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Whitman saw the work of fostering such a “religious democracy” as the work of the 20th century, and that task continues unabated today. He warned that there was only one thing that really threatened to undo it: party-thinking. But these savage, wolfish parties alarm me. Owning no law but their own, more and more combative, less and less tolerant of the idea of ensemble and of equal brotherhood, the perfect equality of the States, the ever-overarching American ideas, it behooves you to convey yourself implicitly to no party, nor submit blindly to their dictators, but steadily hold yourself judge and master over all of them.

Justice Department attorney David Margolis rejected the recommendations of the investigation into the actions of two Bush-era lawyers claiming that the infamous ‘torture memo’ simply constituted ‘poor judgment.’ But John Yoo’s arguments are eerily reminiscent of the Nuremberg Defense and both men still face the judgment of international law and history.

What Akin says about the state of the GOP on abortion and contraception.

A new memoir by Israeli peace activist Miko Peled, the son an honored general, details a far different history from the one most Americans are familiar (or comfortable) with.

22-year-old Trevor Case has been sitting in a Nebraska jail since late last month for allegedly waterboarding his girlfriend. According to police reports, after accusing Danielle Stallworth of…

An RD holiday sampler of stories & viewpoints we would have liked to read in 2012.

Twenty Zen teachers in the West sent open letters to The Zen Studies Society in New York. With compassion and understanding, their general thrust is to ask that the Society’s former head, Eido Tai Shimano, not be allowed access to students—a strong penalty for a teacher.

Evangelical self-help megastar Joel Osteen admits he believes homosexuality is a sin.

If art is the new religion, then museums are the new temples; temples uniquely suited to the vagaries of spirituality in the modern age. That is the suggestive idea explored in Marcia Brennan’s new book, Curating Consciousness. Brennan introduces us to James Johnson Sweeney…

106 openly gay candidates were elected to office around the country. And that’s a record.