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The main difference between the enactment of the heroic archetype in myth and in popular culture is our contemporary squeamishness about the homoerotic vibe that usually hums just beneath the surface of the drama. We try to banish that gayness, or at least keep it at bay, but the pesky thing about archetypes is that they’re not very easily controlled.

When we think of Obama as “savior-elect,” we court trouble. When we forget history we weaken our own resolve; mysteries can be dangerous and days of Jubilee do not always end with eras of sublimity.

Gay and Lesbian people are weary of being used as a political and spiritual football, tired of being kicked around. This election brought history-making moments for progressives, but some crucial setbacks for the rights of gay citizens.

World-weary cynicism vies with optimism on this day after the presidential election. Optimism wins out.

In a small town in Spain, a yearly festival celebrates the hybrid racial and cultural identities, both Christian and Muslim, of the local populace—a ritual of reconciliation.

Instead of looking to earthly things and earthly power to bless us, we are to be a blessing in the world. Instead of caring so much that we become overwhelmed by the wicked ways of the world, we are to live our lives as a blessing to others. It is up to us to create a secure world.

Top Ten Religious Right groups rake in more than half-a-billion dollars; Churches v. Christian Zionism; Bush turns to faith-based groups to bail US out of health care crisis; Saving the GOP from itself?

While it won’t be the same as it ever was, an Obama presidency will give the Religious Right an opportunity to bask in the glow of martyrdom and seize the mantle of underdog, while it raises hundreds of millions of dollars for its political campaigns and the never-ending ‘culture wars.’

The Republican strategy of scapegoating Muslims may have been calculated to lure Jewish voters, a failed strategy that turns out to be the tail-end of a long and damaging trend.

Religious politics in America have been dominated by discourses of fear, violence and triumphalism in recent decades. It may be that after this election, although warnings of doom will issue forth as loudly as ever, other conversations about religion and social change may resound as well.