Crossposted from slb’s site: I have so much to say about church since I stopped going regularly. Usually, I find myself grappling to adequately articulate it all. There’s a delicate balance between criticism and cruelty, especially when discussing “The Church,” an institution that doesn’t exactly welcome criticism of its practices. In church, I was indirectly Read More
Via Daniel and Ned is this Gallup map of states that were surveyed on the importance of religion in daily life: At The Monkey Cage, John Sides notes that this map is misleading; in almost every state, a solid majority of people say that religion is an important part of their lives. What this map Read More
(a continuation of the series started by slb and quadmoniker) I’m a heathen. My schoolmates’ word, not mine. While they would file out for Ash Wednesday mass and other religious observances I would sit in the classroom with the Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah’s Witnesses to “do something constructive”. I am the only person in Read More
(To read the first installment, written by slb, go here.) The town in which I was born and raised, Clinton, Arkansas, is deep in the sparsely populated Ozark Mountains in the Bible Belt. Both of my parents were born there as well, but spent some of their childhoods in different states. My father’s parents were Read More
Despite the fact that most Americans might hope that Bush lays low in the final days of his historically unpopular presidency, he’s decided to try to push through at least one last-minute agenda: a plan that would allow health care providers to refuse to perform abortions and other procedures they object to on moral or Read More
Us Weekly puts the Obamas on the cover, and sees a bump in sales. Guess the “rebranding” of Michelle Obama is working. In a video on her site, Hillary Clinton hits all the notes from her surprisingly good concession speech. She thanks her supporters for their help and time, throws some love Obama’s way, talks Read More
I don’t feel like a fundamentalist. I don’t self-identify as evangelical. But I grew up spending at least two days a week in the church where my mother and stepfather served as associate ministers. Our church was predominantly Black. The brick building had a blue awning that read, The Power of Faith Evangelistic Ministries. It Read More
Barack Obama and Reverend Wright. Via Ben Smith: Barack Obama will give a major speech on “the larger issue of race in this campaign,” he told reporters in Monaca, PA just now. He was pressed there, as he has been at recent appearances, on statements by his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. “I am going to Read More
(Sally Ryan/The New York Times) Niko Koppel* authored a pretty dope article in the NYT spotlighting the work of Capers C. Funnye, Jr., the rabbi of the 200-member Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation in Far Southeast Chicago, which is made up predominantly of black Jews. (Nah, not the weird Hebrew Israelites who dress Read More
