culture war

Another Far Right Theocrat Shows up on the Trump Team

Julie Ingersoll — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 02:52:06 EDT

Jay Sekulow has been making the rounds at right-wing media outlets (Fox, PJ Media, WND, Breitbart), but Sunday he made an appearance on the diabolical MSM: This Week with George Stephanopoulos. Without his familiar identifier as lead counsel for the…

Why is the Pope Popular Among Nones?

Kaya Oakes — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 01:37:37 EST

Popularity in public figureheads is fleeting. As the newly-elected president enters office with the lowest approval ratings of an incoming president in 40 years and contentious elections prepare to begin throughout Europe, the question of what popularity means today among…

Culture Warriors Surrender, But Battles Rage On

Patricia Miller — Wed, 08 Jun 2016 01:12:44 EDT

The culture wars are over, according to Barton Swaim, a former speechwriter for former South Carolina Gov. Mark Stanford. The left has won and all that’s left, according to Swaim, is to negotiate the terms of surrender. As evidence, Swaim…

Debunking the Myth That Democracy Is "Incompatible" With Islam

Asma Afsaruddin — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 06:18:04 EST

An excerpt from Asma Afsaruddin’s new book, “Contemporary Issues in Islam.”

The Pope and the Culture Wars

Patricia Miller — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 10:40:21 EDT

On the eve of the Pope’s address to congress, RD Senior Correspondent Patti Miller spoke with NPR partner station KPCC about the effect on the culture wars of “he most politicized pontiff in contemporary history.” https://soundcloud.com/religion-dispatches/papal-politics-how-pope-fran…

Why Atheists Should Fight For Establishment of State Religion

Shanny Luft — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 07:28:34 EDT

The debate over the “Defense of Religion Act” in North Carolina played out with the predictability of a sitcom. I offer this modest proposal, then, to remind both sides that if this is a war, then they have fought to a stalemate, and it is time for some new tactics, by which I mean: the history of religion in America demonstrates that the winner of the culture war will be the side that does the opposite of everything they are doing now.

Are the Culture Wars Over? Look at the States

Sarah Posner — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:13:32 EDT

It’s still too soon to say social conservatives are finished.

Honey Boo Boo and the Sweet By and By

Carrie Allen Tipton — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 12:38:22 EDT

It’s easy. It’s so easy to skewer the American South, to depict its denizens and cultural products and religious values as a homogenized clutch of deprivation and backwardness. It’s so easy that The Learning Channel is riding high in the ratings game these days with Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, the latest offering to confirm mainstream media’s deep investment in portraying a one-dimensional and abject South. The old weary stereotypes slide down smoothly, like the creamy underlayer of a hashbrown casserole. It takes too much work to refract the South through a variegated interpretive lens; and besides, would consumers buy into this multifaceted vision anyway? If ever there were a bullseye target for this kind of elitist and unhelpful framing, it would surely be Southern Gospel music.

Richard Land Steps Down, But Not Out of the Culture Wars

Aaron Weaver — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 05:13:46 EDT

Without question, Land will be remembered for his important roles in America’s culture wars, especially with regard to abortion and gay rights: he helped give the SBC a public witness that stood in consistent opposition to gay rights, abortion rights and even many forms of birth control. A once moderately pro-choice denomination was transformed into a “pro-life” denomination largely under Land’s leadership. He also narrowly defined “pro-life” for evangelicals to mean strictly “anti-abortion,” eschewing the more expansive understanding of that concept offered by the Catholic Church.

Keeping the “Southern” in Southern Baptist Convention

Paul Harvey — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 02:22:12 EST

For leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention, if heaven ain’t a lot like Dixie—with low taxes, fewer regulations, a decreased state involvement in public welfare and institutions, denial of coverage for women’s health concerns, and bitter attacks on the Obama administration launched from every available platform—then they don’t want to go. And even the city slickers running Mitt Romney’s campaigns and the rowdy friends at Ron Paul’s rallies should be able to appreciate that.

Godless Liberals: The Myth of the Secular Enlightenment

David Sorkin — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 08:53:28 EDT

The Enlightenment was not, as is often assumed, exclusively secular. In fact, religious Protestants, Jews and Catholics played a key role in imagining a tolerant, but believing, society.

War on Christmas Affirmed by Southern Baptist Convention

Mark Gstohl — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 01:16:29 EDT

Would Christian employees be comfortable being forced by their employers to say Happy Hanukah or Happy Kwanzaa or Happy Ramadan to their customers?

Islamophobia, Rachel Ray, and Dunkin’ Donuts

Hussein Rashid — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 07:24:11 EDT

Rachel Ray is wearing a black and white scarf in a recent ad campaign for Dunkin Donuts and Michelle Malkin screams “kufiyah!” Apparently, black and white scarves mean that you support violent jihad.

Dispatches From the Beltway: Horton Hears Progressive Religion

Robert P. Jones — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:56:22 EDT

With the success of We Believe Ohio et al., progressive religious voices are breaking through…

RDBook: The Lost Scopes Archive

Arri Eisen — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:43:20 EDT

A new book on the Scopes “Monkey Trial” reveals history through people, images, and good old soap opera.

Historical Revisionism Jujitsu: Religious Right Celebrates End of Interracial Marriage Ban

Evan Derkacz — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:37:07 EDT

By “celebrating” liberal victories years after they’re even remotely controversial, the religious right rewrites itself into history’s good book while continuing to play to the worst elements in our contemporary culture.

Love & Blasphemy

Diane Winston — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:59:38 EDT

Outrage is often the first step to enlightenment, compassion, and justice, but apparently not in New Haven; a tour through recent stories on gay marriage, offensive art, and religious kitsch.

McCain Endorser: “Destroy” Islam

Martin E. Marty — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:31:40 EDT

Megachurch Pastor Rod Parsley calls for America to “fulfill its divine purpose” by destroying “this false religion.”

Dispatches from the Beltway: Beyond the Graying and Greening Religious Right

Robert P. Jones — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:09:38 EDT

Less strident, less partisan, less defensive—the emerging evangelical center defies the stereotype…

Review: Is the Religious Right Dying?

Laura R. Olson — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:07:44 EDT

A crop of new books on the waning influence of conservative Christianity in American politics.

By the Way: Religious Right Losing its Grip?

Randall Balmer — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:36:20 EDT

College Democrats at Pat Robertson’s Regent U., Notre Dame’s refusal to rescind an invitation to the pro-choice president—younger evangelicals and Catholics are in rebellion and it doesn’t bode well for the once-commanding presence of the religious right.

Jewish State, Islamic State: All States are Religious

Elizabeth Shakman Hurd — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:01:58 EDT

All nations contribute to the management and definition of religion so it’s neither necessary, nor possible, to identify any state as definitively “religious” or “secular.” To choose is largely political.

Obama, His Advisers, and Fear of the Culture Wars

Daniel Schultz — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 02:26:23 EDT

Now is not the time to hedge bets. The Obama administration ought to be pressing its advantages and racking up some victories.

Come Let Us Reason Together: A Response to Critics of Evangelical/Progressive Initiative

Robert P. Jones — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:21:21 EDT

“Come Let Us Reason Together,” which focused on building bridges between white evangelicals and progressives, unleashed strong criticism from the religious left, much of which challenged the initiative’s definition of “progressive.” Robert P. Jones, an adviser to CLURT, responds.

Ideology is More Than Skin Deep: Why I Can’t Get Along To Go Along

Daniel Schultz — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:38:31 EDT

The differences among religious folk in this country—once these issues make their way into politics—manifest in real divisions of money and power and security. To think that these conflicts can be resolved with mild-mannered compromises between Third Way and centrist evangelicals underestimates their importance.