race/) - On Friday, June 1, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will commemorate the 40th anniversary of what is colloquially known as “the Revelation on the Priesthood.” In June 1978, then LDS Church President Spencer W. Kimball announced that he had received a revelation to end the century-long bans on men of African descent
- [What Malcolm X Taught Me About Muslim America](https://arcmag.org/what-malcolm-x-taught-me-about-muslim-america/) - I fell in love with Malcolm when I was fifteen. He was eloquent, handsome and, most importantly, revolutionary. Among a litany of emotionally stunted fictional white men, the Caulfields and Gatsbys of the standard high school English syllabus, the central character in The Autobiography of Malcolm X stood apart. As the only Muslim in my
- [In Jerusalem, a New Embassy Highlights Old Divisions](https://arcmag.org/in-jerusalem-a-new-embassy-highlights-old-divisions/) - JERUSALEM — Earlier this month, the evangelist Mike Evans began plastering the city of Jerusalem with signs praising Donald Trump for moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv. It was not Evans’ first foray into provocative signage. For months, his small organization, the Friends of Zion Museum, has been posting pro-Trump advertisements around Jerusalem. Because
- [What’s so American about Christian Zionism?](https://arcmag.org/whats-so-american-about-christian-zionism/) - God’s Country: Christian Zionism in America By Samuel Goldman University of Pennsylvania, 2018 Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House in March made headlines for his comparison of Donald Trump to Cyrus, the ancient Persian king who ended Israel’s Babylonian captivity. Speaking of the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the state
- [Misremembering 1968](https://arcmag.org/misremembering-1968/) - The year 1968 was momentous. Abroad, the Vietnam War raged on, while at home the civil rights movement marched on. Amid the violence and protests and sweeping change, the United States elected a new president and sent a man to orbit around the moon. Before the year’s end, the country would lose two important progressive
- [How Do Evangelical Colleges Keep the Faith?](https://arcmag.org/how-do-evangelical-colleges-keep-the-faith/) - In the past 100 years, American higher education has gone through profound changes. These shifts include a pronounced move toward secularism, a profusion of new students with help from the GI Bill, the growing inclusion of women, the gradual decline of segregation, the rise of campus activism, the skyrocketing popularity of collegiate sports, and the
- [The Persistent Christian Essence of "A Wrinkle in Time"](https://arcmag.org/the-persistent-christian-essence-of-a-wrinkle-in-time/) - Standing in an alpine meadow, three children look around them in wonder. As we follow their gaze, we could almost expect Julie Andrews to crest the hillside declaring that the hills are alive. Except the grass is a little too green, the lakes a bit too intensely aqua. This isn’t Austria. Instead of the Alps
- [New Documents Reveal How the FBI Deployed a Televangelist to Discredit Martin Luther King](https://arcmag.org/new-documents-reveal-how-the-fbi-deployed-a-televangelist-to-discredit-martin-luther-king/) - In 2017, the National Archives released a new trove of FBI files in response to a Freedom of Information Act request I made. The security-screened documents reveal how the bureau solicited and received sacred assistance in their crusade to discredit Martin Luther King, Jr. during the civil rights movement. The FBI’s efforts to destroy King’s
- [Among the Ruins of a Polygamous Sect, Short Creek Residents Rebuild Their Town](https://arcmag.org/among-the-ruins-of-a-polygamous-sect-short-creek-residents-rebuild-their-town/) - Just off a two-lane Utah highway, past a series of weed-sprung lots, past where the paved road turns to dirt, you’ll find the modest offices of the United Effort Plan Trust (UEP). It’s an obscure organization, but one which holds nearly all the land within this 13-square-mile territory, known as Short Creek. Inside the building,
- [The Revolutionary Roots of America’s Religious Nationalism](https://arcmag.org/the-revolutionary-roots-of-americas-religious-nationalism/) - A decade ago, it would have been difficult to conceive of Donald Trump as a key figure in America’s Christian image of itself. Yet the Religious Right’s support of his candidacy, followed by continued loyalty since he took office despite numerous scandals, has shifted the nation’s traditional boundaries. Evangelical leaders like Franklin Graham and Jerry
- [What the Museum of the Bible Conveys about Biblical Scholarship Behind Church Doors](https://arcmag.org/what-the-museum-of-the-bible-conveys-about-biblical-scholarship-behind-church-doors/) - On a crisp Sunday morning in January in Oklahoma City, the Museum of the Bible set up shop at a big Baptist church. Just outside the sanctuary sat a table with an array of biblical artifacts, flanked by glossy brochures advertising the museum and a floor-to-ceiling poster with the logo of the Museum of the
- [For Such a Time as This: Conservative Evangelical Women and the Trump Presidency](https://arcmag.org/for-such-a-time-as-this-conservative-evangelical-women-and-the-trump-presidency/) - Evangelical support for Donald Trump may be on the decline. According to a Pew Research Center poll released at the end of last year, the president’s approval rating among white evangelicals dropped 17 percentage points during his first year in office, from 78 percent in February to 61 percent in December. White women’s support for
- [The Hopeful, Ordinary Catholicism of Lady Bird](https://arcmag.org/the-hopeful-ordinary-catholicism-of-lady-bird/) - A Catholic movie is almost instantly recognizable, even to people who have never stepped inside a church. Crucifixes, clerical collars, and the host are familiar props, as are ceremonies such as Communion and the procession. Think of Carl Theodor Dreyer’s iconic and sublime The Passion of Joan of Arc from 1928, or more recently, the
- [Who Was Billy Graham? Placing America's Evangelist in History](https://arcmag.org/who-was-billy-graham-placing-americas-evangelist-in-history/) - When word came that Billy Graham had died, my mind turned to June 2005, when Graham held what was billed as his final crusade. The Greater New York Crusade was a triumphant closing chapter for America’s evangelist. The overwhelmingly warm coverage it garnered came across like the first-run of his obituary. In the more than
- [How Protestants Made the Modern World](https://arcmag.org/how-protestants-made-the-modern-world/) - Last fall marked the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, an event with profound consequences for the development of both religion and politics across the globe. Arising in sixteenth-century Europe, migrating into seventeenth-century America, and expanding by degrees across the remainder of the planet, Protestantism has achieved a level of international influence that is difficult
- [This Former 700 Club Producer Wants to "Make Amends to a Whole Generation of Christians"](https://arcmag.org/former-cbn-700-club-producer-wants-to-make-amends-to-christians/) - Terry Heaton is skipping church, as he does most every Sunday morning now. He is at home listening to bluegrass. Across town at Willowbrook Baptist Church, Pastor Mark McClelland’s sermon segues seamlessly from the story of John the Baptist to abortion. “People who support abortion are flat wrong,” the Huntsville, Alabama, minister booms into the
- [New Miniseries Revisits Waco Siege 25 Years Later](https://arcmag.org/new-miniseries-revisits-waco-siege-25-years-later/) - On Feb. 23, 1993, a heavily armed team from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms surrounded Mount Carmel, the rickety compound of the Branch Davidians, near Waco, Texas. An offshoot of an offshoot of Seventh-day Adventists, the Branch Davidians were alleged to be stockpiling weapons and abusing children. They certainly had weapons: The raid
- [Catholic Worker Houses Remain a Place for Protest and the Poor](https://arcmag.org/catholic-worker-houses-remain-a-place-for-protest-and-the-poor/) - Steve Baggarly is standing before a photo collage, musing about the people pictured. One man, he says, died in prison of AIDS; he was there for violating parole by stealing bread—“literally, a loaf of bread.” Baggarly points to another who was blind in one eye after having been whipped with a belt buckle as a
- [The “Browning” of American Megachurches](https://arcmag.org/the-browning-of-american-megachurches/) - Immigration has become a flash point in American political life, from debates over border security, to the protection of “dreamers” and a government shutdown. Religious voices have been steady interlocutors in these conversations. My own research looks into the ways that immigrants are influenced by, and in turn shape, the Christian landscape in the United
- [The Influential Network for a New Generation of American Muslim Leaders](https://arcmag.org/the-influential-network-for-a-new-generation-of-american-muslim-leaders/) - It was June 12, 2016, and a man named Omar Mateen had just opened fire inside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people and wounding dozens more. Shireen Zaman reached for her phone. A program director at the Proteus Fund, a social justice-focused foundation based in Amherst, Massachusetts, Zaman knew the tragedy would
- [American Exceptionalism and America First](https://arcmag.org/american-exceptionalism-and-america-first/) - In 2016, Donald Trump won the White House with a policy of “America First,” which he quickly made the official position of his administration. Such language can sometimes seem like American exceptionalism, offering an updated version of President Reagan’s “city on a hill,” but it actually offers a radically different vision of the nation’s place
- [The NRA’s Assault on Christian Faith and Practice](https://arcmag.org/the-nras-assault-on-christian-faith-and-practice/) - On Monday, November 6, Robert Jeffress, the senior minister of First Baptist Dallas, told the hosts of “Fox and Friends” that a mass shooting such as the one that had taken place the day before in Sutherland Springs, Texas, would not likely happen on the premises of his 130 million-dollar church campus downtown. “I'd say
- [Why Evangelical Women Leaders Don’t Talk about Politics](https://arcmag.org/why-evangelical-women-leaders-dont-talk-about-politics/) - It’s been a doozy of a year for Beth Moore. The popular Bible teacher is best known for her sold-out Living Proof Ministries events and 30-plus books and studies. With self-deprecating humor and magnificent Texan hair, Moore is a role model for a generation of evangelical women. But last fall, Moore’s ministry took a new
- [How Sex Divided American Christians and Fractured American Politics: An Interview with R. Marie Griffith](https://arcmag.org/how-sex-divided-american-christians-and-fractured-american-politics-an-interview-with-r-marie-griffith/) - Sexuality and religion lie at the heart of so many culture-war issues, from abortion and contraception to LGBT rights and same-sex marriage. In her latest book, Moral Combat: How Sex Divided American Christians and Fractured American Politics, out this month from Basic Books, R. Marie Griffith offers a sweeping history of how American Christians debated
- [To Address Suicide, Minister Challenges Accepted Views of Guns Among Believers](https://arcmag.org/to-address-suicide-minister-challenges-accepted-views-of-guns-among-believers/) - The minister closed the door behind him as he entered the small office, hidden away in the U.S. Capitol building. Having run two blocks after getting the call moments before, he sat down across from the member of Congress. “My whole life is falling apart in front of my eyes,” the congressman confessed, so emotional
- [Fifty Years Later, Religious Progressives Launch a New Poor People's Campaign](https://arcmag.org/fifty-years-later-religious-progressives-launch-a-new-poor-peoples-campaign/) - In the past 18 months Bishop William Barber, the longtime president of the North Carolina NAACP and leader of the state’s Moral Mondays movement, has given a blockbuster speech at the Democratic National Convention, appeared on the cover of the Sunday New York Times, helped topple a Republican governor, received attention from major Democratic funders,
- [Can Scripture “Speak for Itself”? A Look Inside the Museum of the Bible](https://arcmag.org/can-scripture-speak-for-itself-a-look-inside-the-museum-of-the-bible/) - This weekend, the privately funded Museum of the Bible will open its doors to the public. Situated just blocks from the United States Capitol building in Washington, D.C., its state-of-the-art corridors guide visitors through a selection of its 40,000 Bible-related artifacts and a series of interactive experiences intended to recreate the narratives, lands, and even
- [Investigating the Hobby Lobby Family: An Interview with Candida Moss and Joel S. Baden](https://arcmag.org/investigating-the-hobby-lobby-family-an-interview-with-candida-moss-and-joel-s-baden/) - The Hobby Lobby retail empire is an American success story. In 1970, David Green, a preacher’s son from Kansas, borrowed $600 to start a picture-frame business at his kitchen table. Decades later, his once modest enterprise is now a giant crafting store chain, with 600 stores and $4.3 billion in annual revenue. According to Forbes,
- [Confederate Monuments and the Power of Absence](https://arcmag.org/confederate-monuments-and-the-power-of-absence/) - In the early 1950s, twenty-something artist Robert Rauschenberg knocked on the door of his idol, renowned Dutch painter Willem de Kooning, who was nearly 50. He hoped no one would be home, which would be its own answer to the difficult question he planned to pose. But de Kooning answered, and Rauschenberg asked if he
- [The Supernatural Pseudoscience of Nazi Germany](https://arcmag.org/the-supernatural-pseudoscience-of-nazi-germany/) - Hitler's Monsters: A Supernatural History of the Third Reich By Eric Kurlander Yale University Press, 2017 Some of the details in historian Eric Kurlander’s new study of Nazism and the occult, Hitler’s Monsters, sound more like plot points from a Captain America movie than facts from the historical record. Kurlander writes about Nazi scientists hunting for
- [The Role of Sports Ministries in the NFL Protests](https://arcmag.org/the-role-of-sports-ministries-in-the-nfl-protests/) - In a video recorded in April 2017 for The Increase, the public-facing arm of evangelical sports ministry Pro Athletes Outreach, veteran NFL wide receiver Anquan Boldin discussed how professional football is “the greatest platform a person can have” and how he had used that platform to share his faith, serve others, and serve God. "The
- [The Russian Orthodox Church: Putin Ally or Independent Force?](https://arcmag.org/the-russian-orthodox-church-putin-ally-or-independent-force/) - The image of the Russian Orthodox Church as the “handmaiden” of the state long prevailed in Tsarist Russia. After decades of Soviet persecution, this perception of the church has reemerged in post-communist and, especially, in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Western media routinely describe the church as a “staunch Kremlin ally,” as The Washington Post did. The
- [India in the American Imagination: An Interview with Michael J. Altman](https://arcmag.org/india-in-the-american-imagination-an-interview-with-michael-j-altman/) - India has long captivated the American imagination. The subcontinent stood for more than two centuries as a screen onto which white Western Protestants projected their fantasies of a mysterious land of spice and contemplation, set within the frame of British colonialism. Since actually journeying to India was not a realistic proposition for many Americans, their
- [Losing Our Civil Religion](https://arcmag.org/losing-our-civil-religion/) - President Trump’s unbridled rhetorical rampage since taking office has stripped the presidency of its moral ambition and authority. He has exacerbated various divisions fraying the country while eroding the shared heritage and vision needed to restore unity and move the country forward—a pattern exhibited in his weekend condemnation of National Football League players and owners.
- [Masterpiece Cakeshop: Meet the Christian Legal Group Behind the High-Profile Court Case](https://arcmag.org/masterpiece-cakeshop-alliance-defending-freedom-christian-supreme-court/) - On June 26, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer. The court held that Missouri had violated the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause in denying funding to a private school solely because of its religious identity; in his opinion for the court, Chief Justice John Roberts blasted Missouri’s
- [How the State Department Has Sidelined Religion’s Role in Diplomacy](https://arcmag.org/how-the-state-department-has-sidelined-religions-role-in-diplomacy/) - In early 2013, Secretary of State John Kerry asked me to join the State Department and launch a new initiative, the Office of Religion and Global Affairs. Over the course of almost four years, we built a staff of 30 charged with the mission of advising the secretary when religion cut across his portfolio, engaging
- [Charlottesville, Exodus, and the Politics of Nostalgia](https://arcmag.org/charlottesville-exodus-and-the-politics-of-nostalgia/) - Charlottesville made clear that white nationalists see Donald Trump as their savior. Former KKK leader, David Duke confirmed the linkage: “We are going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump. That’s what we believed in. That’s why we voted for Donald Trump, because he said he’s going to take our country back.” Reclaiming the country
- [White Christians Must Condemn White Supremacy](https://arcmag.org/white-christians-must-condemn-white-supremacy/) - The hatred exhibited by an array of white supremacists this past weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, horrified much of the nation. The frenzied scenes of livid white men (and scattered white women) wearing Nazi or Confederate regalia and wielding fiery torches on the grounds of the University of Virginia, then of militia members brandishing machine guns
- [How One Purist Tried to Save the Religious Right from the Republicans](https://arcmag.org/how-one-purist-tried-to-save-the-religious-right-from-the-republicans/) - It wasn’t a matter of polite disagreement. For Howard Phillips, evangelical support for a Republican presidential candidate could be a deep, deep betrayal. “There are some people who would stick with the Republican Party if they nominated Judas,” the conservative activist once told Mother Jones. “And they would still call him Christian, and they would
- [Breaking the Ten Commandments: A Short History of the Contentious American Monuments](https://arcmag.org/breaking-the-ten-commandments-a-short-history-of-the-contentious-american-monuments/) - “Freedom!” cried the man as he drove his car into a six-foot monument of the Ten Commandments in Little Rock, Arkansas, toppling the sculpture from its base and shattering it to pieces. From where Michael Tate Reed II sat, behind the wheel of a Dodge Dart, the destruction of the Ten Commandments in the summer
- [The Morality Tale of Health Care Reform](https://arcmag.org/the-morality-tale-of-health-care-reform/) - Few domestic political issues have gotten more recent airtime than health care. After years of denouncing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), congressional leaders from the party in power have been determined to repeal and replace it, and President Trump has repeatedly urged their efforts forward. But their replacement plan—the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA)—garnered a
- [“Evangelical” Is Not a Political Term](https://arcmag.org/evangelical-is-not-a-political-term/) - The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America By Frances FitzGerald Simon & Schuster, 2017 In the hallway just outside the sanctuary of the midsize Southern Baptist church I grew up in hung a small cork board for posting announcements and other information. Every now and then, someone would pin a voter guide from the Moral Majority
- [Why I Went Back to Church](https://arcmag.org/why-i-went-back-to-church/) - I was late to my own baptism. This past Easter Sunday, my two-year-old daughter and I were scheduled to be baptized at Grace Chapel, a Presbyterian church (PCA) in our adopted hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska. Anxious to make it to church on time, my wife and I skipped breakfast, filled our daughter’s snack cup with
- [Where Do Pro-Life Feminists Belong?](https://arcmag.org/where-do-pro-life-feminists-belong/) - As the Democratic Party scrambles to redefine itself in the wake of Hillary Clinton’s loss, a woman’s right to abortion has emerged as a central issue. Though both parties once counted pro-life politicians in their ranks, the Democratic Party has more recently enshrined a pro-choice platform. That stance is in contention, however, as the party
- [Leading Group for Church Abuse Victims Faces Uncertain Future](https://arcmag.org/leading-group-for-church-abuse-victims-faces-uncertain-future/) - David Clohessy often looks as if he’s on the verge of tears when he talks about survivors of sexual abuse. When his vivid blue eyes start to well up, he’ll reach for his glasses and wipe his eyes. He comes across as emotional, but sincere and well-intentioned. We sit at a coffee shop near his
- [The New Christian Zionists](https://arcmag.org/the-new-christian-zionists/) - The New Christian Zionism: Fresh Perspectives on Israel & the Land Edited by Gerald R. McDermott InterVarsity, 2016 There is a joke that Israelis like to tell Christian Zionists, one first made popular by Prime Minister Menachem Begin in the late-1970s: There are many differences between Jews and Christians, but they must work together now
- [Trinity Lutheran: The Church-State Case Looms at the Supreme Court](https://arcmag.org/trinity-lutheran-the-church-state-case-looms-at-the-supreme-court/) - The Supreme Court is expected to rule this month in a case brought by Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Missouri, against the state. At first blush, the dispute seems like a simple playground dispute. But the ruling could have powerful implications for the separation of church and state and the funding of religious schools in
- [How American Jews Became Israeli Settlers](https://arcmag.org/how-american-jews-became-israeli-settlers/) - There are some 60,000 American citizens living as settlers in the West Bank. In a new book, City on a Hilltop, historian Sara Yael Hirschhorn tries to understand what brought those Americans to the most contentious real estate on earth—and how their presence there shapes the tangled landscape of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Much of the international
- [The Book of Mormon Gets the Literary Treatment](https://arcmag.org/the-book-of-mormon-gets-the-literary-treatment/) - The Book of Mormon is a wholly American Scripture. It is the sacred text for the 15 million-strong Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It’s the calling card for thousands of missionaries, and part of the inspiration for a Tony award-winning Broadway musical. But rarely has the book, on its own merits, been considered
- [Healing a House Divided: An Interview with Presiding Bishop Michael Curry](https://arcmag.org/healing-a-house-divided-an-interview-with-presiding-bishop-michael-curry/) - In April, Washington University in St. Louis welcomed to campus the Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. Bishop Curry delivered a public lecture, entitled “Healing a House Divided.” The John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, which publishes this journal, sponsored the event. Bishop Curry was elected to
- [Recalling the Spiritual Vision of Robert Hayden, America’s First Black Poet Laureate](https://arcmag.org/recalling-the-spiritual-vision-of-robert-hayden-americas-first-black-poet-laureate/) - In February, the new administration kicked off its first celebration of Black History Month with a discussion between the president and several of his African American diversity advisors. If unsurprising, much ado has been made about certain episodes in their exchange. Most notably, Trump himself outlined a litany of African American heroes in such a
- [With “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Theocracy Arrives on the Small Screen](https://arcmag.org/with-the-handmaids-tale-theocracy-arrives-on-the-small-screen/) - The current push to defund Planned Parenthood has an air of depressing familiarity. For decades now, the American right has evinced an obsession with the unborn while showing little concern for the health of women’s bodies. There’s also nothing new in that the governing powers behind the push, in both the White House and Congress,
- [Reinhold Niebuhr, Washington’s Favorite Theologian](https://arcmag.org/reinhold-niebuhr-washingtons-favorite-theologian/) - Reinhold Niebuhr, it seems, is everyone’s favorite theologian. Then-candidate Barack Obama told David Brooks in 2007 that Niebuhr was one of his “favorite philosophers.” There is “serious evil in the world, and hardship and pain,” Obama said. “And we should be humble and modest in our belief we can eliminate those things. But we shouldn’t
- [The Theology of Stephen K. Bannon](https://arcmag.org/the-theology-of-stephen-k-bannon/) - White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon’s job may be in jeopardy, according to recent news reports. Coming on the heels of his removal from the National Security Council, the commotion surrounding the alt-right provocateur has raised new questions about his broader ideology—and to what degree it may or may not be influencing the policies of
- [The Bioethics of Neil Gorsuch](https://arcmag.org/the-bioethics-of-neil-gorsuch/) - In his Senate confirmation hearings, Neil Gorsuch gave little away. His extensive but ultimately unrevealing answers to senators’ questions did not show the workings of his heart—what various Democrats described as the object of their inquiries. Practiced, garrulous, tedious, combative, and smugly civil, the judge repeated stock answers that deflected from his constitutional philosophy and
- [The Pursuit of a Meaningful Life: An Interview with Emily Esfahani Smith](https://arcmag.org/the-pursuit-of-a-meaningful-life-an-interview-with-emily-esfahani-smith/) - When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, he enshrined life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as inalienable human rights, endowed by the Creator himself. Since then, popular discourse in the United States has gone heavy on all three, with each now supporting a cottage industry of books, blogs, TED talks, how-to DVDs, and
- [The Clash Between Religious Freedom and Equality Law](https://arcmag.org/the-clash-between-religious-freedom-and-equality-law/) - Religious Freedom in an Egalitarian Age by Nelson Tebbe Harvard University Press, 2017 It’s easy, in the current American political climate, to see religious freedom and LGBT rights as two opposing values, permanently in conflict with each other. Much of this has to do with the backlash to advancements in LGBT rights from conservative religious
- [Neil Gorsuch, the Supreme Court, and Religious Freedom](https://arcmag.org/neil-gorsuch-the-supreme-court-and-religious-freedom/) - A little over a year ago, Associate Justice Antonin Scalia died. Justice Scalia was among the most consequential jurists in American history. For many traditional religious believers, mainstream Republicans, and conservative intellectuals, the Supreme Court vacancy created by Scalia’s death was an important—perhaps the strongest—reason to vote for Donald J. Trump in the recent election.
- [The Conservative Tradition of Welcoming Refugees](https://arcmag.org/the-conservative-tradition-of-welcoming-refugees/) - As as we waited to cross the border, my mother held her breath. She clutched my hand, with my father and brother beside us, as we sat on an old bus that crossed over from the Soviet Union into Poland in September 1989. We celebrated my brother’s birthday in Warsaw and, the following day, left
- [The Culture War and the Benedict Option: An Interview with Rod Dreher](https://arcmag.org/the-culture-war-and-the-benedict-option-an-interview-with-rod-dreher/) - “The culture war as we knew it is over,” writes the conservative Christian blogger and author Rod Dreher in his new book, The Benedict Option. “The so-called values voters—social and religious conservatives—have been defeated and are being swept to the political margins.” The election of Donald Trump, Dreher argues, is no solution. “The idea that
- [Communal Living and its Discontents](https://arcmag.org/communal-living-and-its-discontents/) - Oneida: From Free Love Utopia to the Well-Set Table by Ellen Wayland-Smith Picador, 2016 Sometime circa 1970, my dad spent a month at a commune in rural Virginia that was based on the behaviorist psychologist B.F. Skinner’s utopian novel Walden Two. The commune-dwellers had already built laboratory-style “Skinner boxes” for the perfect babies they hoped
- [The Sanctuary Movement, Then and Now](https://arcmag.org/the-sanctuary-movement-then-and-now/) - It seems as though the word “sanctuary” has been used more in the last two months than in the more than two decades since the end of the original Sanctuary Movement. On January 25, President Trump signed an executive order that would punish and withdraw federal funds from any Sanctuary jurisdictions—those states, counties, or cities
- [How an Orthodox Rabbi Became an Unlikely Ally of the Christian Right](https://arcmag.org/how-an-orthodox-rabbi-became-an-unlikely-ally-of-the-christian-right/) - “We are in a third world war,” said Shlomo Riskin, slamming his fist on the table. We were sitting in a windowless room in the D.C. convention center, and Riskin, an Orthodox rabbi, was explaining how he had ended up here, at the annual summit of Christians United For Israel, giving a speech to thousands
- [Religious Movements of the Great Migration: An Interview with Judith Weisenfeld](https://arcmag.org/religious-movements-of-the-great-migration-an-interview-with-judith-weisenfeld/) - The Great Migration of the 1920s and 1930s, when people of African descent moved from the American South and the Caribbean into cities of the American North, fostered a diverse urban religious culture. In her new book, New World A-Coming: Black Religion and Racial Identity during the Great Migration, Judith Weisenfeld explores how five religious
- [The Complicated Legacy of Bishop Eddie Long](https://arcmag.org/the-complicated-legacy-of-bishop-eddie-long/) - The evangelical world lost a controversial megastar last month. During the two decades of the 1990s and 2000s, few megachurch pastors were as influential as Bishop Eddie Long. His international television ministry made him religious royalty among religious broadcasters. His 20,000-plus member megachurch provided him with influence among the celebrity and political classes. Yet his following
- [Advancing God’s Kingdom: Calvinism, Calvin College, and Betsy DeVos](https://arcmag.org/advancing-gods-kingdom-calvinism-calvin-college-and-betsy-devos/) - Betsy DeVos’ nomination as Secretary of Education has prompted intense scrutiny. That is right and fitting, given her lack of both experience and expertise. But it is dismaying that much of this scrutiny has seized on myths about Calvinism and the Christian Reformed Church—equating a religious background with a current stance about educational policy. By
- [There Has Never Been an America without Muslims](https://arcmag.org/there-has-never-been-an-america-without-muslims/) - There has never been an America without Muslims. But the long history of Muslims in America has been overlooked, forgotten, and purposely dismissed in our current political climate. On Friday, President Donald Trump ordered that the United States ban travelers and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries (Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen). Trump’s
- [Bearing Witness at the Women’s March on Washington](https://arcmag.org/bearing-witness-at-the-womens-march-on-washington/) - “I’m a WITNESS for JUSTICE!” read the front, and on the back, “¡Soy TESTIGO de la JUSTICIA!” This sign, held aloft by a group gathered on the National Mall last Saturday at the Women’s March on Washington, was the product of the United Church of Christ, the progressive denomination’s logo proudly stamped on both sides
- [Donald Trump and Militant Evangelical Masculinity](https://arcmag.org/donald-trump-and-militant-evangelical-masculinity/) - As Donald Trump prepares to take the oath of office, many white evangelicals will be celebrating. Yet the fact that “family values” conservatives continue to rally around Trump has bewildered many people, including a number of evangelicals themselves. Trump, after all, is a man who boasted of his “manhood” on national television, who incited violence
- [A Note of Discord? The Mormon Tabernacle Choir at Trump’s Inauguration](https://arcmag.org/a-note-of-discord-the-mormon-tabernacle-choir-at-trumps-inauguration/) - As Ronald Reagan looked on, a float bearing the Mormon Tabernacle Choir crawled down the streets of Washington, D.C., as part of the Gipper’s inauguration parade in 1981. Stopping in front of the president-elect, the Tabernacle Choir belted out a stirring rendition of “Battle Hymn of the Republic” into the frosty air. Visibly affected, Reagan
- [Apocalypse Later: Millennial Evangelicals, Israel-Palestine, and the Kingdom of God](https://arcmag.org/apocalypse-later-millennial-evangelicals-israel-palestine-and-the-kingdom-of-god/) - White evangelical Christians voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump in the recent presidential election, reaffirming the apparently unbreakable bond that has united conservative Christians and the GOP since Ronald Reagan’s victory in 1980. Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence promised voters that they would oppose abortion and select a socially conservative Supreme Court justice. They also
- [Christmas and Hanukkah, Together Again](https://arcmag.org/christmas-and-hanukkah-together-again/) - It happens every year. Interfaith families face the “the December dilemma” over how they will handle Christmas and Hanukkah, which generally fall within the same month. It has become a common issue in a world in which 50 percent of American Jews are married to people who are not Jewish, and who are, most often,
- [Who Are You Calling an Anti-Semite? Jewish Debate in Trump’s America](https://arcmag.org/who-are-you-calling-an-anti-semite-jewish-debate-in-trumps-america/) - In a Vanity Fair article about the “post-election freak-out” at Columbia Prep, the school Barron Trump will continue to attend after the inauguration, Emily Jane Fox suggests that the school might join the many groups—including Jewish ones—that seem to be mending fences quickly with the incoming administration. Fox writes, “Jewish organizations, too, have come to some
- [Tracking Hate: Islam and Race After the Presidential Election](https://arcmag.org/tracking-hate-islam-and-race-after-the-presidential-election/) - On November 21, Maha Sayed, an attorney for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, called for an investigation into the actions of a kindergarten teacher in Charlotte, North Carolina. In a letter to the local school board, and as the Charlotte Observer reported, Sayed wrote that the teacher grabbed a Muslim student “by the neck and
- [The Quest for Confident Pluralism: An Interview with John Inazu](https://arcmag.org/the-quest-for-confident-pluralism-an-interview-with-john-inazu/) - This election exposed America’s fissures. It feels as if we are in the midst of a political and cultural civil war. We are still grappling with the aftermath, the coarsening of our political discourse, and the frightening outbursts of violence. We are still wrestling with how this vicious divide is new and different. But in
- [Where Do We Go from Here?](https://arcmag.org/where-do-we-go-from-here/) - The 2016 election is history, and several things are clearer to us now than they were before. It turns out that vast swaths of Americans are comfortable voting for a presidential candidate who has said vile and hate-filled things about Muslims, Mexicans, African Americans, women, and the disabled. They are willing to stake their future
- [How to Live Beyond this Election](https://arcmag.org/how-to-live-beyond-this-election/) - On October 8, On Being host Krista Tippett moderated a conversation between poet Natasha Tretheway and interfaith activist Eboo Patel. Held on the eve of the second presidential debate, the theme was “Religion and Conceptions of the Common Good.” Together, the speakers took the long view of how to live beyond this election cycle, mining
- [Sinfulness, Hopefulness, and the Possibility of Politics](https://arcmag.org/sinfulness-hopefulness-and-the-possibility-of-politics/) - On October 8, On Being host Krista Tippett moderated a conversation between The New York Times’ David Brooks and The Washington Post’s E.J. Dionne. Held on the eve of the second presidential debate, they discussed the role of religion in public life, and where they see the intersections of theology, sin, and politics. As Tippett
- [The Religious Right's Power Grab: How Outside Activists Became Inside Operatives](https://arcmag.org/the-religious-rights-power-grab-how-outside-activists-became-inside-operatives/) - Since a leaked 2005 Access Hollywood audiotape revealed Donald Trump bragging about how he sexually assaulted women—something he dismissed as “locker room banter”—more than a dozen women have come forward to allege he attacked them in the past. In response, former supporters have denounced him. His poll numbers have tanked. But even as his candidacy
- [The New White Nationalists?](https://arcmag.org/the-new-white-nationalists/) - There’s a 1920s Klan pamphlet, The Menace of Modern Immigration, that is worth recalling in the lead-up to the current presidential election. Written by H.W. Evans, the second Imperial Wizard of the second incarnation of the Klan, the cover features a dragon with horns, fangs, and sharp claws vomiting people, instead of fire. A steady
- [Eric Metaxas’s Bonhoeffer Delusions](https://arcmag.org/eric-metaxas-bonhoeffer-delusions/) - “We are better than this,” declares Marian Wright Edelman, the president and founder of the Children’s Defense Fund. “Bonhoeffer, the great German Protestant theologian who died opposing Hitler’s holocaust, believed that the test of the morality of a society is how it treats its children. We flunk Bonhoeffer’s test every hour of every day in
- [The Christian Worldview of Mike Pence](https://arcmag.org/the-christian-worldview-of-mike-pence/) - Hours after Donald Trump’s infamous tape was released, Republicans were calling on Mike Pence to replace his running mate atop the ticket. Faced with a 2005 recording of Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women, the vice presidential candidate said, "I do not condone his remarks and I cannot defend them." Hoping to salvage down-ballot races, at least two
- [The Conflicted Catholicism of Tim Kaine](https://arcmag.org/the-conflicted-catholicism-of-tim-kaine/) - On a recent conference call with the voter outreach group Catholics for Hillary, vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine trotted out his faith credentials. He spoke of his Jesuit high school education. He mentioned his year as a missionary in Honduras. He reminded his listeners that these Catholic experiences are what led him to pursue a
- [An Atheist for President?](https://arcmag.org/an-atheist-for-president/) - When Donald Trump spoke to a group of evangelical leaders in New York early this past summer, he insinuated that Hillary Clinton’s Christian faith was an unknown quantity, that there was really no indication in her long public life of her being religious at all. The record, of course, could hardly be clearer on Clinton’s
- [Why Donald Trump Is Losing Catholic Voters](https://arcmag.org/why-donald-trump-is-losing-catholic-voters/) - Even early in Donald Trump's presidential campaign, there were signs that he might struggle to win the hearts of Catholic voters. He was competing for the nomination against a number of Catholic candidates. There were Christian missteps: He talked of Holy Communion as "my little wine" and "my little cracker"; he almost put money in
- [The Mormon Council of Fifty: What Joseph Smith’s Secret Records Reveal](https://arcmag.org/the-mormon-council-of-fifty-what-joseph-smiths-secret-records-reveal/) - In 1844, the Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith surrendered himself to state authorities after destroying an anti-Mormon printing press in Nauvoo, Illinois. When he was sent to nearby Carthage, the county seat, and charged with treason, he knew there was a strong chance he would never escape alive. Before he left he whispered instructions to his
- [What Phyllis Schlafly Believed: An Unreleased Interview with the Late Anti-Feminist Activist](https://arcmag.org/what-phyllis-schlafly-believed-an-unreleased-interview-with-the-late-anti-feminist-activist/) - Phyllis Schlafly, who died yesterday at the age of 92, will long be remembered as one of the most politically consequential figures of her time. A tireless critic of feminism, she is best known for her successful campaign to block passage of the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s. Through her many books, speaking engagements,
- [Congressional Chaplains: Can They Welcome All Religions and No Religion at All?](https://arcmag.org/congressional-chaplains-can-they-welcome-all-religions-and-no-religion-at-all/) - This past spring, on the National Day of Prayer, the Freedom from Religion Foundation—a group that advocates for the separation of church and state—filed suit against Congress. Their claim? That House of Representatives Chaplain Patrick Conroy rejected an application from their co-president Dan Barker, an atheist, to deliver a secular guest invocation before the House.
- [Aboard Noah’s Ark, in a Kentucky Corn Field](https://arcmag.org/aboard-noahs-ark-in-a-kentucky-corn-field/) - Noah’s Ark has a great kitchen. Above the butcher block countertops, gleaming knives and a pizza peel adorn the wall. Garlic cloves hang from a ceiling lattice, while loaves of bread sit on cooling racks. A garden of kale, chamomile, and fig trees grows a dozen feet away, planted in dirt that’s actually a mixture
- [The Moral Tribalism of Contemporary Politics](https://arcmag.org/the-moral-tribalism-of-contemporary-politics/) - My friends are a model of religious pluralism. Put them all in a room, and they’d look like the Parliament of World Religions—Buddhist, Muslim, Catholic, evangelical, and more, with plenty of atheists and agnostics in the mix. Many of them are in interfaith relationships. When you ask them about their beliefs, they’re likely to talk
- [The Persecution of China's Muslim Uyghurs](https://arcmag.org/the-persecution-of-chinas-muslim-uyghurs/) - It was broad daylight in a busy part of Beijing when a local doctor—a friend of mine—rear-ended the car in front of hers. Though it wasn’t a major accident, she was frightened to step outside of her BMW to survey the aftermath of the collision. The 41-year-old pathologist says, “I wasn’t hurt and I don’t
- [Donald Trump and the Evangelical Political Schism](https://arcmag.org/donald-trump-and-the-evangelical-political-schism/) - During the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, several high-profile evangelical leaders quietly expressed their support for Donald Trump, adding to the more fervent and public endorsement of other evangelicals such as Jerry Falwell, Jr., the president of Liberty University. Ralph Reed of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, activist
- [Can Hillary Clinton’s Faith Help Her Lead a Fractured Nation?](https://arcmag.org/can-clintons-faith-help-her-lead-a-fractured-nation/) - Last month, at a closed meeting with evangelical leaders, Donald Trump asserted his Christian bona fides. He boasted of his child-rearing practices, touted the virtues of Sunday School, identified religious liberty as “the number one question,” promised to appoint anti-abortion Supreme Court justices, and assured those gathered that if he were to be elected, people
- [It Starts with the Stop](https://arcmag.org/it-starts-with-the-stop/) - The police-involved shooting deaths of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Philando Castile in a Minneapolis suburb have reignited the national focus on police brutality against black people. Within days of these two black men’s deaths, a lone gunman fatally shot five police officers in Dallas, allegedly in response to these killings. Just this past
- [The Decline of White Christian America](https://arcmag.org/the-decline-of-white-christian-america/) - For most of the twentieth century, in White Christian America the terms “Christian” and “Protestant” were virtually synonymous. Questions like “And where do you go to church?” felt appropriate in casual social interactions or even business exchanges. White Christian America was a place where few gave a second thought to saying “Merry Christmas!” to strangers
- [Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” and Black Christian Women’s Spirituality](https://arcmag.org/beyonces-lemonade-and-black-christian-womens-spirituality/) - In her book, Between Sundays: Black Women and Everyday Struggles of Faith, Marla Frederick chronicles Black women’s participation in the church and development of spirituality despite the church’s persistent patriarchy and heteronormative violence. Frederick writes that Black women in the church “participate because their faith is real—complicated but real.” Many young Black Christian women grew
- [To Serve God and Mammon](https://arcmag.org/to-serve-god-and-mammon-chris-lehmann-money-cult/) - The Money Cult: Capitalism, Christianity, and the Unmaking of the American Dream by Chris Lehmann Melville House, 2016 Last year, the aptly named Pastor Creflo Dollar, a prosperity gospel preacher, made headlines when he asked God for a new $65 million luxury jet. Apparently spreading the word of the Lord was no longer possible without a
- [Orlando: A Lament](https://arcmag.org/orlando-a-lament/) - Like most people on the East Coast, I got the first news in the blur of waking on Sunday morning. I checked my email for an overnight report about an ailing family member in Dallas. What I got instead was “Orlando,” as we are learning to call the massacre. Another name is added to the
- [Orlando Shooting: An Attack at the Center of America's Fault Lines](https://arcmag.org/orlando-shooting-an-attack-at-the-center-of-americas-fault-lines/) - First, the sorrow. Then, the fury. Next, what? Countless Americans, across our political divides, experience stages one and two after a massacre such as the one at Orlando’s Pulse dance club in the early morning of June 12. Grief and rage over lives senselessly lost to violence are unifying emotions, at least in theory.
- [The Dangerous Faith of a Notorious Drug Lord](https://arcmag.org/nazario-moreno-michoacan-la-familia-cartel-religion/) - Nothing and no one will make me change: not even the lies or the rumors that are said against me. I have decided to continue being an upright, honest, responsible, and brave man. I have decided to continue fighting for the full realization of my ideals. So opens Pensamientos (Thoughts), the book penned by
- [When Being Pro-Life Did Not Mean Being Conservative](https://arcmag.org/when-being-pro-life-did-not-mean-being-conservative/) - For those who have come of age in the so-called millennial generation, the alliance between conservative Republicanism and “pro-life” activism is accepted without question. Indeed, that relationship has been firmly in place for the last 40 years, and in that time has escorted untold millions of “single-issue” voters into the ranks of the GOP. But
- [At BYU, a New Confrontation in the Campus Sexual Assault Debates](https://arcmag.org/byu-brigham-young-campus-sexual-assault-debates/) - The process for adjudicating sexual assault cases on college campuses has sparked widespread debate across the country. A new dimension of those conversations, involving a complicated relationship between religious practice and the non-discrimination provisions of Title IX, emerged recently at Brigham Young University, the flagship school of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- [Remembering Daniel Berrigan (1921-2016): Priest, Poet, and Pacifist](https://arcmag.org/remembering-daniel-berrigan-1921-2016-priest-poet-and-pacifist/) - Daniel Berrigan, the radical priest who helped to redefine what it means to be a Roman Catholic in post-Vatican II America, died on April 30 at age 94. Berrigan’s work transcended his religious faith, and his death represents an enormous loss to those who treasure basic principles of human dignity. His legacy, grounded in his
- [North Carolina's HB2 and the Shifting Battle over LGBT Rights](https://arcmag.org/north-carolina-hb2-religion-shift-battle-lgbt-rights/) - In March, in a special session that cost taxpayers $42,000, the North Carolina legislature met and passed, after just nine hours of deliberations that included less than an hour of public comment, the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, a piece of legislation now known more widely as House Bill 2 or HB2. The legal
- [The EU-Turkey Agreement on Refugees: Echo of a Tragic Past](https://arcmag.org/the-eu-turkey-agreement-on-refugees-echo-of-a-tragic-past/) - The European Union started deporting hundreds of refugees in early April. As of March 20, the EU will return to Turkey all new refugees who reach Greece illegally. This wave of deportations is the consequence of a new agreement between the EU and Turkey, the latest effort to stem the tide of refugees who have
- [A Hospital Tradition Remembers the Youngest Patients](https://arcmag.org/a-hospital-tradition-remembers-the-youngest-patients/) - “How many children do you have?” I asked a colleague as we started to get to know each other a few months ago. “One,” she replied, “and I lost a second pregnancy at six months last spring.” “I’m sorry,” I replied and listened as she shared more. Her experiences reminded me of a woman who
- [The Paradoxes of Ted Cruz](https://arcmag.org/the-paradoxes-of-ted-cruz/) - By almost any reckoning, Ted Cruz’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination presents voters with a paradox—several paradoxes, actually. The senator from Texas styles himself a populist, and yet nearly everyone who knows him well detests him. At this writing, only two of his fifty-three fellow Republicans in the Senate have endorsed his candidacy, and
- [Is God Dead? A TIME Cover Turns 50](https://arcmag.org/is-god-dead-a-time-cover-turns-50/) - On Good Friday in April 1966, fifty years ago this month, Time magazine published its famously controversial cover story, “Is God Dead?” Placing that stark query in bold red lettering against an all-black background, the weekly informed readers that those “three words represent a summons to reflect on the meaning of existence.” Written by Time’s
- [The Democratic Virtue of Losing](https://arcmag.org/the-democratic-virtue-of-losing/) - Easter, which began yesterday and extends until Pentecost, provides an occasion for Christians to meditate on the consummate paradox at the heart of their faith. In this profound theological conundrum, death marks the path to everlasting life. Jesus is crucified so that others may live. Jesus loses in this world so that humanity wins—despite its
- [What Happened to the Jesus People?](https://arcmag.org/what-happened-to-the-jesus-people/) - Evangelical hippies in the 1970s were known for flashing their “one-way” sign—an index finger pointing upward that signaled an alternative to the counter-cultural peace sign and black power fist. Their gesture was quite often interpreted as approximate support for the moral agendas of Richard Nixon’s “silent majority” and the emerging Christian right. Shawn David Young’s
- [The Moral Vision of Bernie Sanders](https://arcmag.org/the-moral-vision-of-bernie-sanders/) - Last September, Bernie Sanders arrived at Liberty University, in Virginia, to give a major speech about religion, faith, and the moral bankruptcy of the American economy. For 27 minutes, Sanders delivered a stump-speech-turned-sermon on economic justice. He quoted the Gospel of Matthew. He quoted the pope. He quoted a passage from the Book of Amos
- [America’s Divisions and Scalia’s Christian Visions](https://arcmag.org/americas-divisions-and-scalias-christian-visions/) - As efforts are made to assess the legacy of Justice Antonin Scalia, who died last month, pundits have avoided discussing the one decision that stands as the biggest enigma in his corpus of largely conservative judicial decisions: Employment Division v. Smith, the historic case that repudiated the existence of a free exercise right to religious
- [The Liberation Theology of Dr. Paul Farmer](https://arcmag.org/the-liberation-theology-of-dr-paul-farmer/) - J ust weeks ago, during a February visit to Mexico, Pope Francis gave a Mass at Ecatepec, a slum outside of Mexico City. The teaching he delivered condemned a society “for the few, by the few,” and preached increased concern for the poor. By now, those ideas have become a familiar part of the pope’s
- [Mormons, Anglicans, and Why Global Churches Struggle Over LGBT Rights](https://arcmag.org/mormons-anglicans-and-why-global-churches-struggle-over-lgbt-rights/) - In the United States, 2015 was a watershed year for marriage equality. With a 5-4 decision in June, the Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees the right to marry for all Americans, regardless of the gender composition of the couple. Marriage traditionalists built their
- [Creationism’s Future After No Child Left Behind](https://arcmag.org/creationisms-future-after-no-child-left-behind/) - On December 10 of this past year, President Obama signed into law the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The ESSA replaces the increasingly unpopular No Child Left Behind Act, which drew ire for its emphasis on standardized testing as a measure of school performance. Critics objected to the loss of local authority over teaching standards,
- [Why We're Not in a New Gilded Age](https://arcmag.org/why-were-not-in-a-new-gilded-age/) - It’s not a new Gilded Age after all. For a number of years now, leading economists such as Thomas Piketty, Joseph Stiglitz, and Paul Krugman have been comparing our own time to the late-nineteenth century decades that U.S. historians, following Mark Twain’s lead, call the Gilded Age. The parallels are striking, especially when it comes
- [The 2016 Presidential Campaign: The Past and Present of American Tolerance and Intolerance](https://arcmag.org/the-2016-presidential-campaign-the-past-and-present-of-american-tolerance-and-intolerance/) - American presidential politics are in the midst of a strikingly ecumenical, if not interfaith, moment. Both parties are fielding primary candidates with widely divergent spiritual commitments. The GOP contenders include a former Mormon among several Catholics, a Seventh Day Adventist and a Southern Baptist, and a Presbyterian who has shown little interest in church or
- [Along the Edges of Faith: The Many Sectors of American Chaplains](https://arcmag.org/along-the-edges-of-faith-the-many-sectors-of-american-chaplains/) - Meg, a chaplain at an urban academic medical center, spoke often about hope in the time I spent shadowing and interviewing her for my book Paging God: Religion in the Halls of Medicine. “I often say I have a theology of hope,” she told me. “I’ll often say to families of patients that when you’re
- [Ammon Bundy and the Paradoxes of Mormon Political Theologies](https://arcmag.org/ammon-bundy-and-the-paradoxes-of-mormon-political-theologies/) - On Saturday, January 2, Ammon Bundy led a group of protesters in occupying the Malheur Wildlife Refuge Building outside of Burns, Oregon. An outgrowth of a demonstration in support of two ranchers, Dwight and Steven Hammond, who were convicted of allowing a controlled fire to engulf federal lands, the act of dissent was aimed to
- [Confronting Religious Violence: An Interview with Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks](https://arcmag.org/confronting-religious-violence-an-interview-with-rabbi-lord-jonathan-sacks/) - On November 3, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks gave a lecture at Washington University in St. Louis based on his most recent book, Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence. The John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics and the Jewish Federation of St. Louis hosted the event, which included student interactions on campus and a
- [The God of Abraham Praise: Wheaton College Considers Its Muslim Neighbors](https://arcmag.org/the-god-of-abraham-praise-wheaton-college-considers-its-muslim-neighbors/) - Few topics matter more to American evangelicals than religious identity. Who is my God? Who is my neighbor? What does it mean to follow Jesus? By answering such questions, evangelicals discover who they are. Reverberating through history, these questions are at the heart of a recent dustup at my alma mater, Wheaton College. Swirling around
- [The Long American Tradition of Nativist Politics](https://arcmag.org/the-long-american-tradition-of-nativist-politics/) - Donald Trump’s proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the United States, possibly including U.S. citizens, produced immediate, and well deserved, condemnation from figures across the political spectrum. President Obama and Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus both stated objections to the plan because it contradicted “American values.” But while Trump’s proposal may be antithetical
- [Donald Trump and the Evangelical Vote](https://arcmag.org/donald-trump-and-the-evangelical-vote/) - Donald Trump panders to the GOP base.
- [Climate Change and the Legacy of Thomas Merton](https://arcmag.org/climate-change-and-the-legacy-of-thomas-merton/) - “I love the nature that is all around me here,” Catholic monk, author, and social activist Thomas Merton wrote from his Kentucky hermitage one cold January day. The words end a cutting-edge missive he sent to Rachel Carson after she published Silent Spring, the tome known for starting the modern environmental movement. “Your book makes
- [Terror in Paris: The Plight of France’s Muslim Community](https://arcmag.org/terror-in-paris-the-plight-of-frances-muslim-community/) - A fter the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, R&P interviewed Jonathan Laurence, a political scientist who studies the politics of Islam in the West, particularly in France and Europe. Jonathan Laurence is an associate professor of political science at Boston College and a nonresident senior fellow in foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution. He
- [Ben Carson, Science, and Seventh-day Adventists](https://arcmag.org/ben-carson-science-and-seventh-day-adventists/) - ­­P residential candidate Ben Carson’s scientific views might seem out of place for a renowned neurosurgeon. He is uncertain on global warming, opining to Bloomberg: “We may be warming. We may be cooling.” He is strangely agnostic about the age of the earth, but believes it was created in six days and life is recent.
- [<i>Spotlight</i> is this Generation’s <i>All the President’s Men</i>](https://arcmag.org/spotlight-is-this-generations-all-the-presidents-men/) - Spotlight, the film released on Friday, appears at first glance to be a scripted homage. The movie offers a fictionalized portrayal of the Boston Globe’s investigative “Spotlight” team, which won a Pulitzer Prize for its 2002 exposé of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Spotlight is this generation’s All the President’s Men, nostalgic enough to
- [How Faithful People Can Change Politics](https://arcmag.org/how-faithful-people-can-change-politics/) - On August 11, 2011, at a time when bipartisan members of Congress were trying to work out an agreement on the federal budget, eight Republican presidential aspirants stood on an Iowa stage and dismissed any idea of compromise. When a media panelist asked whether there was any ratio of spending cuts to tax increases the
- [The Political Legacy of Progressive Evangelicals](https://arcmag.org/the-political-legacy-of-progressive-evangelicals/) - For all the media attention paid to the Religious Right, much less energy has been spent looking into its counterpart, the Religious Left. And yet, when Barack Obama first ran for president in 2008, he appealed directly to religious voters, pairing his Christian faith with his progressive politics—something his Democratic predecessors Jimmy Carter and Bill
- [Thomas Jefferson and the Origins of American Religious Nationalism](https://arcmag.org/thomas-jefferson-and-the-origins-of-american-religious-nationalism/) - Scholars have variously depicted Thomas Jefferson as everything from a crypto-Unitarian with a deep love of Jesus to a priest-baiting infidel. My own view is that the latter comes closer to the truth, but, more important, he was helping to invent something new: American nationalism. His contributions to American nationalism are unique. In the two-party
- [Teaching Islam in the Age of ISIS](https://arcmag.org/teaching-islam-in-the-age-of-isis/) - Last academic year, students at my college asked me to participate in two faculty panel discussions on current events: one on ISIS (also known as Islamic State, ISIL, and DAESH) and the other on Charlie Hebdo and free speech. The panel on ISIS took place in November 2014, shortly after the group’s dramatic victories in
- [On Planned Parenthood, Beware of False Prophets](https://arcmag.org/on-planned-parenthood-beware-of-false-prophets/) - “The Bible says, ‘Beware of false prophets,’” outgoing House Speaker John Boehner told Face the Nation host John Dickerson on September 27. Boehner was referring angrily to “people out there … spreading noise about how much can get done” and hoping to force a government shutdown over Planned Parenthood, an organization despised by many conservatives.
- [Pope Francis Comes to Washington](https://arcmag.org/pope-francis-comes-to-washington/) - As recently as the 1950s, it was gospel in certain liberal circles that Catholicism was, to take a leaf from Ben Carson, “inconsistent with the Constitution.” Allegedly authoritarian in its ethos and structure, Catholicism was regarded by many liberal intellectuals—John Dewey and Reinhold Niebuhr among them—as a very real threat to American democracy. Passions had
- [Kim Davis and the Anxieties of Christian America](https://arcmag.org/kim-davis-and-the-anxieties-of-christian-america/) - Once released from her short stay in her county detention center, throngs of supporters greeted Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis with an energetic celebration. Davis had been imprisoned for refusing to grant marriage licenses to gay couples, a principled stand her advocates likened to Rosa Parks. Her release, therefore, merited a jubilee. While “The Eye
- [Pulling Us Back In: David Barton, Ted Cruz, and the Evangelical Grassroots](https://arcmag.org/pulling-us-back-in-david-barton-ted-cruz-and-the-evangelical-grassroots/) - Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. Like Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part III, who thought he could squirm out of his former life, I thought a few years ago that I was done. That is, so done with the subject of the Texas ideological entrepreneur David Barton. The
- [The Joy Machine: Stephen Colbert, Satire, and Faith](https://arcmag.org/the-joy-machine-stephen-colbert-satire-and-faith/) - Between the ending of The Colbert Report and the beginning of the Late Show, Stephen Colbert stopped in at the offices of America Media for a quick chat with Father James Martin. In the 10 months between his two shows, he’s done few broadcast interviews with other media. America Media, which includes a magazine subtitled
- [New Clash over Religion in Schools: Communities Face Backlash for Lessons on Islam](https://arcmag.org/new-clash-over-religion-in-schools-communities-face-backlash-for-lessons-on-islam/) - Many of the speakers wore red shirts in solidarity. Dozens of them took turns standing at the microphone to lash out at the members of the school board in front of them. The offense? A Tampa high school had dared to allow an imam and head of a Muslim civil rights group to deliver a
- [When Our Truths Are Ignored: Proslavery Theology’s Legacy](https://arcmag.org/when-our-truths-are-ignored-proslavery-theologys-legacy/) - For an African American writer during slavery, there was an expectation that a “white envelope” framed the “black message.” For autobiographers like Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs, or for poets like Jupiter Hammon and Phillis Wheatley, this convention dictated that their written work feature a statement of authenticity from a white voice, proving that the
- [Born Again, All Over Again](https://arcmag.org/born-again-all-over-again/) - It all started with a question. On what day did Jesus die? Which led to more questions. Who wrote the Gospels? Is the English translation of the Bible accurate? What is the truth? “It just started falling apart,” says Gillah Palumbo. Deeply affected by a church trip to Israel, Gillah and her husband Mark grew curious
- [For All the Sinners and Saints: An Interview with Nadia Bolz-Weber](https://arcmag.org/for-all-the-sinners-and-saints-an-interview-with-nadia-bolz-weber/) - The Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber is one of the leading voices in progressive Christianity. In 2008, as a Lutheran seminarian at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, she planted a new church called House for All Sinners and Saints. Since then, she has preached to nearly 10,000 people at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, and lectured to tens
- [What Should Be Made of the Undercover Planned Parenthood Videos?](https://arcmag.org/what-should-be-made-of-the-viral-planned-parenthood-video/) - It is indeed terrible to watch: A doctor arrives for lunch, breezily chats about L.A. traffic, casually gives out medical advice (drink water if you have a headache and are having alcohol), and then sits down for a lunch chat: salad, red wine, and abortion. The video, distributed in two versions—an edited tape of about
- [Mormonism and the Problem of Jon Krakauer](https://arcmag.org/mormonism-and-the-problem-of-jon-krakauer/) - Jon Krakauer got lucky. When Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith first went on sale in the summer of 2003, Krakauer hoped that the many sins of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) he set out to expose would not go unpunished forever. And he certainly
- [The King’s Chapel and the King’s Court: Richard Nixon, Billy Graham, and White House Church Services](https://arcmag.org/the-kings-chapel-and-the-kings-court-richard-nixon-billy-graham-and-white-house-church-services/) - When Richard Nixon entered the White House, he brought his good friend Billy Graham with him. A constant presence and trusted adviser, the minister became, in the words of biographer Marshall Frady, “something like an extra officer of Nixon’s Cabinet, the administration’s own Pastor-without-Portfolio.” Others were more critical. Will Campbell, a liberal southern preacher, denounced
- [<i>Obergefell</i> and the End of Religious Reasons for Lawmaking](https://arcmag.org/obergefell-and-the-end-of-religious-reasons-for-lawmaking/) - In Obergefell v. Hodges, marriage equality for same-sex couples became the law of the land. In the wake of the decision on Friday, focus has intensified on religious freedom for traditionalists. Few of the questions about religious accommodation are novel—they had been playing out in the states for some time. Yet the decision did have
- [The Pope and <i>Laudato Si’</i>: Is the Ecology Encyclical a Moral Analysis or a Political Indictment?](https://arcmag.org/the-pope-and-laudato-si-is-the-ecology-encyclical-a-moral-analysis-or-a-political-indictment/) - U.S. politicians who happen to be Catholic in the age of Pope Francis display a knack for religious privatization that would impress even the most avowed secularization theorists. “I don’t get economic policy from my bishops or my cardinals, or from my Pope,” shrugged Catholic convert Jeb Bush on the campaign trail. “I think religion
- [Franklin Graham Is Winning at Facebook](https://arcmag.org/franklin-graham-is-winning-at-facebook/) - On June 5, Franklin Graham took to his Facebook page to provoke a boycott of Wells Fargo. The bank has released a series of nine new commercials profiling their customer diversity, including one featuring a lesbian couple learning sign language in advance of adopting a deaf child. Incensed at the “tide of moral decay that
- [The Rise of Christian Conservative Legal Organizations](https://arcmag.org/the-rise-of-christian-conservative-legal-organizations/) - Two years ago, a longtime customer walked into Barronelle Stutzman’s flower shop with a request: the customer—who is gay—asked Stutzman to provide flowers for his wedding. Stutzman declined, citing her Christian faith’s objections to same-sex marriage, and was eventually charged with violating Washington’s state anti-discrimination statute. With Stutzman facing thousands of dollars in fines, attorneys
- [Mad Men and the Enlightenment of Don Draper](https://arcmag.org/mad-men-and-the-enlightenment-of-don-draper/) - The pleasures of Mad Men were many. Fans of the recently concluded AMC series about advertising in the 1960s obsessed over the meticulous detail of each episode, the hair and clothes and furniture rendered in such loving beauty. We watched as the characters witnessed, through the TV sets in their offices and hotels rooms, the
- [Will Same-Sex Marriage Split the United Methodist Church?](https://arcmag.org/will-same-sex-marriage-split-the-united-methodist-church/) - This month the Supreme Court will decide whether or not to make same-sex marriage legal in the United States. While the courts and lawmakers have been wrestling with the rights of gay and lesbian Americans, so too have the country’s churches. In recent decades, more than ever, Christian denominations have been debating what the Bible
- [No Politics in Church? Not So Fast.](https://arcmag.org/no-politics-in-church-not-so-fast/) - American Christians are increasingly aware that the church has a political image problem, and are increasingly eager to repair it. Association with the Religious Right, the once-dominant political machine whose public credibility seems to be in steady decline, is quickly becoming a source of embarrassment for all but the most conservative congregations. Several studies have
- [The Perilous Journeys of Syria's Refugees](https://arcmag.org/the-perilous-journeys-of-syrias-refugees/) - In August, Ahmad* calls from Greece. He got himself there from Turkey in a bilim after the smuggler took off. “What’s a bilim?” I ask. “A small inflatable raft,” my husband Maalik says. The Arabic adaptation of the word blimp: any vessel filled with air. Ahmad is telling how he took the helm from another
- [Terrorism in the Age of the Internet](https://arcmag.org/terrorism-in-the-age-of-the-internet/) - social media terrorism radical Internet
- [A Parade, a Boycott, and a Jewish Group’s Struggle for Acceptance](https://arcmag.org/a-parade-a-boycott-and-a-jewish-groups-struggle-for-acceptance/) - On the 11th floor of a Seventh Avenue office building in New York City, an oversized silver mezuzah hangs beside a mahogany door. The dark wood is emblazoned with the words “New Israel Fund” in gold letters, inscribed in both English and Hebrew. Inside, the walls of the office are painted with the same blue
- [The Past Imperfect of Barack Obama](https://arcmag.org/the-past-imperfect-of-barack-obama/) - Speaking at the ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery marches last month, President Obama posed a question that captured why many continue to view him as hope personified, while others seem to see him as an existential threat. “What greater form of patriotism is there than the belief that America is
- [What Can Be Done about Segregation in Churches?](https://arcmag.org/what-can-be-done-about-segregation-in-churches/) - In the wake of police violence that led to the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, and the protests that followed, religious leaders are again confronting the challenges racism continues to pose for them and their communities. This is nothing new for African American clergy, who have long been active in combating racism. But
- [Why Law Professor Douglas Laycock Supports Same-Sex Marriage and Indiana's Religious Freedom Law](https://arcmag.org/why-law-professor-douglas-laycock-supports-same-sex-marriage-and-indianas-religious-freedom-law/) - Last week, Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed into law SB101, the state's religious freedom bill, which prompted a sharp and vocal backlash. Critics say the bill will allow discrimination against the LGBT community on religious grounds. Amid the furor, law professor Douglas Laycock, himself a supporter of same-sex marriage, has come to the law's defense. Religion
- [America's Broken Politics: A Conversation with Senators Joe Lieberman and John C. Danforth](https://arcmag.org/americas-broken-politics-a-conversation-with-senators-joe-lieberman-and-john-c-danforth/) - Almost everyone across the liberal to conservative spectrum seems to agree that American politics is deeply damaged. It often feels as if nothing gets done in Washington. Republicans and Democrats seem to despise each other. The most extreme voices appear to win over and over again, while everyone else has to live with the consequences.
- [AP Course Controversy: When Do We Say "We" in History?](https://arcmag.org/ap-course-controversy-when-do-we-say-we-in-history/) - Afunny thing has happened to a petition posted online by Larry Krieger, a former Advanced Placement U.S. History teacher, and Jane Robbins, a conservative opponent of the Common Core educational standards. In their petition, written as an open letter to the president of the College Board, they ask readers to support their quest to reform
- [State Legislatures Pit Religious Freedom Against Civil Rights](https://arcmag.org/state-legislatures-pit-religious-freedom-against-civil-rights/) - The debate over last summer’s Hobby Lobby decision has a new source for conflict: state legislatures. The Supreme Court decision, which expanded corporate religious liberty, rested on an interpretation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), a federal statute that Congress passed in 1993. In the post-Hobby Lobby era, it has become common to hear
- [God in the Machine: The Role of Religion in Net Neutrality Debates](https://arcmag.org/god-in-the-machine-the-role-of-religion-in-net-neutrality-debates/) - The public movement to protect a free and open Internet is approaching a critical moment this week: on February 26, the Federal Communications Commission will vote whether to pass strong rules against corporate control of the Internet. For years, companies that manage America’s access to the Internet—corporate giants like Verizon, Comcast, and Time Warner—have sparred
- [The Troubling Push to Deregulate Homeschooling](https://arcmag.org/the-troubling-push-to-deregulate-homeschooling/) - When my mother pulled me out of kindergarten to homeschool, it wasn't a religious choice. We were an average Christian family, casually attending a non-denominational church. I was a shy child, overwhelmed by the boisterous atmosphere of my school and quickly targeted by bullies. Homeschooling was supposed to be a temporary measure, a chance for
- [Jewish Life in the City: An Interview with Deborah Dash Moore](https://arcmag.org/jewish-life-in-the-city-an-interview-with-deborah-dash-moore/) - Deborah Dash Moore has played a pioneering role in the study of Jews and in establishing the field of American Jewish history. Only with difficulty could one find a scholar of American Jewish history who has not been touched, often personally, by Moore in her roles as writer, teacher, conference organizer, mentor, and editor. She
- [My Husband's Not Gay: Homosexuality and the LDS Church](https://arcmag.org/my-husbands-not-gay-homosexuality-and-the-lds-church/) - On Sunday, January 11, TLC debuted My Husband’s Not Gay, a show about a small but increasingly uncloseted community living out its own complex form of sexuality. My Husband’s Not Gay profiles Mormon men living in Utah who openly acknowledge that they live with same-sex attraction (SSA), but who are married to women. The show follows three married couples
- [Holt v. Hobbs: Does a Muslim Prisoner's Case Foreshadow the End of Affirmative Action?](https://arcmag.org/holt-v-hobbs-does-a-muslim-prisoners-case-foreshadow-the-end-of-affirmative-action/) - Last Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of an Arkansas inmate who had been barred from growing, for religious reasons, a half-inch beard by the state prison system. The case, however, is not merely about inmates and prisons. It confirms that we are in an era of robust judicial protection for religious freedom,
- [The Politics of Poverty and Race](https://arcmag.org/the-politics-of-poverty-and-race/) - This month marks 51 years since Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty” speech. On January 8, 1964, during his State of the Union address, he urged the joint session of Congress to join him in a battle that the “richest Nation on earth can afford to win.” Over the past year, current elected officials have been
- [The Fate of American Religious Freedom: An Interview with Legal Scholar Steven D. Smith](https://arcmag.org/the-fate-of-american-religious-freedom-an-interview-with-legal-scholar-steven-d-smith/) - In the wake of important judicial rulings on culture war issues such as same-sex marriage and contraception, “religious freedom” has emerged as one of the most hotly contested terms in American political discourse. As public opinion on these issues has liberalized, many conservatives have embraced religious freedom as a safe vantage from which to legislate.
- [Pope Francis Causes Division Among Cubans in Miami](https://arcmag.org/pope-francis-causes-division-among-cubans-in-miami/) - Hours after the news broke in December that the United States and Cuba were reinstating diplomatic relations, I arrived at a Catholic Church in one of Miami’s largest parishes. The church’s priest is a charismatic man of Cuban descent well known throughout Miami. He was in meetings all morning and thus had only heard rumors
- [Marilynne Robinson in Montgomery](https://arcmag.org/marilynne-robinson-in-montgomery/) - Marilynne Robinson’s new novel Lila has been greeted with rapture—not just by critics but also by a host of readers who rely on Robinson for novels that change the way they experience life in the world. During the last days of the countdown to Lila’s release, breathless fans took to the Internet to testify to
- [Ebola and U.S. Hospital Chaplains: A (Deliberately) Untold Story](https://arcmag.org/ebola-and-u-s-hospital-chaplains-a-deliberately-untold-story/) - In August, Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, medical missionaries who were serving in Liberia, arrived at Atlanta’s Emory University Hospital. The facility was the first to treat Ebola patients on American soil, and in the early days there was no shortage of public criticism. “People responded viscerally on social media, fearing that we risked
- [Do Liberals Always Win? An Interview with Stephen Prothero](https://arcmag.org/do-liberals-always-win-an-interview-with-stephen-prothero/) - On October 23, Stephen Prothero spoke at Washington University in St. Louis as part of the Danforth Distinguished Lectures, sponsored by the John C. Danforth Center on Religion & Politics. Prothero is a professor in the Department of Religion at Boston University and an author of numerous books, including The New York Times bestseller, Religious
- [Local Religious Leaders Respond to Ferguson](https://arcmag.org/local-religious-leaders-respond-to-ferguson/) - Since the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, St. Louis County, on August 9, 2014, and especially since the November 24 announcement that the grand jury would not indict the police officer who shot him, the nation has been awash with anger and fear. Protests and calls for justice have amplified, most of them peaceful
- [The Protestant Mainline Goes to Washington](https://arcmag.org/the-protestant-mainline-goes-to-washington/) - On a Sunday morning this past October, some 1,500 preachers and ministers across the country joined in a nationwide protest they called Pulpit Freedom Sunday. They spoke defiantly from their pulpits about political campaigns and pending legislation. They even endorsed politicians, knowingly violating laws meant to prevent such mixing of church and state. Organized by
- [After the Midterms, Where Can Congress and Obama Find Consensus?](https://arcmag.org/after-the-midterms-where-can-congress-and-obama-find-consensus/) - Abetter-than-expected performance in the recent congressional midterm elections left the Republican Party in control of both houses of Congress. Not only did the GOP capture control of the Senate by ousting a slew of Democratic incumbents, Republicans also added to their majority in the House by at least 13 seats. The result is a very
- [The State of Interfaith Work: An Interview with Welton Gaddy](https://arcmag.org/the-state-of-interfaith-work-an-interview-with-welton-gaddy/) - The Rev. C. Welton Gaddy might seem like an unlikely champion for interfaith activism and for the separation of church and state. Raised in what he describes as a staunchly conservative Christian household, Gaddy completed his undergraduate education at Union University, which is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), and earned a doctorate from
- [A Theme Park, a Scandal, and the Faded Ruins of a Televangelism Empire](https://arcmag.org/a-theme-park-a-scandal-and-the-faded-ruins-of-a-televangelism-empire/) - If you happen to find yourself on I-77 just south of Charlotte, North Carolina, consider a detour to the crumbling ruins of what used to be the third-most-visited theme park in the United States. Heritage USA was founded in the late 1970s by Pentecostal superstars Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker as part of their ministry,
- [Atheists in Foxholes: The Military Chaplaincy’s Humanist Problem](https://arcmag.org/atheists-in-foxholes-the-military-chaplaincys-humanist-problem/) - Do American military chaplains need to believe in God? Or, as the Navy Times once asked, “Who supports the atheists in the military?” These questions attracted renewed attention this year after the Army formally recognized humanism as a religious preference for soldiers in April, and the Navy rejected the application of a humanist chaplain to
- [Meet Chad Connelly, the Republican Party's Faith Ambassador](https://arcmag.org/meet-chad-connelly-the-republican-partys-faith-ambassador/) - On a Thursday morning in early September, a handful of Louisiana pastors gathered at a Baptist church on the north side of Lake Pontchartrain to meet with Chad Connelly, the GOP’s first-ever director of faith engagement. The former head of the South Carolina Republican Party, Connelly was tapped by the Republican National Committee (RNC) in
- [The Sources of Creationism's Disjointed Science](https://arcmag.org/the-sources-of-creationisms-disjointed-science/) - Once upon a time, in the West, sacred history, human history, and natural history were one. The Hebrew Bible, refracted through the prism of the Christian New Testament, told a story in which time, nature and humanity came into being together. From that beginning, history, with its low spots (Eve, the serpent, the apple) and
- [Passages: A Glimpse into the Hobby Lobby Family's Bible Museum](https://arcmag.org/passages-a-glimpse-into-the-hobby-lobby-familys-bible-museum/) - On a humid afternoon in early July, I pulled into the parking lot of a nondescript warehouse just off Highway 65 in Springfield, Missouri. Flanked by a used luxury car dealership and organic food grocer to the west and a Sam’s Club wholesaler to the east, this was the 30,000 square foot home of Passages:
- [Us v. Them: The Pitfalls of Righteous Rhetoric](https://arcmag.org/us-v-them-the-pitfalls-of-righteous-rhetoric/) - Righteous Rhetoric: Sex, Speech, and the Politics of Concerned Women for America By Leslie Dorrough Smith Oxford University Press, 2014 On June 19 of this year, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) hosted its second annual “March for Marriage” in Washington, D.C. An article posted on NOM’s website two days before the march expressed hope that the
- [For Michael Brown, Justice Is Not a Gift. It's a Right.](https://arcmag.org/for-michael-brown-justice-is-not-a-gift-its-a-right/) - “This whole Michael Brown thing,” a local white business owner informed me, “is a case of reverse racism!” The Saint Louis native continued, “Those people over there on the north side kill and shoot each other all the time and nobody says a word. Now that it’s a white cop, it’s suddenly a big deal.”
- [The Religious Roots of the Wilderness Act](https://arcmag.org/the-religious-roots-of-the-wilderness-act/) - When Howard Zahniser was drafting the Wilderness Act—which marks its 50th anniversary today—he confided to a colleague that he wished he were writing poetry instead. “If I had to do this again,” he wrote, “I would much prefer to state all this in iambic rhyming couplets or even in the sequence of sonnets.” Zahniser drafted
- [The Hope of Ferguson](https://arcmag.org/the-hope-of-ferguson/) - In May 1970 four unarmed college students were shot to death by members of the Ohio National Guard at Kent State University. The iconic image from that horrific episode is a photograph of Mary Ann Vecchio, a fourteen-year-old girl, kneeling over the body of Jeffrey Miller on a university road. Its details—the mundane particularities of
- [From Berlin to Jerusalem, a Lament for Gaza and Israel](https://arcmag.org/from-berlin-to-jerusalem-a-lament-for-gaza-and-israel/) - This year, I fasted on Tisha b’Av, a Jewish day of mourning for the destruction of both Jewish temples in Jerusalem. In commemoration, on the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av, Jews fast and read the book of Lamentations, which describes the poverty, violence, and alienation that come with destruction and disenfranchisement. I
- [Does God Hate Shrimp? When Biblical Citation Goes Awry](https://arcmag.org/does-god-hate-shrimp-biblical-citation-gone-awry/) - One of the most popular “West Wing” clips on YouTube is President Josiah Bartlet’s biblically-based takedown of a conservative radio talk-show host (a thinly veiled Dr. Laura), who confidently justifies her opposition to homosexuality by citing the Hebrew Bible. Specifically, she refers to a so-called “clobber verse,” Leviticus 18:22: “You shall not lie with a
- [Why Anti-Vaccination Movements Can Never Be Tamed](https://arcmag.org/why-anti-vaccination-movements-can-never-be-tamed/) - In Victorian England, nearly a century after the physician Edward Jenner had shown that exposure to the cowpox virus, or vaccinia, conferred immunity to smallpox, vaccination against smallpox was both a life-saving public health measure and a source of immense controversy. Vaccination was compulsory; parents were required to have their children immunized by three months
- [Hobby Lobby, Wheaton College, and a New Religious Order](https://arcmag.org/hobby-lobby-wheaton-college-and-a-new-religious-order/) - Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court handed down its much-awaited decision in Hobby Lobby, holding that closely held business corporations are “persons” endowed with religious rights. Then it followed up with an even more stunning order granting a temporary injunction to Wheaton College, which objects to signing forms that certify its eligibility for exemption from the
- [Remembering the Rebbe](https://arcmag.org/remembering-the-rebbe/) - On a summer night in Crown Heights, thousands of Hasidic Jews sit on plastic, fold-out chairs to watch a projected recording of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the former religious leader of Chabad-Lubavitch, speak about Torah. Fifteen-foot screens line the side of Eastern Parkway, and Schneerson’s voice plays out of speakers. Streets are blocked and city policemen
- [The Good News According to <i>Hobby Lobby</i>](https://arcmag.org/the-good-news-according-to-hobby-lobby/) - On June 30, the world did not end. For all the drama and hype that the Hobby Lobby case has generated, the Supreme Court decision was modest and quite narrow, as widely predicted by Court watchers. The central question was whether the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) protected for-profit corporations from complying with the so-called
- [Banishing Dissent: The Excommunication of Mormon Activist Kate Kelly](https://arcmag.org/banishing-dissent-the-excommunication-of-mormon-activist-kate-kelly/) - T housands of Mormons are grieving the excommunication of Kate Kelly this week. Kelly is a human rights attorney who founded a group called “Ordain Women” to advocate for women’s ordination to the priesthood in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In May, her local ecclesiastical leader, known as a stake president
- [The Great Calvinist Reawakening](https://arcmag.org/the-great-calvinist-reawakening/) - According to The New York Times, a Calvinist revival is sweeping through modern American evangelicalism. Among the evidence: church libraries are filling up with books by Reformed preachers like Mark Driscoll and John Piper; many evangelical preachers are talking more about Scripture and sin; the Southern Baptist Convention has formed a “Calvinism Advisory Committee” to
- [A Sunday Spent with Jimmy Carter](https://arcmag.org/a-sunday-spent-with-jimmy-carter/) - Southwest Georgia is Baptist country. The back roads heading south out of Columbus are bracketed by red soil, scruffy pines, and clapboard buildings sporting names like Shiloh Marion Baptist Church, Zion Hill Baptist Church, Piney Grove Missionary Baptist Church, and Greater Good Hope Baptist Church. "Love Jesus No Matter What," one roadside sign reads, and
- ["Orange Is the New Black" and the Difficulty of Portraying Prison Religion](https://arcmag.org/orange-is-the-new-black-and-the-difficulty-of-portraying-prison-religion/) - This Friday, Netflix is going to drop 13 new episodes of “Orange Is the New Black” in our queues, and we’ll find out if Piper killed Pennsatucky after beating her to a bloody pulp outside a Christmas pageant in the first season’s final episode. If you’ve been reading casting news, of course, you already know.
- [Russia and the Crimean Tatars: The Burdens and Challenges of History](https://arcmag.org/russia-and-the-crimean-tatars/) - Russia and the Crimean Tatars: : The Burdens of History
- [Moral Mondays Return to Raleigh](https://arcmag.org/moral-mondays-return-to-raleigh/) - The Reverend William J. Barber, II, is only 50, but he walks with a limp and a cane, and he perpetually leans forward, as if dragging a loaded sledge. On Monday, wearing a red stole and a cross made from twigs, Barber set out from the First Baptist Church, in downtown Raleigh, trailed by some
- [Marriage Equality and Religious Liberty: Another Chapter in the Story](https://arcmag.org/marriage-equality-and-religious-liberty-another-chapter-in-the-story/) - On April 28, 2014, the United Church of Christ—joined by clergy from Lutheran, Baptist, Unitarian Universalist, and Jewish congregations—and six same-sex couples filed a lawsuit in the federal district court in Charlotte, North Carolina, challenging the constitutionality of the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. Similar to the 66 pending lawsuits in other jurisdictions across the
- [A Short History of Christian Matchmaking](https://arcmag.org/a-short-history-of-christian-matchmaking/) - In 1904, The New York Times picked up an unusual story from Omaha. A wealthy Nebraska rancher named James Snell had requested the help of Omaha pastor Charles W. Savidge in finding a spouse. In exchange, Snell offered to finance a matchmaking agency that would be run and owned by the Rev. Savidge. According to
- [Mission at Nuremberg: An Army Chaplain and the Trial of the Nazis](https://arcmag.org/mission-at-nuremberg-an-american-army-chaplain-and-the-trial-of-the-nazis/) - Wilhelm Keitel had been general field marshal, second only to Adolf Hitler in Germany’s military hierarchy. Now, on a cold, rainy October morning, at 1:00 a.m. in 1946, he stood shackled to a guard outside cell 8 of Nuremberg’s Palace of Justice. In half an hour, Keitel would be hanging by his neck from a
- [What the Show <i>Cosmos</i> Gets Wrong about Religion—and Science](https://arcmag.org/what-the-show-cosmos-gets-wrong-about-religion-and-science/) - In its third episode, titled “When Knowledge Conquered Fear,” the new Cosmos reboot, hosted by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, tells the story of the discovery and publication of Isaac Newton’s laws of motion. Almost three centuries after Newton’s death, these laws, which offer a unified framework for calculating and predicting the movement of a projectile
- [Thomas Jefferson's Qur'an](https://arcmag.org/thomas-jeffersons-quran/) - Thomas Jefferson’s Qur’an: Islam and the Founders By Denise A. Spellberg Alfred A. Knopf, 2013 On January 3, 2007, Rep. Keith Ellison, a Democrat from Minnesota, took his symbolic oath of office with his hand on a two-volume English translation (by George Sale) of the Qur’an. It was no ordinary copy of the Qur’an but rather the
- [The Establishment Clause: An Interview with Judge Guido Calabresi](https://arcmag.org/the-establishment-clause-an-interview-with-judge-guido-calabresi/) - On February 27, Judge Guido Calabresi visited Washington University in St. Louis to deliver the lecture, “What about the Establishment Clause?” The program was a joint event between the John C. Danforth Center on Religion & Politics and the Washington University School of Law. Calabresi was appointed United States Circuit Judge in 1994. Prior to
- [Contraception v. Religious Freedom: Hobby Lobby Heads to the Supreme Court](https://arcmag.org/contraception-v-religious-freedom-hobby-lobby-heads-to-the-supreme-court/) - On March 25, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in two religious exemption cases, Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialty Store v. Sebelius, which challenge a provision of the Women’s Health Amendment to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This will be the second time the Court has ruled on challenges to
- [Darwin, Hitler, and the Hijacking of Evolutionary Theory](https://arcmag.org/darwin-hitler-and-the-hijacking-of-evolutionary-theory/) - Was Hitler a Darwinian? Disputed Questions in the History of Evolutionary Theory By Robert J. RichardsThe University of Chicago Press, 2013 Biology is not ideology. But with evolution, it’s easy to get confused. With his theory of evolution by natural selection, Charles Darwin took some simple observations and turned them into a story of world history, broadly wrought.
- [Shaun Casey Talks About Leading the State Department's Faith-Based Office](https://arcmag.org/shaun-casey-talks-about-leading-the-state-departments-faith-based-office/) - Last August, to the delight of religion scholars everywhere, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry declared that if he had college to do again, he would major in comparative religion. Kerry made the statement as he installed Shaun Casey as special advisor to lead the State Department’s Office of Faith-Based Community Initiatives. Casey, a theologian
- [Technology, Memory, and Jewish History: An Interview with Novelist Dara Horn](https://arcmag.org/technology-memory-and-jewish-history-an-interview-with-novelist-dara-horn/) - What are the proper limits of technology in our personal lives? Dara Horn’s new novel, A Guide for the Perplexed, takes up this question as it presents a modern-day version of the biblical story of Joseph and his brothers, in which a new app (not entirely unlike Facebook) allows individuals to track and archive every
- [Uganda's President Will Sign Anti-Gay Bill. How Did the Nation Get to this Point?](https://arcmag.org/ugandas-president-will-sign-anti-gay-bill-how-did-the-nation-get-to-this-point/) - On February 14, news reports began to surface that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni planned to sign into law the nation’s draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill, often referred to as the “Kill the Gays” bill. The provision for which the bill was nicknamed—the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality”—was taken out of the bill’s latest version in exchange for
- [In Upcoming Indian Election, the Legacy of Religious Violence Looms](https://arcmag.org/in-upcoming-indian-election-the-legacy-of-religious-violence-looms/) - On an overcast afternoon last November, Narendra Modi, the provocative and polarizing prime minister candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, descended by helicopter to exhort his throng of supporters at the Palace Grounds in Bangalore, the southern Indian city known for its international call centers and technology companies. The BJP, champion of “Hindu
- [Pulled into the Maze: 12 Years a Slave](https://arcmag.org/pulled-into-the-maze-12-years-a-slave/) - One of the most haunting scenes in the film 12 Years a Slave comes shortly after the main character Solomon Northup—now known by his enslavers as Platt—arrives in New Orleans. In the minutes leading to this scene, Northup (Chiwetal Ejiofor) has transformed before our eyes from a free man who adores his wife and children
- [On Compromise and Congressional Brinkmanship](https://arcmag.org/on-compromise-and-congressional-brinkmanship/) - When President Obama gives his State of the Union address tonight, the problem of congressional gridlock will likely be a major theme. Partisanship in Washington is, of course, nothing new, and President Obama is by no means the first chief executive to face a deadlocked Congress. Still, in recent years, politicians seem to have reached
- [Letters from a Georgia Jail: Anti-Nuclear Activists Await Sentencing](https://arcmag.org/letters-from-a-georgia-jail-anti-nuclear-activists-await-sentencing/) - We are truly human when we act responsibly to restore harmony and act with love and compassion to restore truth, transparency and the equitable distribution of the resources endowed by our common Creator. This sentence was written in black ink on an 8x12 white sheet of paper from inside the state penitentiary in Ocilla, Georgia,
- [Texas Textbooks: A Case Study for Creationism's Staying Power](https://arcmag.org/texas-textbooks-a-case-study-for-creationisms-staying-power/) - The Texas textbook wars have finally yielded a win for the Enlightenment. In November, the state school board delayed final approval of a biology textbook that explains evolution as fact, but last month an expert committee overruled all objections and gave the book the green light for sale to the state’s public schools. When Ide
- [In Remembrance: Reading the Christmas Letters of Jean Bethke Elshtain (1941-2013)](https://arcmag.org/in-remembrance-reading-the-christmas-letters-of-jean-bethke-elshtain-1941-2013/) - This time of year is, for many, a season of hopefulness—of anticipation and celebration of joyous things to come. Yet, as the cards and letters fill my family mailbox this year, there is one Christmas letter I cannot look forward to receiving, tingeing the season with sadness. Jean Bethke Elshtain, the eminent political philosopher and
- [A Judge Weakened Utah's Anti-Polygamy Law. What Does This Say About Sex, Race, and Religion?](https://arcmag.org/a-judge-weakened-utahs-anti-polygamy-law-what-does-this-mean-for-interpretations-of-sex-race-and-religion/) - Americans have always found polygamy fascinating, even entertaining. In the nineteenth century, Mormons were stock villains in a plethora of now mercifully forgotten Victorian novels. Today, the Mormon Church has long since abandoned polygamy, but its fundamentalist offshoots have captured audiences in HBO’s fictionalized Big Love and TLC’s Sister Wives, a reality TV show centered
- [An Evolving Mormon Church Finally Addresses a Racist Past](https://arcmag.org/an-evolving-mormon-church-finally-addresses-a-racist-past/) - Last Friday, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) made history by confronting its own history. For the first time, the LDS Church recognized and repudiated its racist past. And it did so, fittingly enough, in the form of a detailed history lesson. For more than a century, Mormons barred black members from
- [Concerning “Goodbye Christ”: Langston Hughes, Political Poetry, and African American Religion](https://arcmag.org/concerning-goodbye-christ-langston-hughes-political-poetry-and-african-american-religion/) - “Politics can be the graveyard of the poet. And only poetry can be his resurrection.” Langston Hughes (1964) On the afternoon of November 15, 1940, Langston Hughes was headed toward the exquisite Vista del Arroyo Hotel in Pasadena to attend a luncheon in celebration of his recently published biography, The Big Sea. As the car in
- [Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, 150 Years Later](https://arcmag.org/abraham-lincolns-gettysburg-address-150-years-later/) - On November 19, 1863, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, at the dedication of America’s first national cemetery, on the site of the battle that had turned the course of the Civil War decisively toward the Union, Edward Everett of Massachusetts delivered the keynote address. A former Harvard president and heir to Senator of Massachusetts Daniel Webster as
- [Why Faith Groups Are Rallying Behind Immigration Reform](https://arcmag.org/why-faith-groups-are-rallying-behind-immigration-reform/) - As Rabbi Jason Kimelman-Block marched toward the U.S. Capitol Building on a cloudy afternoon this October, he said he felt “a little nervousness.” Walking arm-in-arm with dozens of other faith leaders and surrounded by thousands of chanting protestors—some holding signs that read “People of faith for immigrant justice!”—Kimelman-Block suddenly realized he might be arrested for the
- [The Supreme Court's 2013 Term: Missing Justice O'Connor](https://arcmag.org/the-supreme-courts-2013-term-missing-justice-oconnor/) - The Supreme Court’s new term, which started on October 7, includes several important cases concerning religion. The docket may also dismantle key precedents set by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who ushered in landmark decisions about government-sponsored prayer, abortion, and religious freedom—all of which are implicated in cases that the Court will hear this term. President
- [Radical Mission: What is Aish HaTorah Trying to Teach Young Jews?](https://arcmag.org/radical-mission-what-is-aish-hatorah-trying-to-teach-young-jews/) - On my first visit to Jerusalem, in the summer of 2011, I asked an ultra-Orthodox Jew for directions to the nearest ritual bath. The man shrugged and nodded his black-hatted head toward a pack of college-aged students. “Ask those brainwashed fellows over there,” he said before walking away, sidelocks swinging. This was not the first
- [With New Pope, a More Open Catholic Church?](https://arcmag.org/with-new-pope-a-more-open-catholic-church/) - Alison Donohue teaches college writing in Hawaii, but her preference is to be back in a Catholic school, an environment where she spent more than 15 years of her career. “Once I got engaged to my wife,” Donohue said, “I was faced with the reality that being openly married and teaching in a Catholic school
- [Who Counts as a Jew?](https://arcmag.org/who-counts-as-a-jew/) - On October 1, the Pew Research Center released “A Portrait of Jewish Americans,” its much-anticipated sociological study. Among other results, the survey found high rates of intermarriage with non-Jews (44 percent), only 59 percent of Jews raising their children exclusively Jewish, and nearly 22 percent percent of Jews who do not identify as religious. American
- [Religion & Politics Wins Enterprise Religion Report of the Year](https://arcmag.org/religion-politics-wins-enterprise-religion-report-of-the-year-2/) - At the annual Religion Newswriters Association awards in September, Religion & Politics and Managing Editor Tiffany Stanley took home first place for the Gerald A. Renner Enterprise Religion Report of the Year Award. The judges praised our entry “Faith in the 2012 Election” as a “fascinating multi-dimensional collection.” They said, “The research, writing and expertise were excellent across a
- [TOMS Shoes and the Spiritual Politics of Neoliberalism](https://arcmag.org/toms-shoes-and-the-spiritual-politics-of-neoliberalism/) - Here they are, smiling and crying, the words catching in their throats as they place tiny shoes to the feet of tiny children. Seven strangers, the YouTube video tells us—a recycling truck driver, a retired nurse, a special education teacher, a college student—all astonished to be invited on a special mission: to deliver free pairs
- [The Vatican’s New Clothes: Very Small Embryonic-Like Cells and Faith in Evidence Not Seen](https://arcmag.org/the-vaticans-new-clothes-very-small-embryonic-like-cells-and-faith-in-evidence-not-seen/) - Once upon a time, and not so long ago, the scientific world beheld a new kind of cell that, when captured at just the right moment, possessed unique powers. These cells were plastic enough to become any kind of cell within the human body. They were able to regenerate themselves indefinitely. First called “embryonic stem
- [Spike Lee’s “4 Little Girls” and the Aftershocks of the Birmingham Church Bombing](https://arcmag.org/spike-lees-4-little-girls-and-the-aftershocks-of-the-birmingham-church-bombing/) - I was watching Spike Lee’s documentary 4 Little Girls when the verdict in the Trayvon Martin case was handed down. An alert flashed on my phone—Zimmerman found not guilty—and in an instant I was brought back from images of a bombed-out Birmingham church in the segregated sixties to the supposedly post-racial present. But even as
- [On Anti-Semitic Tropes and the Naming of the Federal Reserve Chair](https://arcmag.org/on-anti-semitic-tropes-and-the-naming-of-the-federal-reserve-chair/) - In a scene from the 2010 film The Social Network, the actor who portrays Larry Summers brushes off the WASPy Winklevoss twins, who come to his office bearing grudges against Mark Zuckerberg. Expecting understanding—perhaps even compassion—from the then-president of Harvard, the two undergraduates meet, instead, with a dismissive and impatient Summers. “You don’t get special
- [How a Nun Turned a Monastery Garage into a Global Catholic News Network](https://arcmag.org/how-a-nun-turned-a-monastery-garage-into-a-global-catholic-news-network/) - In March of 1978, a 55-year-old cloistered nun named Mother Angelica went to Chicago. She was there to give workshops to supporters who would distribute her Catholic books and tapes. She had started making spiritual recordings in 1962, after one of the nuns in her community suggested she “record a ‘little heart to heart talk.’”
- ["I Have a Dream": The 50th Anniversary of Martin Luther King's Famous Speech](https://arcmag.org/i-have-a-dream-the-50th-anniversary-of-martin-luther-kings-famous-speech/) - The Lincoln Memorial may be the most iconic place in the United States. Americans go there alone or with friends and family members to remember their most iconic president. They also go there en masse to protest when their nation has fallen short of Lincoln’s ideals, and their own. Visitors to the Lincoln Memorial can
- [Remembering Robert Bellah](https://arcmag.org/remembering-robert-bellah/) - Where do we come from and go to? What are we here for? No one wrestled and played more deeply with these questions than did Robert Bellah, or more broadly embraced the mystery of what we must do to be saved. Bellah brought its axial arc down to the ground of great world images and
- [The New Jim Crow: Churches Respond to Mass Incarceration](https://arcmag.org/the-new-jim-crow-churches-respond-to-mass-incarceration/) - A t 5 p.m. on a Sunday in April, the air crisp and cool, community members began congregating in an open plaza outside the public library in Princeton, New Jersey. In the center of the plaza stood a small red podium; outdoor chairs had been arranged in a semi-circle and around 30 people, mostly over the
- [Bill Cain: A Jesuit Playwright Explores War and Redemption](https://arcmag.org/bill-cain-a-jesuit-playwright-explores-war-and-redemption/) - In April 2010, Father Robert Ver Eecke welcomed fellow Jesuit priest and playwright Bill Cain to a public forum at Boston College (BC). Modeled on the famed “Inside the Actor’s Studio” with James Lipton, it was billed as “Inside the BC Studio with Bill Cain.” Ver Eecke, an artist-in-residence at the school, is an old
- [An Evangelical Scientist’s Notes on Climate Change and Faith](https://arcmag.org/an-evangelical-scientists-notes-on-climate-change-and-faith/) - Ahaze covers Colorado roads as a fire burns through thousands of acres of dead and dying trees. The fires raging through portions of the Central states reflect not only current dry conditions, but also a perfect storm of conditions that have left a countryside of tinder waiting for a spark. Recently, in order to spark
- [More than Faith: For Trayvon Martin, a Promise to Act](https://arcmag.org/more-than-faith-for-trayvon-martin-a-promise-to-act/) - The sorrowful story of Trayvon Martin’s deadly encounter with the excitable George Zimmerman has mesmerized the nation anew with Zimmerman’s recent acquittal. Those who see this outcome as a gross injustice made possible by a culture of racism (including what Eugene Robinson calls our society’s assumption that black boys are “dangerous, interchangeable, expendable, guilty until
- [The Critic Within: On Father Andrew Greeley (1928-2013)](https://arcmag.org/the-critic-within-on-father-andrew-greeley-1928-2013/) - Father Andrew Greeley, who died in May at the age of 85, used to joke that he would be remembered as the Catholic priest who wrote sexy novels. As it happened the obituaries written for him all did refer to it. This apparent paradox was evidently the most compelling of the contradictions said to characterize
- [The Economic Vision of Pope Francis, a Pontiff for the Poor](https://arcmag.org/the-economic-vision-of-pope-francis-a-pontiff-for-the-poor/) - When Pope Benedict XVI announced his retirement, most evaluations of his pontificate prominently featured the adjective “conservative.” Yet, this same pope, as well as his predecessors, had voiced deep reservations about modern capitalism. In his encyclical Caritas in Veritate, Benedict reiterated the Church’s long-standing support for unions, for a robust social welfare state, and for
- [What Marriage Equality Isn’t](https://arcmag.org/what-marriage-equality-isnt/) - The Supreme Court’s recent decisions concerning same-sex marriage have been heavily touted as victories for the LGBT community. The material benefits that accompany marriage and the symbolic weight that attaches to it make the widespread jubilation perfectly understandable. But who really won here? Do the benefits that accompany marriage respond to the deepest needs of
- [The End of DOMA and the Dismantling of the "Straight State"](https://arcmag.org/the-end-of-doma-and-the-dismantling-of-the-straight-state-2/) - Advocates for marriage equality came away from yesterday’s Supreme Court pronouncements on same-sex marriage more jubilant than battered. But there was plenty of hurt to go around. Religious commentators are split, like most of the nation. The legal morass has just gotten deeper. The legacy of the Supreme Court’s Proposition 8 decision will be that
- [Why I Fight Against Same-Sex Marriage](https://arcmag.org/why-i-fight-against-same-sex-marriage/) - Rich Stearns is a servant, a Wharton grad who leapt from the top of corporate America and landed in a stream, knees bent bracing. Arms outstretched, he is a fisher of men, desperate to save the poor, sick and suffering. Stearns’ talent has transformed World Vision into the eighth largest charity in America, with annual
- [Being Gay at a Catholic University](https://arcmag.org/being-gay-at-a-catholic-university/) - When I was a student at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, in 2005, a group of gay students organized with the aim of convincing the Benedictine monks who ran the school to recognize a club that would serve the needs of the college’s gay community. They met in secret, but if you were
- [Farewell to Bob Edgar—Congressman, Minister, Activist](https://arcmag.org/farewell-to-bob-edgar-congressman-minister-activist/) - B ob Edgar was in his element on April 18. He stood behind a podium in Washington, D.C., making the case that the United States’ current system of campaign finance does not work. “It’s smashed. It’s crushed. It’s hijacked. It’s poisoned, taken hostage by money and partisan politics,” he said, soon abandoning his notes before the
- [Searching for the New Mind of the South](https://arcmag.org/searching-for-the-new-mind-of-the-south/) - The New Mind of the SouthBy Tracy ThompsonSimon & Schuster, 2013 W hen the journalist W.J. Cash set out to describe the American South, back in the late 1930s, he selected as his object of study a kind of Southern essence—"a fairly definite mental pattern, associated with a fairly definite social pattern"—that, he felt, was
- [Unrepresentative: How the NRA and Planned Parenthood Failed Recent Tests](https://arcmag.org/unrepresentative-how-the-nra-and-planned-parenthood-failed-recent-tests/) - The donor rolls of the National Rifle Association and Planned Parenthood do not share many of the same names. But these organizations’ responses to the events of recent months—especially the Sandy Hook shooting and the trial of Kermit Gosnell—have demonstrated that they do share a troubling characteristic. Both reject reasonable limitations on the particular liberty
- [Surveying a Gay Christian's Pilgrimage](https://arcmag.org/surveying-a-gay-christians-pilgrimage/) - Does Jesus Really Love Me? A Gay Christian's Pilgrimage in Search of God in AmericaBy Jeff ChuHarperCollins, 2013 Of all the songs in the “dog-eared bilingual hymnals” that Jeff Chu’s grandparents brought with them to the United States from Hong Kong in 1969, “Jesus Loves Me” is the “one that has stuck.” As a child,
- [Welcome to Zaytuna, the Nation's First Muslim Liberal Arts College](https://arcmag.org/welcome-to-zaytuna-the-nations-first-muslim-liberal-arts-college/) - On November 15, 2010, the morning I first visited Hamza Yusuf’s theology class at Zaytuna College, the nation’s first Muslim school of liberal arts, the room was overstuffed, even bursting, a fact made all the more obvious by some unseasonable fall temperatures. The school had opened its doors late the previous August, after years of
- [Under Hillary Clinton, the State Department Pursued Greater Religious Engagement](https://arcmag.org/since-hillary-clintons-tenure-the-state-department-pursues-greater-religious-engagement/) - Since Hillary Clinton’s Tenure, the State Department Has Pursued Greater Religious Engagement
- [Christians Divided on Morality, Legalization of Marijuana Use](https://arcmag.org/christians-divided-on-morality-legalization-of-marijuana-use/) - A lthough the federal government continues to rank marijuana as one of the most dangerous drugs, efforts to legalize it – for both recreational and medical use – have been percolating on the state level for the past decade. A new PRRI/RNS Religion News Survey shows that Americans are divided on whether marijuana should be legal (45 percent
- [Religious Leaders to Government: We Must Get Our Fiscal House In Order](https://arcmag.org/religious-leaders-to-government-we-must-get-our-fiscal-house-in-order/) - Both Republicans and Democrats have a religion problem, and it has nothing to do with same-sex marriage, abortion, or religious liberty. Rather, their serious stumbling blocks are budgets, deficits, and debt-ceiling deadlines. That’s right, in a city deeply divided between the political right and left, there is a growing consensus from religious leaders that we
- [Boston: A Runner's Reflection](https://arcmag.org/boston-a-runners-reflection/) - When called on to comfort and reassure communities stricken by tragedy—be it manmade or act of God—American politicians often turn to sports metaphors. The marathon in particular lends itself to declarations of perseverance in the face of disaster: to collectively push through the “wall,” knowing that on the other side, “someone will be there to
- [What Ever Happened to the Common Ground on Abortion Reduction?](https://arcmag.org/what-ever-happened-to-the-common-ground-on-abortion-reduction/) - The temperature of abortion politics is usually at a steady boil. Over the past two years, it has been downright scorching. Last week, heated debates escalated in the media over the coverage—or lack of coverage—of the trial of Kermit Gosnell, the doctor accused of murder, performing illegal abortions, and other offenses at his clinic. Last
- [North Carolina's "Official Religion": The Convoluted History of American States and Established Religions](https://arcmag.org/north-carolinas-official-religion-the-convoluted-history-of-american-states-and-established-religions/) - Last week, in a move that seems more reminiscent of 1783 than 2013, North Carolina legislators proposed a bill declaring their right to establish an official state religion. In doing so, the two GOP lawmakers from Rowan County, who were supported by 14 other Republican members of the House, directly challenged federal and constitutional authority.
- ["Speaking Truth to Power in Love": An Interview with Jonathan Walton](https://arcmag.org/speaking-truth-to-power-in-love-an-interview-with-jonathan-walton/) - When he was named the Pusey Minister of Harvard University’s Memorial Church, Jonathan Walton became the latest in a line of prominent African-American ministers to call the greater-Boston area home. The New York Times noted as much in its coverage of Walton’s installation ceremony that took place last November, linking Walton to his predecessor, the
- [Declaration of Conscience](https://arcmag.org/declaration-of-conscience/) - On June 1, 1950, Margaret Chase Smith (1897-1995), a Republican Senator from Maine, delivered her “Declaration of Conscience” speech to the U.S. Senate. Though she did not mention him by name, Smith used her oration to criticize the tactics of her colleague Senator Joseph McCarthy and his anti-Communist crusade. She did not want to see
- [Same-Sex Marriage Comes to the Supreme Court](https://arcmag.org/same-sex-marriage-comes-to-the-supreme-court/) - On March 26 and 27, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in two cases—one challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the other California’s Proposition 8—that could decide the fate of same-sex partnerships, at least for now. However much emotion may lie under the surface of these cases, the Court will not decide based on
- [Theology Has Consequences: What Policies Will Pope Francis Champion?](https://arcmag.org/theology-has-consequences-what-policies-will-pope-francis-champion/) - Now that the smoke has cleared from St. Peter’s Square, the future of the Roman Catholic Church is on the minds of many. Catholics are eternally hopeful, so the news of the papal election of an Argentine Jesuit, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, a man of simple personal ways, engendered a certain enthusiasm. My first official act
- [Evangelical Ketubah, Messianic Mezuzah: Judaica for Christians](https://arcmag.org/evangelical-ketubah-messianic-mezuzah-judaica-for-christians/) - Carrie Love is a self-professed “Scripture nerd.” Raised in an evangelical church in Louisiana, she now lives in Manhattan where she works at an educational non-profit and attends Central Presbyterian Church. In 2008, she signed up for Hebrew classes at New York University’s Hillel House. “It makes sense to want to know how the Old
- [Can Atheists and Muslims Support Freedom of Conscience Together?](https://arcmag.org/can-atheists-and-muslims-support-freedom-of-conscience-together/) - Thomas Jefferson once wrote: “But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.” For many of us, it’s easy to appreciate Jefferson’s eloquently stated advocacy of religious freedom of conscience, as well as the idea that all
- [A Brief History of Papal Resignations](https://arcmag.org/a-brief-history-of-papal-resignations/) - The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, announced for February 28, is an action virtually without precedent. No pope has resigned in modern times. No pope has ever resigned for reasons of failing health. And hardly any pope—only one, really—has ever resigned the papacy voluntarily. Early examples are shrouded in obscurity, but were all obviously constrained
- [Idol Worship: The Beatitudes of Lady Gaga](https://arcmag.org/idol-worship-the-beatitudes-of-lady-gaga/) - One evening in the spring of 2011, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, more popularly known as Lad­­­y Gaga, rolled ­down the window of her car to talk to a picketer outside a venue where she was about to perform to thousands of adoring fans. The man held a sign which read, “Trust in Christ or End
- [The Father of Modern Political Cartoons](https://arcmag.org/the-father-of-modern-political-cartoons/) - Thomas Nast: The Father of Modern Political CartoonsBy Fiona Deans HalloranUniversity of North Carolina Press, 2012 For those of us who work on American religion and politics, Thomas Nast’s late nineteenth-century cartoons for Harper’s Weekly are iconic. We pull them out especially as an illustration of anti-Catholicism and the fierce fights over religion in the
- [Book Culture and the Rise of Liberal Religion](https://arcmag.org/book-culture-and-the-rise-of-liberal-religion/) - In 1904 the Quaker mystic and philosopher Rufus Jones published Social Law in the Spiritual World with a grand ambition. “The cure for skepticism,” Jones declared at the outset, “is always deeper knowledge,” and with this book he sought to bring deeper knowledge to a new generation of modern skeptics. Like many intellectuals of his
- [Roe v. Wade at 40: An Interview with Legal Scholar and Theologian Cathleen Kaveny](https://arcmag.org/roe-v-wade-at-40-an-interview-with-legal-scholar-and-theologian-cathleen-kaveny/) - As of this month, it has been 40 years since the Supreme Court handed down the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.
- [Meet Benjamin Elijah Mays, Schoolmaster of the Civil Rights Movement](https://arcmag.org/meet-benjamin-elijah-mays-schoolmaster-of-the-civil-rights-movement/) - On April 9, 1968, Benjamin Elijah Mays had the burdensome honor of delivering a eulogy for Martin Luther King Jr. on the campus of Morehouse College. During that somber moment, the retired college president faced a crowd that stretched as far as the eye could see. They were looking to Mays for words of comfort
- [Where Do We Go From Here? Remembering the Life and Trials of Martin Luther King Jr.](https://arcmag.org/where-do-we-go-from-here-remembering-the-life-and-trials-of-martin-luther-king-jr/) - My students are often surprised to learn that when Martin Luther King came to Montgomery in the spring of 1954, civil rights activism was not high on his list of priorities. King came to Montgomery because it offered a nice salary, a comfortable parsonage, and a highly educated congregation. Dexter Avenue Baptist Church had no
- [When Was the Last Time a Rabbi Prayed at a Presidential Inauguration?](https://arcmag.org/when-was-the-last-time-a-rabbi-prayed-at-a-presidential-inauguration/) - Last week, President Obama’s inaugural committee caused quite a stir after it announced who would be praying during the president’s second inauguration. Myrlie Evers-Williams, the widow of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, would give the opening prayer, reportedly the first woman and first non-clergyperson to do so. The Rev. Louie Giglio was supposed
- [2012: The Moment of Mormon Diversity](https://arcmag.org/2012-the-moment-of-mormon-diversity/) - While he officially secured the Republican nomination last March, Mitt Romney’s primary victories in January 2012 all but guaranteed that, for the first time in American history, a Mormon would be nominated to a major party ticket for president. Romney’s nomination also meant that his often misunderstood and maligned Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
- [How Shall We Care for Haiti's Orphans?](https://arcmag.org/how-shall-we-care-for-haitis-orphans/) - Port-au-Prince, Haiti — Just days after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, Chris Savini, then a mental health worker, heard from his Illinois church about a doctor who was forming a makeshift clinic here. For Savini, the decision to join the mission was easy. “I was called,” he said. “It was
- [Crossing Boundaries: A Transgender Priest Becomes a University Chaplain](https://arcmag.org/crossing-boundaries-a-transgender-priest-becomes-a-university-chaplain/) - In December of 2001, Cameron Partridge was a 28-year-old candidate for the Episcopal priesthood in Massachusetts when he informed his bishop he would be transitioning from female to male. The Rt. Rev. M. Thomas Shaw admits this news left him feeling uneasy. But, he added, “I'm old enough now that when I feel discomfort that
- [Did Congress Meet on Christmas Day? Fact-checking the “War on Christmas”](https://arcmag.org/did-congress-meet-on-christmas-day-fact-checking-the-war-on-christmas/) - Last November, Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee, a moderate Republican turned independent, sent out invitations to the state’s annual tree lighting ceremony and referred to the central symbol as a “holiday tree.” As is typical with such cases, a firestorm of criticism erupted. Opponents insisted it be called a Christmas tree, complaining that any alternate
- [For Newtown, Condolences and a Plea for Action](https://arcmag.org/for-newtown-condolences-and-a-plea-for-action/) - Like countless others, those of us who work at R&P and the Danforth Center on Religion and Politics feel keen sorrow for the lives that were lost to ghastly violence at Sandy Hook Elementary School last Friday. We send our heartfelt condolences to the victims’ families and to all who have been personally affected by
- [A Moral Guide to Obama’s Foreign Policy](https://arcmag.org/a-moral-guide-to-obamas-foreign-policy/) - Three years ago today, President Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize. The awkward contexts of 2009 that accompanied, if not overshadowed, the award and his Nobel address are worth recalling. The Nobel Committee had announced “the world’s most prestigious prize” just eight months into the president’s first term of office in spite of his admittedly
- [A Scholarly and Judaic Approach to Political Punditry](https://arcmag.org/a-scholarly-and-judaic-approach-to-political-punditry/) - Brooke Baldwin, CNN’s news anchor, was chagrined. During the presidential election, despite a plethora of fact checking of candidates’ statements from both political parties and the media, it appeared that mendacity was triumphing over veracity. Why, she wondered aloud on an October 16th broadcast, aren’t more American voters swayed by the clear evidence supplied by
- [The Anniversary of the Gettysburg Address](https://arcmag.org/the-anniversary-of-the-gettysburg-address/) - On November 19, 1863, amid air faintly fetid from thousands of corpses waiting to be reburied, Edward Everett delivered a two-hour oration at the dedication of Gettysburg National Cemetery. The event, which drew some 15,000, had the feel of a modern rock concert. Everett, a former statesman and college president, and among the preeminent orators
- [Can There Be a Religious Response to Planned Parenthood's Critics?](https://arcmag.org/can-there-be-a-religious-response-to-planned-parenthoods-critics/) - On most days, when she arrives at the Planned Parenthood clinic she directs in Washington, D.C., Dr. Laura Meyers passes through a wall of Operation Rescue protesters. Because the District has no “access zone” protections in place, anti-abortion protesters on Washington’s 16th Street—sometimes as many as 60 people—can and do follow Dr. Meyers along the
- [How Mormons Became American](https://arcmag.org/how-mormons-became-american/) - Acentury ago, it was once a simple matter to assume a norm for American culture and situate the Mormon well outside it. Polygamy was likened to slavery in the nineteenth century (as the first Republican Party platform did in 1856). Brigham Young was compared to an Asian despot. Mormon women were victims in need of
- [The End Is Always with Us: The 40th Anniversary of "A Thief in the Night"](https://arcmag.org/the-end-is-always-with-us-the-40th-anniversary-of-a-thief-in-the-night/) - I hadn’t heard the song that opens the 1972 Christian apocalyptic film A Thief in the Night in decades, and my impression of it was: slow, dull, bizarre, not catchy at all. I watched the first five minutes on YouTube, through the church meeting where an early-era praise band sings “I Wish We’d All Been
- [The Best of R&P's Election Coverage](https://arcmag.org/the-best-of-rps-election-coverage/) - Did you miss any of R&P’s campaign coverage? To mark this November 6th, we bring you our favorite election-themed articles since our launch six months ago. When Romney Was a Mormon President By Max Perry Mueller | May 1, 2012 Let’s Focus On Policy, Not Just Theology By Amy Sullivan | May 1, 2012 Everything You Need to Know
- [The Sunday Before the Election](https://arcmag.org/the-sunday-before-the-election/) - In the days before the 2012 general election, we dispatched writers from around the country to attend houses of worship from California to Connecticut. They sent back slices of life, scenes from religious services, and political talk from parishioners. In between their interviews with the faithful, they surveyed the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, shared in
- [Is 2012 America's "Catholic Moment?"](https://arcmag.org/is-2012-americas-catholic-moment-2/) - For many politicos and pundits, Mitt Romney’s ascendancy to the top of Republican presidential ticket has marked the high point—so far—of the much-hyped “Mormon Moment.” Yet is Mormonism’s coming of age story really the most important development in American religion and politics during this election cycle? Hasn’t Catholicism played an even bigger role? There is
- [What Can Jeremiah Wright and Joseph Smith Teach Us about the American Presidency?](https://arcmag.org/what-can-jeremiah-wright-and-joseph-smith-teach-us-about-the-american-presidency/) - Last Tuesday, Andrew Sullivan’s post at The Daily Beast highlighted what he believes to be the double standard the American media has applied to the racially charged sermons delivered by President Obama’s former Pastor Jeremiah Wright—replayed in a constant loop in 2008—and the relatively scant coverage the history of racial exclusion Mitt Romney’s Mormonism has received in
- [Black Churches Send "Souls to the Polls"](https://arcmag.org/black-churches-send-souls-to-the-polls/) - JACKSONVILLE, Florida. – On Sunday afternoon, a local television reporter pushed her way through the crowd of voters toward Bishop Edward Robinson. She pleaded for a brief interview. “You’re the first church to arrive in a bus,” she explained. Other Sunday voters had been pouring into the polling station at a local mall on the
- [The Nuns Not on the Bus](https://arcmag.org/the-nuns-not-on-the-bus/) - Last April, the Vatican issued an 8-page document addressed to the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the major association of American nuns. The “doctrinal assessment” accused the nuns of “radical feminism,” of agitating for women’s ordination, and of remaining silent in “the lively public debate about abortion and euthanasia in the United States.” As a
- [Post-Racial America? The Tangle of Race, Religion, and Citizenship](https://arcmag.org/post-racial-america-the-tangle-of-race-religion-and-citizenship/) - The election of Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States brought questions about race in America to the forefront of political and social discourse in novel ways. It also gave rise to the claim that America had entered a post-racial era. What people mean when they invoke post-racial is often unclear, however. And
- [Training the Next Generation of Interfaith Leaders: An Interview with Eboo Patel](https://arcmag.org/training-the-next-generation-of-interfaith-leaders-an-interview-with-eboo-patel/) - Even over the phone, Eboo Patel projects a youthful energy. This may come from his many hours spent talking to college students at universities around the country. As the founder and president of Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), an organization that seeks to engage college students of different faith traditions in community and global service projects,
- [To Be Straight, Thin, and "Healthy"](https://arcmag.org/to-be-straight-thin-and-healthy/) - Seeking the Straight and Narrow: Weight Loss and Sexual Reorientation in Evangelical AmericaBy Lynne GerberUniversity of Chicago Press, 2011 Last month, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a law that banned so-called “reparative therapy” for gay children. The law prohibits state-licensed therapists from conducting “reorientation therapy” or other attempts to change the sexual orientation of children under
- [Can Obama Win the Latino Protestant Vote?](https://arcmag.org/will-obama-win-the-latino-protestant-vote/) - After John Kerry’s loss to George W. Bush in 2004, I attended at a day-long seminar at the home of Arianna Huffington called “Rebranding the Democratic Party.” At one point, the former director of Kerry’s outreach to Latino voters addressed the room on the future of his party. If we can’t keep the Latino Republican
- [When Church and State Collide: The Supreme Court Goes to Mass](https://arcmag.org/when-church-and-state-collide-the-supreme-court-goes-to-mass/) - Any reader of U.S. history knows that religion and politics have mixed in a multitude of ways from the time of the nation’s founding. Motivated by the two-sided hope of protecting the state from religious incursions and religion from state regulation, our founders crafted documents that nonetheless acknowledged a modicum of inevitable exchange and mutual
- [What Does Shari’a Really Mean?](https://arcmag.org/what-does-sharia-really-mean/) - In August, Representative Joe Walsh spoke to constituents at a town hall meeting in Elk Grove, Illinois, about radical Islam, noting, “It’s in Addison. It’s in Elgin. It’s here.” Walsh, a Republican congressman whose district includes many of Chicago’s northern suburbs, called for “godly men and women in the Senate, in the Congress … [to]
- [Can Political Theology Save Secularism?](https://arcmag.org/can-political-theology-save-secularism/) - Religion for Atheists: A Non-Believer’s Guide to the Uses of ReligionBy Alain de BottonPantheon Books, 2012. The Faith of the Faithless: Experiments in Political TheologyBy Simon CritchleyVerso, 2012. If the violence of September 11, 2001, accomplished one thing, it was to force the United States, and by proxy the other Western powers who joined its
- [My Journey Toward the “New Evangelicalism”](https://arcmag.org/my-journey-toward-the-new-evangelicalism/) - If you’ve never changed your mind about something, you may be dead. Spiritually, intellectually, and even politically, if new facts and realities don’t ever prompt you to alter your way of thinking, you might as well be dead. To not learn and change, especially spiritually, is a form of death. But change is hard. It’s
- [The Anniversary of Kennedy’s Landmark Speech on Religion](https://arcmag.org/the-anniversary-of-kennedys-landmark-speech-on-religion/) - On September 12, 1960, John F. Kennedy gave his now-famous speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association. In front of the Protestant ministers in attendance at the Rice Hotel in Texas, the presidential candidate gave his justifications on the “religious issue”—that is, how a Catholic president would navigate church-state relations while in office. Kennedy was
- [Why Mormon Men Love "Church Ball" and Are Scared of Homosexuality](https://arcmag.org/why-mormon-men-love-church-ball-and-are-scared-of-homosexuality/) - Mormon men play a lot of basketball. Every Saturday morning across the country, Mormon men gather for a strange liturgy of “Church Ball” in the basketball courts found at the center of most Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) meeting houses. It begins with a prayer. But it rapidly devolves into intense physical
- [Meet Derrick Harkins, the Pastor Behind the Democratic Party's Faith Outreach](https://arcmag.org/derrick-harkins-the-pastor-behind-the-democratic-partys-faith-outreach/) - CHARLOTTE — “Faith is an integral part of the Democratic Party,” the Reverend Derrick Harkins proclaimed Wednesday as he kicked off a panel on religion at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. “Don’t put any credence to the lie that somehow faith is not an integral part of who we are as Democrats—somebody ought to
- [Mia Love: The Most Interesting Mormon Speaking at the RNC](https://arcmag.org/mia-love-the-most-interesting-mormon-speaking-at-the-rnc/) - Tonight Mia Love takes the stage at the Republican National Convention in Tampa. This speech, delivered during the much-coveted primetime television coverage, will be the biggest moment in the young political career of Love, a Republican congressional candidate from Utah’s Fourth District. It will also serve as the introduction for most Americans to the woman
- [Vampires, Gay Rights, and the Political Underpinnings of HBO's True Blood](https://arcmag.org/vampires-gay-rights-and-the-political-underpinnings-of-hbos-true-blood/) - HBO’s True Blood has always been saturated with political commentary. The first episode aired in September of 2008, just months before the passage of California’s Proposition 8. That November, as Californians voted to alter the state constitution and deny marriage rights to gay citizens, millions of viewers were watching the plight of “vampire Americans” in
- [Romney and the Jewish Vote: What I Learned From My 1994 Interview](https://arcmag.org/romney-and-the-jewish-vote-what-i-learned-from-my-1994-interview/) - Flash back to summer, 1994. Mitt Romney strode down the corridor, aide in tow, and greeted me in the cramped newsroom. He was eager and fresh faced. He wanted to talk about his candidacy for the U.S. Senate in a race against incumbent Edward “Ted” Kennedy, to share a bit about his Mormon faith, to
- [What are Mormon Missionaries Doing in Kosovo?](https://arcmag.org/what-are-mormon-missionaries-doing-in-kosovo/) - “Those look tempting.” Alex Peterson, a lanky blond 19-year-old from Salt Lake City, pointed toward a bloc of gray apartment buildings nestled on a hill in Pristina, the capital city of Kosovo. It was a Friday morning in July. Peterson and his colleague Tanner Racine, from Idaho and also 19, entered one of the concrete
- [The Difference a Century Makes: A Tale of Two Ryans](https://arcmag.org/the-difference-a-century-makes-a-tale-of-two-ryans/) - This past Saturday, as Mitt Romney introduced his running mate Paul Ryan, the loudest applause erupted when he said, “A faithful Catholic, Paul believes in the worth and dignity of every human life.” The newly minted vice presidential candidate is known for his Catholicism, his staunch views against abortion, and his socially conservative record. But
- [The Lost Art of Political Compromise: An Interview with Al Simpson](https://arcmag.org/the-lost-art-of-political-compromise-an-interview-with-al-simpson/) - Alan K. Simpson is one of America’s favorite political pugilists. A lawyer, legislator, and devout Episcopalian, during his four decades in national politics, Simpson has learned to take a political punch as much as he’s learned to throw one. “Politics … it’s a total contact sport,” he explains. This is especially true for a Republican whose
- [“But They Are Nothing Like Us”: The Politics of Muslim Men in Prison](https://arcmag.org/but-they-are-nothing-like-us-the-politics-of-muslim-men-in-prison/) - "They think that they are us, but they are nothing like us.” An insight or two into the politics of Muslims in prison might be gleaned from unpeeling this short sentence, which was said to me off the cuff by a man I know well and whom in prose I call Baraka. Like all parties
- [What Graham Crackers Can Teach Us About Whole Foods](https://arcmag.org/what-graham-crackers-can-teach-us-about-whole-foods/) - Leaving the farmers’ market every Saturday, I am filled with self-satisfaction. Not only have I managed to accomplish some food shopping (a tricky feat for busy people), but I also imagine that I have participated in the political project of “the food movement.” In this fantasy, the First Lady, Michael Pollan, and Mark Bittman regard
- [See Me Naked: An Interview with Amy Frykholm](https://arcmag.org/see-me-naked-an-interview-with-amy-frykholm/) - See Me Naked: Stories of Sexual Exile in American ChristianityBy Amy FrykholmBeacon Press, 2011 In her latest book, See Me Naked: Stories of Sexual Exile in American Christianity, Amy Frykholm profiles nine American Protestants grappling with sexuality and their faith. She writes, “Spirituality and sexuality, for many people in American society and perhaps especially Christians,
- [The Art of Jon McNaughton, the Tea Party's Painter](https://arcmag.org/the-tea-partys-painter-the-art-of-jon-mcnaughton/) - Editor’s Note: Utah-based artist Jon McNaughton has received a lot of attention from both the press and political pundits. Much of this attention has been negative, deriding his interpretation of American history as simplistic and the art itself as heavy-handed. New York Magazine’s art critic Jerry Saltz describes McNaughton’s work as “drop-dead obvious in message”
- [American Sisters Haven’t Strayed. The Vatican Has.](https://arcmag.org/american-sisters-havent-strayed-the-vatican-has/) - In April, the Vatican censured the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCRW), a body that represents more than 80 percent of American sisters. After a two-year investigation, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) alleged that the LCRW had promoted “radical feminist themes” in its programs, had encouraged models of leadership that
- [Imprisoned by Scientologists? Our Fascination with Captivity Narratives](https://arcmag.org/imprisoned-by-scientologists-our-fascination-with-captivity-narratives/) - Two weeks ago, after Katie Holmes filed for divorce from Tom Cruise, a media frenzy ensued. The tabloid site TMZ alleged the divorce was not about money or other normal sources of marital strife, but rather Tom’s plan to enroll their 6-year-old daughter, Suri, into Scientology’s elite religious order known as “Sea Org.” On CBS,
- [Paradise Lust: The Lawyer Who Found Eden along the Florida Panhandle](https://arcmag.org/paradise-lust-the-lawyer-who-found-eden-in-the-florida-panhandle/) - On Elvy Edison Callaway’s hand-drawn map of northwest Florida, the Jim Woodruff Dam over the Apalachicola River looks like the narrow wrist of a giant hand. Just north of the dam, near the Florida-Georgia border, the Apalachicola splits into four fingers. Callaway has neatly labeled each river with its Floridian and its Biblical name: The
- [What Happened to Romney’s “Evangelical Problem”?](https://arcmag.org/what-happened-to-romneys-evangelical-problem/) - For six years, reporters and commentators have told the American public that evangelicals don’t want to vote for Mitt Romney because he is a Mormon. But now that Romney has become the presumptive Republican nominee, that narrative has evaporated, replaced by a new one: evangelicals will embrace Romney after all. Politics appear to trump theology.
- [For American Muslims, Everything Did Not Change After 9/11](https://arcmag.org/for-american-muslims-everything-did-not-change-after-911/) - “Everything changed after 9/11.” This political mantra has become part of our national life. It is invoked to explain war-making in foreign lands, the creation of government departments such as Homeland Security, and the expansion of federal surveillance powers, both at home and abroad. In the past decade, it has also drawn special attention to
- [Why Do Mormons Love the Fourth of July So Much?](https://arcmag.org/why-do-mormons-love-the-fourth-of-july-so-much/) - Tonight, one of the nation’s biggest Fourth of July celebrations will take place in Provo, Utah, in front of 50,000 people at Brigham Young University’s football field. The “Stadium of Fire” lives up to its name. It is among America’s oldest and largest arena-based firework productions, one that typically keeps its crowd in a state
- [Fortnight for Freedom: Whose Religious Liberty?](https://arcmag.org/fortnight-for-freedom-whose-religious-liberty/) - When the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops kicked off their “Fortnight for Freedom” campaign almost two weeks ago, they chose an auspicious feast day to start. On the Church’s liturgical calendar, June 21 commemorates two martyrs who suffered political persecution: St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher, who were killed under Henry VIII for refusing
- [Red State Religion: An Interview with Robert Wuthnow](https://arcmag.org/red-state-religion-an-interview-with-robert-wuthnow/) - Red State Religion: Faith and Politics in America’s Heartlandby Robert WuthnowPrinceton University Press, 2012 Robert Wuthnow is the Gerhard R. Andlinger ’52 Professor of Sociology and the Director of the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University. He also serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Religion & Politics. A prolific scholar, Wuthnow has
- [When the Court Took on Prayer and the Bible in Public Schools](https://arcmag.org/when-the-court-took-on-prayer-the-bible-and-public-schools/) - The Bible, the School, and the Constitution: The Clash That Shaped Modern Church-State Doctrine By Steven K. Green Oxford University Press, 2012 Today marks the 50th anniversary of a court case that changed the way Americans think about religion in public schools. On June 25, 1962, the United States Supreme Court decided in Engel v. Vitale that
- [The Changing Face of the Southern Baptist Convention](https://arcmag.org/the-changing-face-of-the-southern-baptist-convention/) - The Rev. Fred Luter held up his Bible and stomped his feet. It was Monday evening, and he stood on the stage of the convention center hall, delivering a sermon to delegates of the Southern Baptist Convention. Nearly 8,000 of them had gathered for the denomination’s annual meeting in New Orleans, Luter’s hometown. Denouncing ills
- [What Can We Learn from UVA?](https://arcmag.org/what-can-we-learn-from-uva/) - The forced resignation of University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan, announced June 10, did not go as planned. Pushed out by a faction of the university’s governing body, the Board of Visitors, Sullivan was said to lack vision and “strategic dynamism,” a term appearing in a widely distributed email from Peter Kiernan, the then-chair of
- [The Plight of Pagans in the Military](https://arcmag.org/the-plight-of-pagans-in-the-military/) - Stefani Barner likes to say she is married to the military. She lives in Eastpointe, Michigan, 10 miles from Selfridge Air National Guard Base, where her husband Robert is an aircraft mechanic. The Barners are also practicing Pagans—a faith often ill at ease with military culture. Robert’s co-workers have “jokingly” suggested the couple worships the
- [How Your View of God Shapes Your View of the Economy](https://arcmag.org/how-your-view-of-god-shapes-your-view-of-the-economy/) - In recent decades, “big tent” conservatism has seemed on the brink of collapse, its poles buckling under competing constituencies with “values” voters in one corner pitted against fiscal conservatives in the other. Discussions among academics and media pundits suggest these are two distinct categories of Republicans—the former made up of mainly working-class white evangelicals and
- [The Myth of the Black Church](https://arcmag.org/the-myth-of-the-black-church/) - My earliest ideas about African American religion and political struggle come from my first public memories as a child of the South of the late 1950s and 1960s. The civil rights movement entered our home through the televised images of black churches opening their doors for political rallies and the funerals of martyrs. Those pictures
- [Obama and Jeremiah Wright: Why a Pulled Ad Does Not Mean a Dead Issue](https://arcmag.org/obama-and-jeremiah-wright-why-a-pulled-ad-does-not-mean-a-dead-issue/) - In May, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright appeared resurrected from the ashes of the 2008 campaign. There was an uproar after The New York Times broke the story that a super PAC had proposed commercials associating President Obama with controversial comments made by his former pastor. Mitt Romney asked for the ads not to run, Karl
- [What Psychology Teaches Us About Moral and Political Divides](https://arcmag.org/what-psychology-teaches-us-about-moral-and-political-divides/) - The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and ReligionBy Jonathan HaidtPantheon, 2012 Right after John Kerry’s devastating loss to George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election, Bill Clinton told the Financial Times that the Kerry campaign had failed to engage voters on “values” issues, that middle Americans saw the party as
- [The Lonely Life of American Atheists](https://arcmag.org/the-lonely-life-of-american-atheists/) - There may be no “church” for the unbeliever, but there can at least be one big party. In late March, more than 10,000 people gathered on a rainy Saturday morning in Washington, D.C. The Reason Rally 2012 was billed as the largest collection of non-theists ever assembled on the National Mall. Armed with lawn chairs,
- [Can Sex Sell Abstinence?](https://arcmag.org/can-sex-sell-abstinence/) - Making Chastity Sexy: The Rhetoric of Evangelical Abstinence Campaignsby Christine J. GardnerUniversity of California Press, 2011 When it comes to adolescent sexuality, more than the hormones rage. The culture wars still infect questions of how best to teach kids about sex and how to prevent disease, pregnancy, and heartbreak. For conservative Christians, the answer has
- [The Long Approach to the "Mormon Moment"](https://arcmag.org/the-long-approach-to-the-mormon-moment/) - Unless you have been living in a cave or asleep for the last half year, you know that we are living in an era that the media has dubbed the “Mormon moment.” Aided by the religious affiliation of not one but two Mormons, Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman, in the latest presidential election cycle, this
- [What Will François Hollande’s Election Mean for Muslims, Americans?](https://arcmag.org/what-will-francois-hollandes-election-mean-for-muslims-americans/) - Yesterday (May 15), François Hollande was inaugurated as the 24th president of France. Just a year ago, his path to the presidency was considered a long shot. But after the plummeting popularity of Nicolas Sarkozy and the very public downfall of Dominique Strauss-Kahn—the one-time frontrunner for the post—Hollande emerged victoriously. Yet even now, to many
- [At Liberty, the Specter of Mormonism's Own Fight Over “Traditional Marriage” Looms](https://arcmag.org/at-liberty-the-specter-of-mormonisms-own-fight-over-traditional-marriage-looms/) - With his much-hyped Liberty University commencement address delivered this past Saturday morning, Mitt Romney performed a rare feat in American presidential politics. He lived up to expectations. And if the praise the former governor has already received from the nation’s leading evangelicals is any indication, he might have even surpassed them. With a speech full
- [The Megachurch: Where Jerry Falwell's Influence All Began](https://arcmag.org/the-megachurch-where-jerry-falwells-influence-all-began/) - The Rev. Jerry Falwell’s name will always be linked with the Moral Majority, the organization he formed to galvanize conservative evangelicals into political action. Certainly, bringing evangelicals out of the cultural wilderness and marching them into politics changed both the political and the religious landscape in important and enduring ways. One needs only to look
- [Why is American Foreign Policy so Religious?](https://arcmag.org/why-is-american-foreign-policy-so-religious/) - On September 11, with the nation stunned by surprise al Qaeda terrorist attacks, the president mounted the pulpit of the National Cathedral in Washington. From there, in a speech that had the cadences of a sermon, he quoted from the Book of Isaiah to rally Americans to the long and difficult struggle with Islamic fundamentalist
- [I Was a Mortuary Worker in Iraq: A Marine on What Remains After War](https://arcmag.org/i-was-a-mortuary-worker-in-iraq-a-marine-on-what-remains-after-war/) - Editor's Note: Jessica Goodell served in the Marine Corps’ first dedicated mortuary affairs unit. The platoon, deployed to Iraq in 2004, was tasked with recovering and processing the remains of the fallen, many of whom were killed by Improvised Explosive Devices. Their grim work occasionally required scooping up human remains and depositing them into body
- [Everything You Need to Know About the HHS Mandate Before the 2012 Elections](https://arcmag.org/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-hhs-mandate-before-the-2012-elections/) - The Obama administration was warned, but they never really saw it coming. When they announced in January they would not be expanding the conscience exemptions to a new mandate, requiring health insurance to cover contraception and other “preventive” procedures, they did not realize how strong the blowback would be. Prominent Catholics who had largely supported
- [When Romney Was a Mormon President](https://arcmag.org/when-romney-was-a-mormon-president/) - “I must be about my father’s business,” Tagg Romney announces. It is a warm summer evening last July. He stands before a packed classroom of some 50 adults at his family’s long-time spiritual home, a meetinghouse of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), located in the affluent Boston suburb of Belmont. Looking
- [Does Obama Have a Jewish Voter Problem?](https://arcmag.org/does-obama-have-a-jewish-voter-problem/) - President Obama has a Jewish problem, at least according to media reports. They pounced last year when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rebuked the president for making an “indefensible” proposal for Israel to accept 1967 borders. They amplified comments from GOP hopeful Mitt Romney, who said Obama had thrown Israel “under the bus.” They searched
- [Welcome to Religion & Politics](https://arcmag.org/welcome-to-religion-politics/) - We’re delighted to welcome you to this site! Religion & Politics is an online journal that focuses on one of the most contested issues of our time: the role religion plays in the civic and political life of the United States. This journal is an important component of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion
- [John Stott, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien: Why American Evangelicals Love the British](https://arcmag.org/john-stott-c-s-lewis-j-r-r-tolkien-why-american-evangelicals-love-the-british/) - John R. W. Stott’s death last July, at the age of 90, prompted an outpouring of grief and fond memories all over the Christian world. But nowhere were there more panegyrics than among American evangelicals. In a community infamous for squabbles and schisms, polarized by politics and endless theological feuds, here was an unusual moment

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## Podcasts

- [Episode 23: Jacques Berlinerblau](https://arcmag.org/podcast/episode-23-jacques-berlinerblau/) - Mark sits down with Jacques Berlinerblau to talk woke politics and the cancelation of comedians, whether public apology tours ever work, and how to think about free speech in the digital age
- [Episode 22: Arielle Angel](https://arcmag.org/podcast/episode-22-arielle-angel/) - Mark sits down with Arielle Angel, editor in chief of Jewish Currents, to talk the Jewish left, the war in Israel and Gaza, and the job of an editor
- [Episode 20: Rusty Reno](https://arcmag.org/podcast/episode-20-rusty-reno/) - Mark sits down with Rusty Reno to talk strong Gods, Trump's presidency, the right's antisemitism problem, and where the country might go from here
- [Episode 21: Christopher Beha](https://arcmag.org/podcast/episode-21-christopher-beha/) - Mark sits down with Christopher Beha to talk growing up Catholic in New York City, how he made his way back to the church, and whether Don Delillo is America's great religious novelist
- [Episode 18: Kelsey Osgood](https://arcmag.org/podcast/episode-18-kelsey-osgood/) - Mark sits down with Kelsey Osgood to talk religious conversion, eating disorders, and the songs she can't get out of her head
- [Episode 19: Stefan Fatsis](https://arcmag.org/podcast/episode-19-stefan-fatsis/) - Mark sits down with Stefan Fatsis to talk the politics of language, the joys of slang, and Ted Cruz's slappable face
- [Episode 17: Jessica Grose & Brad Wilcox](https://arcmag.org/podcast/episode-17-jessica-grose-brad-wilcox/) - Mark sits down with Jessica Grose and Brad Wilcox to talk natality numbers, whether the New York Times should convince people to have more babies, and which American president best models good parenting
- [Episode 11: Yiddish in Lithuania](https://arcmag.org/podcast/episode-11-yiddish-in-lithuania/) - Mark sends his deputy editor, David Sugarman, to Lithuania, to find out how the legacy of a bunch of Yiddish writers from the early twentieth century is reshaping the region's present and future.
- [Episode 13: Oliver Burkeman](https://arcmag.org/podcast/episode-13-oliver-burkeman/) - Mark sits down with Oliver Burkeman to discuss high-brow self-help books, nostalgia for the past versus dread for the future, and the lasting value of blowing through deadlines
- [Episode 15: Yair Rosenberg](https://arcmag.org/podcast/episode-15-yair-rosenberg/) - Mark sits down with Yair Rosenberg to talk antisemitism on the right, antisemitism on the left, and the American Jews caught in between
- [Episode 16: What would the Lord say about our digital addictions?](https://arcmag.org/podcast/episode-16-what-would-the-lord-say-about-our-digital-addictions/) - An Arc holiday special about how three different religious communities are managing our technological malaise
- [Episode 14: Ross Douthat & Phil Zuckerman](https://arcmag.org/podcast/episode-14-ross-douthat-phil-zuckerman/) - Mark is joined by Ross Douthat and Phil Zuckerman to debate whether we should all believe in God or all be atheists.
- [Episode 12: Leah Libresco Sargeant](https://arcmag.org/podcast/episode-12-leah-libresco-sargeant/) - Mark sits down with Leah Libresco Sargeant to talk about her journey from atheism to Catholicism, her love for arguing about everything from God to public policy, and the moral necessity of taking our opinions seriously
- [Episode 10: Yehuda Kurtzer](https://arcmag.org/podcast/episode-10-yehuda-kurtzer/) - Mark sits down with Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss the aesthetics of yarmulkas, the crisis facing clergy-members, and how the war in Israel is changing American Jewry.
- [Episode 9: Matthew Schmitz & Maggie Phillips](https://arcmag.org/podcast/episode-09-matthew-schmitz-maggie-phillips/) - Mark sits down with Matthew Schmitz to talk confession, converting to Catholicism, and Trump's morality. He then phones Maggie Phillips, self-described fan of the confession booth, to discuss this sacrament further.
- [Episode 8: Gabriela Nguyen](https://arcmag.org/podcast/episode-08-gabriela-nguyen/) - Mark sits down with Gabriela Nguyen to discuss Gen Z's digital addictions, whether belonging to a religious community makes it easier to get off social media, and what to look out for in the age of AI
- [Episode 7: Thomas Chatterton Williams](https://arcmag.org/podcast/episode-7-thomas-chatterton-williams/) - Mark sits down with Thomas Chatterton Williams to discuss wokeness and its afterlives, the Hamas/Israel war, and whether kids these days have it too easy
- [Episode 6: David Litt](https://arcmag.org/podcast/episode-6-david-litt/) - Mark sits down with David Litt to talk surfing, surprising saviors, and America's political divide
- [Episode 1: Jay Michaelson](https://arcmag.org/podcast/episode-1-jay-michaelson/) - Mark sits down with his longtime friend, Jay Michaelson, a rabbi, queer activist, Buddhist, and visiting law professor at Harvard.
- [Episode 2: Nicholas Carr](https://arcmag.org/podcast/episode-2-nicholas-carr-talks-desert-flowers-and-techno-pessimism/) - Arc's editor-in-chief, Mark Oppenheimer, sits down with Nicholas Carr, author of the new book Superbloom, to talk religion, politics, et cetera.
- [Episode 3: Molly Worthen](https://arcmag.org/podcast/episode-3-molly-worthen-on-charisma-the-karate-kid-and-marks-soul/) - Arc's editor-in-chief sits down with Molly Worthen, author of the new book “Spellbound: How Charisma Shaped American History from the Puritans to Donald Trump,” to talk about becoming an evangelical Christian, the etiquette of evangelizing, and the not-so-quiet beauty of big box churches.
- [Episode 4: Ana Levy-Lyons](https://arcmag.org/podcast/episode-4-ana-levy-lyons/) - Arc's editor-in-chief sits down with Ana Levy-Lyons, author of the forthcoming book “The Secret Despair of the Secular Left,” to discuss her work as a Unitarian minister, her decision to leave the ministry and go to rabbinical school, and the problems at the core of secular life
- [Episode 5: Rich Cohen](https://arcmag.org/podcast/episode-5-rich-cohen-on-a-connecticut-murder-the-good-old-days-of-american-media-and-how-not-to-become-a-crazy-sports-parent/) - Mark sits down with Rich Cohen, contributing editor at Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone and the author of 16 books including, most recently, “Murder in the Dollhouse: The Jennifer Dulos Story”
- [3. Dancing in a Jewish Way](https://arcmag.org/podcast/3-dancing-in-a-jewish-way/) - Klezmer activist Christina Crowder finds something personal in the music she helped return to the klezmer community. Plus, a klezmer concert in a church. From Arc magazine and Washington University in St. Louis.
- [2. Klezmerland](https://arcmag.org/podcast/2-klezmerland/) - A fateful Tokyo subway ride delivers hundreds of tunes to klezmerland, transforming the genre—and kugel etiquette. From Arc magazine and Washington University in St. Louis.
- [Introducing: "Rescued: The Lost Treasures of Klezmer"](https://arcmag.org/podcast/introducing-rescued-the-lost-treasures-of-klezmer/) - By Robert Scaramuccia and from Arc magazine comes the story of a groundbreaking moment in klezmer music. Show art by Giovanna Truong.
- [1. The Expedition](https://arcmag.org/podcast/1-the-expedition/) - As Jewish Eastern Europe crumbles, ethnographer S. An-sky races to save klezmer music. His recordings and notebooks barely survive the 1900s, landing deep in a Soviet archive. This is the story of their rescue. From Arc magazine and Washington University in St. Louis.

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## Tags

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- [FDR](https://arcmag.org/tag/fdr/)
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- [Cold War](https://arcmag.org/tag/cold-war/)
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- [The Book of Mormon](https://arcmag.org/tag/the-book-of-mormon/)
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- [Richard Dawkins](https://arcmag.org/tag/richard-dawkins/)
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- [collective bargaining rights](https://arcmag.org/tag/collective-bargaining-rights/)
- [Social Gospel](https://arcmag.org/tag/social-gospel/)
- [Joseph McCarthy](https://arcmag.org/tag/joseph-mccarthy/)
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- [southern](https://arcmag.org/tag/southern/)
- [Virginia](https://arcmag.org/tag/virginia/)
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- [Methodist](https://arcmag.org/tag/methodist/)
- [Reconstruction](https://arcmag.org/tag/reconstruction/)
- [Robert Hayden](https://arcmag.org/tag/robert-hayden/)
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- [Social Science](https://arcmag.org/tag/social-science/)
- [GOP](https://arcmag.org/tag/gop/)
- [evangelicals](https://arcmag.org/tag/evangelicals/)
- [Thomas Frank](https://arcmag.org/tag/thomas-frank/)
- [economy](https://arcmag.org/tag/economy/)
- [Max Weber](https://arcmag.org/tag/max-weber/)
- [Tea Party](https://arcmag.org/tag/tea-party/)
- [Ayn Rand](https://arcmag.org/tag/ayn-rand/)
- [Cesar Chavez](https://arcmag.org/tag/cesar-chavez/)
- [immigration](https://arcmag.org/tag/immigration/)
- [Latino/a](https://arcmag.org/tag/latinoa/)
- [Our Lady of Guadalupe](https://arcmag.org/tag/our-lady-of-guadalupe/)
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- [United Farm Workers](https://arcmag.org/tag/united-farm-workers/)
- [California](https://arcmag.org/tag/california/)
- [Edward R. Murrow](https://arcmag.org/tag/edward-r-murrow/)
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- [La Causa](https://arcmag.org/tag/la-causa/)
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- [boycott](https://arcmag.org/tag/boycott/)
- [Pagan](https://arcmag.org/tag/pagan/)
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- [military](https://arcmag.org/tag/military/)
- [chaplain](https://arcmag.org/tag/chaplain/)
- [Arlington National Cemetary](https://arcmag.org/tag/arlington-national-cemetary/)
- [Norse Heathen](https://arcmag.org/tag/norse-heathen/)
- [University of Virginia](https://arcmag.org/tag/university-of-virginia/)
- [Teresa Sullivan](https://arcmag.org/tag/teresa-sullivan/)
- [Peter Kiernan](https://arcmag.org/tag/peter-kiernan/)
- [Helen Dragas](https://arcmag.org/tag/helen-dragas/)
- [Peter Kington](https://arcmag.org/tag/peter-kington/)
- [Tim Kaine](https://arcmag.org/tag/tim-kaine/)
- [Bob McDonnell](https://arcmag.org/tag/bob-mcdonnell/)
- [John Casteen](https://arcmag.org/tag/john-casteen/)
- [religious studies](https://arcmag.org/tag/religious-studies/)
- [political science](https://arcmag.org/tag/political-science/)
- [liberal arts](https://arcmag.org/tag/liberal-arts/)
- [Princeton](https://arcmag.org/tag/princeton/)
- [Washington University](https://arcmag.org/tag/washington-university/)
- [Fred Luter](https://arcmag.org/tag/fred-luter/)
- [Richard Land](https://arcmag.org/tag/richard-land/)
- [Civil War](https://arcmag.org/tag/civil-war/)
- [segregation](https://arcmag.org/tag/segregation/)
- [National Baptist](https://arcmag.org/tag/national-baptist/)
- [New Orleans](https://arcmag.org/tag/new-orleans/)
- [David Goldfield](https://arcmag.org/tag/david-goldfield/)
- [LifeWay](https://arcmag.org/tag/lifeway/)
- [Bible](https://arcmag.org/tag/bible/)
- [public school](https://arcmag.org/tag/public-school/)
- [Engel v. Vitale](https://arcmag.org/tag/engel-v-vitale/)
- [Abington School District v. Schempp](https://arcmag.org/tag/abington-school-district-v-schempp/)
- [Francis Spellman](https://arcmag.org/tag/francis-spellman/)
- [Billy Graham](https://arcmag.org/tag/billy-graham/)
- [Christianity Today](https://arcmag.org/tag/christianity-today/)
- [church and state](https://arcmag.org/tag/church-and-state/)
- [Minor v. Board of Education](https://arcmag.org/tag/minor-v-board-of-education/)
- [constitution](https://arcmag.org/tag/constitution/)
- [First Amendment](https://arcmag.org/tag/first-amendment/)
- [establishment clause](https://arcmag.org/tag/establishment-clause/)
- [Charles Taylor](https://arcmag.org/tag/charles-taylor/)
- [Warren Nord](https://arcmag.org/tag/warren-nord/)
- [Wyoming](https://arcmag.org/tag/wyoming/)
- [Dick Cheney](https://arcmag.org/tag/dick-cheney/)
- [Matthew Shepard](https://arcmag.org/tag/matthew-shepard/)
- [Foster Friess](https://arcmag.org/tag/foster-friess/)
- [Devils Tower](https://arcmag.org/tag/devils-tower/)
- [Native American](https://arcmag.org/tag/native-american/)
- [Arapaho](https://arcmag.org/tag/arapaho/)
- [Martin's Cove](https://arcmag.org/tag/martins-cove/)
- [Tom Sun Ranch](https://arcmag.org/tag/tom-sun-ranch/)
- [Fortnight for Freedom](https://arcmag.org/tag/fortnight-for-freedom/)
- [United States Council of Catholic Bishops](https://arcmag.org/tag/united-states-council-of-catholic-bishops/)
- [Catholics for Choice](https://arcmag.org/tag/catholics-for-choice/)
- [Commonweal](https://arcmag.org/tag/commonweal/)
- [Stephen Blaire](https://arcmag.org/tag/stephen-blaire/)
- [John Courtney Murray](https://arcmag.org/tag/john-courtney-murray/)
- [Charles Curran](https://arcmag.org/tag/charles-curran/)
- [Rush Limbaugh](https://arcmag.org/tag/rush-limbaugh/)
- [Sandra Fluke](https://arcmag.org/tag/sandra-fluke/)
- [Affordable Care Act](https://arcmag.org/tag/affordable-care-act/)
- [LDS Church](https://arcmag.org/tag/lds-church/)
- [Mormons](https://arcmag.org/tag/mormons/)
- [Independence Day](https://arcmag.org/tag/independence-day/)
- [Brigham Young University](https://arcmag.org/tag/brigham-young-university/)
- [Glenn Beck](https://arcmag.org/tag/glenn-beck/)
- [Sean Hannity](https://arcmag.org/tag/sean-hannity/)
- [patriotism](https://arcmag.org/tag/patriotism/)
- [Harry Reid](https://arcmag.org/tag/harry-reid/)
- [Cleon Skousen](https://arcmag.org/tag/cleon-skousen/)
- [Ezra Taft Benson](https://arcmag.org/tag/ezra-taft-benson/)
- [Muslims](https://arcmag.org/tag/muslims/)
- [9/11](https://arcmag.org/tag/911/)
- [Homeland Security](https://arcmag.org/tag/homeland-security/)
- [Barack Obama](https://arcmag.org/tag/barack-obama/)
- [African American](https://arcmag.org/tag/african-american/)
- [John Quincy Adams](https://arcmag.org/tag/john-quincy-adams/)
- [Nation of Islam](https://arcmag.org/tag/nation-of-islam/)
- [W.D. Fard](https://arcmag.org/tag/w-d-fard/)
- [FBI](https://arcmag.org/tag/fbi/)
- [Elijah Muhammad](https://arcmag.org/tag/elijah-muhammad/)
- [Malcolm X](https://arcmag.org/tag/malcolm-x/)
- [Black Panthers](https://arcmag.org/tag/black-panthers/)
- [Ronald Reagan](https://arcmag.org/tag/ronald-reagan/)
- [Samuel P. Huntington](https://arcmag.org/tag/samuel-p-huntington/)
- [Benjamin Netanyahu](https://arcmag.org/tag/benjamin-netanyahu/)
- [Bob Jones](https://arcmag.org/tag/bob-jones/)
- [George H.W. Bush](https://arcmag.org/tag/george-h-w-bush/)
- [values voters](https://arcmag.org/tag/values-voters/)
- [Garden of Eden](https://arcmag.org/tag/garden-of-eden/)
- [Florida](https://arcmag.org/tag/florida/)
- [Clarence Darrow](https://arcmag.org/tag/clarence-darrow/)
- [Scopes trial](https://arcmag.org/tag/scopes-trial/)
- [Depression](https://arcmag.org/tag/depression/)
- [Elvy Callaway](https://arcmag.org/tag/elvy-callaway/)
- [William Jennings Bryan](https://arcmag.org/tag/william-jennings-bryan/)
- [Barry Goldwater](https://arcmag.org/tag/barry-goldwater/)
- [Scientology](https://arcmag.org/tag/scientology/)
- [Katie Holmes](https://arcmag.org/tag/katie-holmes/)
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- [Valeska Guider Paris](https://arcmag.org/tag/valeska-guider-paris/)
- [Astra Woodcraft](https://arcmag.org/tag/astra-woodcraft/)
- [Edward Ingebretsen](https://arcmag.org/tag/edward-ingebretsen/)
- [Mary Rowlandson](https://arcmag.org/tag/mary-rowlandson/)
- [Jon Krakauer](https://arcmag.org/tag/jon-krakauer/)
- [Betty Mahmoud](https://arcmag.org/tag/betty-mahmoud/)
- [L. Ron Hubbard](https://arcmag.org/tag/l-ron-hubbard/)
- [Edcuation](https://arcmag.org/tag/edcuation/)
- [Rhode Island](https://arcmag.org/tag/rhode-island/)
- [Roger Williams](https://arcmag.org/tag/roger-williams/)
- [Democrat](https://arcmag.org/tag/democrat/)
- [Ahlquist v. the City of Cranston](https://arcmag.org/tag/ahlquist-v-the-city-of-cranston/)
- [American Civil Liberties Union](https://arcmag.org/tag/american-civil-liberties-union/)
- [ACLU](https://arcmag.org/tag/aclu/)
- [Judge Ronald R. Lagueux](https://arcmag.org/tag/judge-ronald-r-lagueux/)
- [Vatican](https://arcmag.org/tag/vatican/)
- [Leadership Conference of Women Religious](https://arcmag.org/tag/leadership-conference-of-women-religious/)
- [Nuns on the Bus](https://arcmag.org/tag/nuns-on-the-bus/)
- [Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith](https://arcmag.org/tag/congregation-for-the-doctrine-of-the-faith/)
- [abortion](https://arcmag.org/tag/abortion/)
- [euthanasia](https://arcmag.org/tag/euthanasia/)
- [Pat Farrell](https://arcmag.org/tag/pat-farrell/)
- [Second Vatican Council](https://arcmag.org/tag/second-vatican-council/)
- [Vatican II](https://arcmag.org/tag/vatican-ii/)
- [Pope John XXIII](https://arcmag.org/tag/pope-john-xxiii/)
- [Selma](https://arcmag.org/tag/selma/)
- [Margaret Farley](https://arcmag.org/tag/margaret-farley/)
- [Simone Campbell](https://arcmag.org/tag/simone-campbell/)
- [Pope Benedict XVI](https://arcmag.org/tag/pope-benedict-xvi/)
- [Josef Cardinal Ratzinger](https://arcmag.org/tag/josef-cardinal-ratzinger/)
- [Minnesota](https://arcmag.org/tag/minnesota/)
- [Michele Bachmann](https://arcmag.org/tag/michele-bachmann/)
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- [John McCain](https://arcmag.org/tag/john-mccain/)
- [Lutheran](https://arcmag.org/tag/lutheran/)
- [Minneapolis](https://arcmag.org/tag/minneapolis/)
- [Garrison Keillor](https://arcmag.org/tag/garrison-keillor/)
- [Al Franken](https://arcmag.org/tag/al-franken/)
- [Jesse Ventura](https://arcmag.org/tag/jesse-ventura/)
- [Eugene McCarthy](https://arcmag.org/tag/eugene-mccarthy/)
- [Hubert Humphrey](https://arcmag.org/tag/hubert-humphrey/)
- [Walter Mondale](https://arcmag.org/tag/walter-mondale/)
- [Tim Pawlenty](https://arcmag.org/tag/tim-pawlenty/)
- [Harold Stassen](https://arcmag.org/tag/harold-stassen/)
- [Mark Dayton](https://arcmag.org/tag/mark-dayton/)
- [Laotian Buddhist](https://arcmag.org/tag/laotian-buddhist/)
- [Bill Maher](https://arcmag.org/tag/bill-maher/)
- [Louis Farrakhan](https://arcmag.org/tag/louis-farrakhan/)
- [Million Man March](https://arcmag.org/tag/million-man-march/)
- [Thomas Jefferson](https://arcmag.org/tag/thomas-jefferson/)
- [Election](https://arcmag.org/tag/election/)
- [Jon McNaughton](https://arcmag.org/tag/jon-mcnaughton/)
- [Jesus](https://arcmag.org/tag/jesus/)
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- [pornography](https://arcmag.org/tag/pornography/)
- [prostitution](https://arcmag.org/tag/prostitution/)
- [eating disorders](https://arcmag.org/tag/eating-disorders/)
- [Mark Driscoll](https://arcmag.org/tag/mark-driscoll/)
- [adolescence](https://arcmag.org/tag/adolescence/)
- [Ted Haggard](https://arcmag.org/tag/ted-haggard/)
- [New Life Church](https://arcmag.org/tag/new-life-church/)
- [Freedom Trail](https://arcmag.org/tag/freedom-trail/)
- [Samuel Adams](https://arcmag.org/tag/samuel-adams/)
- [John Hancock](https://arcmag.org/tag/john-hancock/)
- [Boston Common](https://arcmag.org/tag/boston-common/)
- [Park Street Church](https://arcmag.org/tag/park-street-church/)
- [Puritans](https://arcmag.org/tag/puritans/)
- [John Winthrop](https://arcmag.org/tag/john-winthrop/)
- [George Whitefield](https://arcmag.org/tag/george-whitefield/)
- [Thomas Menino](https://arcmag.org/tag/thomas-menino/)
- [Tufts University](https://arcmag.org/tag/tufts-university/)
- [Michelle Obama](https://arcmag.org/tag/michelle-obama/)
- [Michael Pollan](https://arcmag.org/tag/michael-pollan/)
- [Mark Bittman](https://arcmag.org/tag/mark-bittman/)
- [Sylvester Graham](https://arcmag.org/tag/sylvester-graham/)
- [health](https://arcmag.org/tag/health/)
- [Presbyterian](https://arcmag.org/tag/presbyterian/)
- [Graham crackers](https://arcmag.org/tag/graham-crackers/)
- [Whole Foods](https://arcmag.org/tag/whole-foods/)
- [vegetarian](https://arcmag.org/tag/vegetarian/)
- [Grahamites](https://arcmag.org/tag/grahamites/)
- [Arthur Tappan](https://arcmag.org/tag/arthur-tappan/)
- [Angelina Grimke](https://arcmag.org/tag/angelina-grimke/)
- [Theodore Dwight Weld](https://arcmag.org/tag/theodore-dwight-weld/)
- [William A. Alcott](https://arcmag.org/tag/william-a-alcott/)
- [Charles Grandison Finney](https://arcmag.org/tag/charles-grandison-finney/)
- [Seventh Day Adventist](https://arcmag.org/tag/seventh-day-adventist/)
- [John Harvey Kellogg](https://arcmag.org/tag/john-harvey-kellogg/)
- [health food](https://arcmag.org/tag/health-food/)
- [Alice Waters](https://arcmag.org/tag/alice-waters/)
- [Slow Food movement](https://arcmag.org/tag/slow-food-movement/)
- [Warith Deen Muhammad](https://arcmag.org/tag/warith-deen-muhammad/)
- [Sunni Islam](https://arcmag.org/tag/sunni-islam/)
- [Salafi](https://arcmag.org/tag/salafi/)
- [Wahhabi](https://arcmag.org/tag/wahhabi/)
- [Tom Ridge](https://arcmag.org/tag/tom-ridge/)
- [Lee Atwater](https://arcmag.org/tag/lee-atwater/)
- [Michael Dukakis](https://arcmag.org/tag/michael-dukakis/)
- [Clinton](https://arcmag.org/tag/clinton/)
- [Osama Bin Laden](https://arcmag.org/tag/osama-bin-laden/)
- [Alabama](https://arcmag.org/tag/alabama/)
- [American Indian](https://arcmag.org/tag/american-indian/)
- [Muskogee](https://arcmag.org/tag/muskogee/)
- [Cherokee](https://arcmag.org/tag/cherokee/)
- [Choctaw](https://arcmag.org/tag/choctaw/)
- [Confederacy](https://arcmag.org/tag/confederacy/)
- [Jefferson Davis](https://arcmag.org/tag/jefferson-davis/)
- [Fred Shuttlesworth](https://arcmag.org/tag/fred-shuttlesworth/)
- [Joseph Lowery](https://arcmag.org/tag/joseph-lowery/)
- [Southern Christian Leadership Conference](https://arcmag.org/tag/southern-christian-leadership-conference/)
- [Latino](https://arcmag.org/tag/latino/)
- [Robert Bentley](https://arcmag.org/tag/robert-bentley/)
- [HB 56](https://arcmag.org/tag/hb-56/)
- [Episcopalian](https://arcmag.org/tag/episcopalian/)
- [Alan K. Simpson](https://arcmag.org/tag/alan-k-simpson/)
- [federal deficit](https://arcmag.org/tag/federal-deficit/)
- [Erskine Bowles](https://arcmag.org/tag/erskine-bowles/)
- [Senate](https://arcmag.org/tag/senate/)
- [Grover Norquist](https://arcmag.org/tag/grover-norquist/)
- [conservative](https://arcmag.org/tag/conservative/)
- [Westboro Baptist](https://arcmag.org/tag/westboro-baptist/)
- [Fred Phelps](https://arcmag.org/tag/fred-phelps/)
- [religious violence](https://arcmag.org/tag/religious-violence/)
- [Pope John Paul II](https://arcmag.org/tag/pope-john-paul-ii/)
- [Amy Sullivan](https://arcmag.org/tag/amy-sullivan/)
- [John L. Allen Jr.](https://arcmag.org/tag/john-l-allen-jr/)
- [mosque](https://arcmag.org/tag/mosque/)
- [Sikh](https://arcmag.org/tag/sikh/)
- [Islamist](https://arcmag.org/tag/islamist/)
- [Nigeria](https://arcmag.org/tag/nigeria/)
- [Hindu](https://arcmag.org/tag/hindu/)
- [Diwali](https://arcmag.org/tag/diwali/)
- [Ramadan](https://arcmag.org/tag/ramadan/)
- [seder](https://arcmag.org/tag/seder/)
- [E.J. Dionne](https://arcmag.org/tag/e-j-dionne/)
- [Carol Keehan](https://arcmag.org/tag/carol-keehan/)
- [Paul Ryan](https://arcmag.org/tag/paul-ryan/)
- [Catholic social teaching](https://arcmag.org/tag/catholic-social-teaching/)
- [Network](https://arcmag.org/tag/network/)
- [U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops](https://arcmag.org/tag/u-s-conference-of-catholic-bishops/)
- [Monsignor John A. Ryan](https://arcmag.org/tag/monsignor-john-a-ryan/)
- [Irish](https://arcmag.org/tag/irish/)
- [Pope Leo](https://arcmag.org/tag/pope-leo/)
- [Roosevelt](https://arcmag.org/tag/roosevelt/)
- [minimum wage](https://arcmag.org/tag/minimum-wage/)
- [Young Guns](https://arcmag.org/tag/young-guns/)
- [Calvin Coolidge](https://arcmag.org/tag/calvin-coolidge/)
- [Salt Lake City](https://arcmag.org/tag/salt-lake-city/)
- [Kosovo](https://arcmag.org/tag/kosovo/)
- [Albanian](https://arcmag.org/tag/albanian/)
- [missionaries](https://arcmag.org/tag/missionaries/)
- [Serbian](https://arcmag.org/tag/serbian/)
- [Pristina](https://arcmag.org/tag/pristina/)
- [Yugoslavia](https://arcmag.org/tag/yugoslavia/)
- [Mother Theresa](https://arcmag.org/tag/mother-theresa/)
- [Belgrade](https://arcmag.org/tag/belgrade/)
- [Orthodox Christian](https://arcmag.org/tag/orthodox-christian/)
- [NATO](https://arcmag.org/tag/nato/)
- [Roma](https://arcmag.org/tag/roma/)
- [Catholics](https://arcmag.org/tag/catholics/)
- [anti-abortion](https://arcmag.org/tag/anti-abortion/)
- [abortion rights](https://arcmag.org/tag/abortion-rights/)
- [vote](https://arcmag.org/tag/vote/)
- [Ryan budget](https://arcmag.org/tag/ryan-budget/)
- [fiscal conservative](https://arcmag.org/tag/fiscal-conservative/)
- [social justice](https://arcmag.org/tag/social-justice/)
- [Pew Forum](https://arcmag.org/tag/pew-forum/)
- [poverty](https://arcmag.org/tag/poverty/)
- [consistent ethic of life](https://arcmag.org/tag/consistent-ethic-of-life/)
- [Jewish](https://arcmag.org/tag/jewish/)
- [Ted Kennedy](https://arcmag.org/tag/ted-kennedy/)
- [Boston](https://arcmag.org/tag/boston/)
- [Alan Dershowitz](https://arcmag.org/tag/alan-dershowitz/)
- [Ruth Bader Ginsburg](https://arcmag.org/tag/ruth-bader-ginsburg/)
- [anti-Semitism](https://arcmag.org/tag/anti-semitism/)
- [Indiana](https://arcmag.org/tag/indiana/)
- [Punk Music](https://arcmag.org/tag/punk-music/)
- [economics](https://arcmag.org/tag/economics/)
- [prayer](https://arcmag.org/tag/prayer/)
- [Joe Bageant](https://arcmag.org/tag/joe-bageant/)
- [racism](https://arcmag.org/tag/racism/)
- [HBO](https://arcmag.org/tag/hbo/)
- [True Blood](https://arcmag.org/tag/true-blood/)
- [Prop 8](https://arcmag.org/tag/prop-8/)
- [Santeria](https://arcmag.org/tag/santeria/)
- [Wicca](https://arcmag.org/tag/wicca/)
- [Alan Ball](https://arcmag.org/tag/alan-ball/)
- [Republican primary](https://arcmag.org/tag/republican-primary/)
- [Lilith](https://arcmag.org/tag/lilith/)
- [Hebrew Bible](https://arcmag.org/tag/hebrew-bible/)
- [Talmud](https://arcmag.org/tag/talmud/)
- [Douglas Cowan](https://arcmag.org/tag/douglas-cowan/)
- [Religious RIght](https://arcmag.org/tag/religious-right/)
- [superPAC](https://arcmag.org/tag/superpac/)
- [The Family](https://arcmag.org/tag/the-family/)
- [Jeff Sharlet](https://arcmag.org/tag/jeff-sharlet/)
- [David Coe](https://arcmag.org/tag/david-coe/)
- [Ron Paul](https://arcmag.org/tag/ron-paul/)
- [Karl Rove](https://arcmag.org/tag/karl-rove/)
- [Mia Love](https://arcmag.org/tag/mia-love/)
- [Republican National Convention](https://arcmag.org/tag/republican-national-convention/)
- [Thatcher Ulrich](https://arcmag.org/tag/thatcher-ulrich/)
- [Martha Bradley](https://arcmag.org/tag/martha-bradley/)
- [same-sex marriage](https://arcmag.org/tag/same-sex-marriage/)
- [North Carolina](https://arcmag.org/tag/north-carolina/)
- [Southerner](https://arcmag.org/tag/southerner/)
- [Mason Dixon](https://arcmag.org/tag/mason-dixon/)
- [Democratic National Convention](https://arcmag.org/tag/democratic-national-convention/)
- [Charlotte](https://arcmag.org/tag/charlotte/)
- [NAACP](https://arcmag.org/tag/naacp/)
- [Frederick Douglas](https://arcmag.org/tag/frederick-douglas/)
- [National Baptist Convention](https://arcmag.org/tag/national-baptist-convention/)
- [African Methodist Episcopal](https://arcmag.org/tag/african-methodist-episcopal/)
- [African Methodist Episcopal Zion](https://arcmag.org/tag/african-methodist-episcopal-zion/)
- [Amendment One](https://arcmag.org/tag/amendment-one/)
- [progress](https://arcmag.org/tag/progress/)
- [William Chafe](https://arcmag.org/tag/william-chafe/)
- [UNC-Chapel Hill](https://arcmag.org/tag/unc-chapel-hill/)
- [Duke](https://arcmag.org/tag/duke/)
- [Halifax](https://arcmag.org/tag/halifax/)
- [USDA](https://arcmag.org/tag/usda/)
- [injustice](https://arcmag.org/tag/injustice/)
- [Derrick Harkins](https://arcmag.org/tag/derrick-harkins/)
- [Democratic](https://arcmag.org/tag/democratic/)
- [faith-based outreach](https://arcmag.org/tag/faith-based-outreach/)
- [Nineteenth Street Baptist](https://arcmag.org/tag/nineteenth-street-baptist/)
- [Democratic National Committee](https://arcmag.org/tag/democratic-national-committee/)
- [Joshua Dubois](https://arcmag.org/tag/joshua-dubois/)
- [Mara Vanderslice](https://arcmag.org/tag/mara-vanderslice/)
- [Eric Sapp](https://arcmag.org/tag/eric-sapp/)
- [Eleison](https://arcmag.org/tag/eleison/)
- [Hispanic](https://arcmag.org/tag/hispanic/)
- [masculinity](https://arcmag.org/tag/masculinity/)
- [basketball](https://arcmag.org/tag/basketball/)
- [Communism](https://arcmag.org/tag/communism/)
- [pope](https://arcmag.org/tag/pope/)
- [National Council of Churches](https://arcmag.org/tag/national-council-of-churches/)
- [Quaker](https://arcmag.org/tag/quaker/)
- [Unitarian](https://arcmag.org/tag/unitarian/)
- [divorce](https://arcmag.org/tag/divorce/)
- [Fresh Air](https://arcmag.org/tag/fresh-air/)
- [Terri Gross](https://arcmag.org/tag/terri-gross/)
- [Richard Cizik](https://arcmag.org/tag/richard-cizik/)
- [National Association of Evangelicals](https://arcmag.org/tag/national-association-of-evangelicals/)
- [Leith Anderson](https://arcmag.org/tag/leith-anderson/)
- [civil unions](https://arcmag.org/tag/civil-unions/)
- [David Gushee](https://arcmag.org/tag/david-gushee/)
- [creation care](https://arcmag.org/tag/creation-care/)
- [climate change](https://arcmag.org/tag/climate-change/)
- [Don't Ask](https://arcmag.org/tag/dont-ask/)
- [Don't Tell](https://arcmag.org/tag/dont-tell/)
- [Charles Colson](https://arcmag.org/tag/charles-colson/)
- [Tony Perkins](https://arcmag.org/tag/tony-perkins/)
- [Family Research Council](https://arcmag.org/tag/family-research-council/)
- [election season](https://arcmag.org/tag/election-season/)
- [Middle East](https://arcmag.org/tag/middle-east/)
- [Libya](https://arcmag.org/tag/libya/)
- [Egypt](https://arcmag.org/tag/egypt/)
- [Tiffany Stanley](https://arcmag.org/tag/tiffany-stanley/)
- [James Wood](https://arcmag.org/tag/james-wood/)
- [Greg Epstein](https://arcmag.org/tag/greg-epstein/)
- [Karen Armstrong](https://arcmag.org/tag/karen-armstrong/)
- [Alain de Botton](https://arcmag.org/tag/alain-de-botton/)
- [Simon Critchley](https://arcmag.org/tag/simon-critchley/)
- [Sam Harris](https://arcmag.org/tag/sam-harris/)
- [Ayaan Hirsi Ali](https://arcmag.org/tag/ayaan-hirsi-ali/)
- [secularism](https://arcmag.org/tag/secularism/)
- [political theology](https://arcmag.org/tag/political-theology/)
- [capitalism](https://arcmag.org/tag/capitalism/)
- [liberalism](https://arcmag.org/tag/liberalism/)
- [Occupy Wall Street](https://arcmag.org/tag/occupy-wall-street/)
- [Jacques Derrida](https://arcmag.org/tag/jacques-derrida/)
- [war](https://arcmag.org/tag/war/)
- [Connecticut](https://arcmag.org/tag/connecticut/)
- [Irish Catholic](https://arcmag.org/tag/irish-catholic/)
- [New England](https://arcmag.org/tag/new-england/)
- [Yankee](https://arcmag.org/tag/yankee/)
- [Wilbur Cross](https://arcmag.org/tag/wilbur-cross/)
- [Yale](https://arcmag.org/tag/yale/)
- [William Flynn](https://arcmag.org/tag/william-flynn/)
- [Method](https://arcmag.org/tag/method/)
- [Episopal](https://arcmag.org/tag/episopal/)
- [Griswold v. Connecticut](https://arcmag.org/tag/griswold-v-connecticut/)
- [Roe v. Wade](https://arcmag.org/tag/roe-v-wade/)
- [William Lori](https://arcmag.org/tag/william-lori/)
- [Shari'a](https://arcmag.org/tag/sharia/)
- [Joe Walsh](https://arcmag.org/tag/joe-walsh/)
- [Illinois](https://arcmag.org/tag/illinois/)
- [Peter king](https://arcmag.org/tag/peter-king/)
- [Hillary Clinton](https://arcmag.org/tag/hillary-clinton/)
- [Huma Abedin](https://arcmag.org/tag/huma-abedin/)
- [Islamists](https://arcmag.org/tag/islamists/)
- [colorado](https://arcmag.org/tag/colorado/)
- [Bush](https://arcmag.org/tag/bush/)
- [Front Range](https://arcmag.org/tag/front-range/)
- [Colorado Springs](https://arcmag.org/tag/colorado-springs/)
- [culture wars](https://arcmag.org/tag/culture-wars/)
- [James Dobson](https://arcmag.org/tag/james-dobson/)
- [Boulder](https://arcmag.org/tag/boulder/)
- [Sarah Palin](https://arcmag.org/tag/sarah-palin/)
- [Elena Kagan](https://arcmag.org/tag/elena-kagan/)
- [Red Mass](https://arcmag.org/tag/red-mass/)
- [Donald Wuerl](https://arcmag.org/tag/donald-wuerl/)
- [Barry Lynn](https://arcmag.org/tag/barry-lynn/)
- [Nevada](https://arcmag.org/tag/nevada/)
- [atomic](https://arcmag.org/tag/atomic/)
- [nuclear](https://arcmag.org/tag/nuclear/)
- [cancer](https://arcmag.org/tag/cancer/)
- [Sharron Angle](https://arcmag.org/tag/sharron-angle/)
- [Pulpit Freedom Sunday](https://arcmag.org/tag/pulpit-freedom-sunday/)
- [Maryland](https://arcmag.org/tag/maryland/)
- [Alliance Defending Freedom](https://arcmag.org/tag/alliance-defending-freedom/)
- [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://arcmag.org/tag/lyndon-b-johnson/)
- [Americans United for the Separation of Church and State](https://arcmag.org/tag/americans-united-for-the-separation-of-church-and-state/)
- [IRS](https://arcmag.org/tag/irs/)
- [Harry Jackson](https://arcmag.org/tag/harry-jackson/)
- [Haley Barbour](https://arcmag.org/tag/haley-barbour/)
- [swing states](https://arcmag.org/tag/swing-states/)
- [Susana Martinez](https://arcmag.org/tag/susana-martinez/)
- [Brian Sandoval](https://arcmag.org/tag/brian-sandoval/)
- [Marco Rubio](https://arcmag.org/tag/marco-rubio/)
- [Wilfredo de Jesus](https://arcmag.org/tag/wilfredo-de-jesus/)
- [Samuel Rodriguez](https://arcmag.org/tag/samuel-rodriguez/)
- [Juan Hernandez](https://arcmag.org/tag/juan-hernandez/)
- [Jerry Brown](https://arcmag.org/tag/jerry-brown/)
- [reparative therapy](https://arcmag.org/tag/reparative-therapy/)
- [ex-gay ministries](https://arcmag.org/tag/ex-gay-ministries/)
- [Robert Spitzer](https://arcmag.org/tag/robert-spitzer/)
- [Exodus International](https://arcmag.org/tag/exodus-international/)
- [First Place](https://arcmag.org/tag/first-place/)
- [weight loss](https://arcmag.org/tag/weight-loss/)
- [Mississippi](https://arcmag.org/tag/mississippi/)
- [Personhood amendment](https://arcmag.org/tag/personhood-amendment/)
- [American Family Association](https://arcmag.org/tag/american-family-association/)
- [H.L. Mencken](https://arcmag.org/tag/h-l-mencken/)
- [Prohibition](https://arcmag.org/tag/prohibition/)
- [Freedom Summer](https://arcmag.org/tag/freedom-summer/)
- [KKK](https://arcmag.org/tag/kkk/)
- [Eboo Patel](https://arcmag.org/tag/eboo-patel/)
- [Interfaith Youth Core](https://arcmag.org/tag/interfaith-youth-core/)
- [Pam Gellar](https://arcmag.org/tag/pam-gellar/)
- [Race](https://arcmag.org/tag/race/)
- [Trayvon Martin](https://arcmag.org/tag/trayvon-martin/)
- [Newt Gingrich](https://arcmag.org/tag/newt-gingrich/)
- [Father Divine](https://arcmag.org/tag/father-divine/)
- [Jim Crow](https://arcmag.org/tag/jim-crow/)
- [World War II](https://arcmag.org/tag/world-war-ii/)
- [Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious](https://arcmag.org/tag/council-of-major-superiors-of-women-religious/)
- [Iowa](https://arcmag.org/tag/iowa/)
- [Herbert Hoover](https://arcmag.org/tag/herbert-hoover/)
- [Tom Harkin](https://arcmag.org/tag/tom-harkin/)
- [Charles Grassley](https://arcmag.org/tag/charles-grassley/)
- [Horace Greeley](https://arcmag.org/tag/horace-greeley/)
- [John Brown](https://arcmag.org/tag/john-brown/)
- [Steve King](https://arcmag.org/tag/steve-king/)
- [Book of Mormon](https://arcmag.org/tag/book-of-mormon/)
- [Andrew Sullivan](https://arcmag.org/tag/andrew-sullivan/)
- [President](https://arcmag.org/tag/president/)
- [Joe Biden](https://arcmag.org/tag/joe-biden/)
- [USCCB](https://arcmag.org/tag/usccb/)
- [rapture](https://arcmag.org/tag/rapture/)
- [premillennialism](https://arcmag.org/tag/premillennialism/)
- [A Thief in the Night](https://arcmag.org/tag/a-thief-in-the-night/)
- [Left Behind](https://arcmag.org/tag/left-behind/)
- [Fundamentalism](https://arcmag.org/tag/fundamentalism/)
- [Tony Kushner](https://arcmag.org/tag/tony-kushner/)
- [Planned Parenthood](https://arcmag.org/tag/planned-parenthood/)
- [Operation Rescue](https://arcmag.org/tag/operation-rescue/)
- [United Methodist](https://arcmag.org/tag/united-methodist/)
- [United Church of Christ](https://arcmag.org/tag/united-church-of-christ/)
- [Frances Kissling](https://arcmag.org/tag/frances-kissling/)
- [Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice](https://arcmag.org/tag/religious-coalition-for-reproductive-choice/)
- [Southern Baptist](https://arcmag.org/tag/southern-baptist/)
- [Margaret Sanger](https://arcmag.org/tag/margaret-sanger/)
- [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://arcmag.org/tag/reinhold-niebuhr/)
- [Hyde Amendment](https://arcmag.org/tag/hyde-amendment/)
- [Todd Akin](https://arcmag.org/tag/todd-akin/)
- [Richard Mourdock](https://arcmag.org/tag/richard-mourdock/)
- [Abraham Lincoln](https://arcmag.org/tag/abraham-lincoln/)
- [just war](https://arcmag.org/tag/just-war/)
- [Woodrow Wilson](https://arcmag.org/tag/woodrow-wilson/)
- [John Dulles](https://arcmag.org/tag/john-dulles/)
- [United Nations](https://arcmag.org/tag/united-nations/)
- [Syria](https://arcmag.org/tag/syria/)
- [Christmas](https://arcmag.org/tag/christmas/)
- [transgender](https://arcmag.org/tag/transgender/)
- [Haiti](https://arcmag.org/tag/haiti/)
- [Orphan Care](https://arcmag.org/tag/orphan-care/)
- [Joanna Brooks](https://arcmag.org/tag/joanna-brooks/)
- [Yeah Samake](https://arcmag.org/tag/yeah-samake/)
- [Black Mormons](https://arcmag.org/tag/black-mormons/)
- [Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints](https://arcmag.org/tag/church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints/)
- [Newtown](https://arcmag.org/tag/newtown/)
- [Martin Luther King Jr.](https://arcmag.org/tag/martin-luther-king-jr/)
- [HHS man](https://arcmag.org/tag/hhs-man/)
- [Passover](https://arcmag.org/tag/passover/)
- [South Carolina](https://arcmag.org/tag/south-carolina/)
- [Pope Francis](https://arcmag.org/tag/pope-francis/)
- [Maine](https://arcmag.org/tag/maine/)
- [taxes](https://arcmag.org/tag/taxes/)
- [budget](https://arcmag.org/tag/budget/)
- [sequester](https://arcmag.org/tag/sequester/)
- [Salvation Army](https://arcmag.org/tag/salvation-army/)
- [Civil Liberty](https://arcmag.org/tag/civil-liberty/)
- [Law & Order](https://arcmag.org/tag/law-order/)
- [Sports](https://arcmag.org/tag/sports/)
- [Football](https://arcmag.org/tag/football/)
- [film](https://arcmag.org/tag/film/)
- [spirituality](https://arcmag.org/tag/spirituality/)
- [Ethical Culture](https://arcmag.org/tag/ethical-culture/)
- [pro-life movement](https://arcmag.org/tag/pro-life-movement/)
- [literature](https://arcmag.org/tag/literature/)
- [non-fiction](https://arcmag.org/tag/non-fiction/)
- [love](https://arcmag.org/tag/love/)
- [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://arcmag.org/tag/ralph-waldo-emerson/)
- [television](https://arcmag.org/tag/television/)
- [rabbis](https://arcmag.org/tag/rabbis/)
- [Silicon Valley](https://arcmag.org/tag/silicon-valley/)
- [catholicism](https://arcmag.org/tag/catholicism/)
- [pragmatism](https://arcmag.org/tag/pragmatism/)
- [Palestine](https://arcmag.org/tag/palestine/)

## Podcast Series

- [Arc: The Podcast](https://arcmag.org/podcast-series/arc-the-podcast/) - Every other week, Arc Magazine’s editor-in-chief, Mark Oppenheimer, is joined by guests to talk religion, politics, et cetera.
- [Rescued: The Lost Treasures of Klezmer](https://arcmag.org/podcast-series/rescued-the-lost-treasures-of-klezmer/) - For decades, klezmer musicians have kept traditional Jewish music alive despite war, genocide, and erasure. They’ve done so by playing a small handful of surviving songs again and again. Many more songs—a trove of tunes with the potential to redefine the genre—have sat just out of reach, in a former Soviet archive. This music was unseen, unheard, unknown. But now, newly rescued, it’s transforming the klezmer world, the people who work in it, and our picture of 20th-century Jewish life in a destabilized Europe. Rescued: The Lost Treasures of Klezmer tells the story of that music.