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Tribulation Trail, and other “Hell Houses” are not solely managing hypothetical fears of what may happen in end-times scenarios; they are about managing fears about the present and imagining a way out now. This “way out” is much more than metaphysical. It seems to fit with the material realities of what it is like to be a member of the working class of the U.S., by offering a sense of orientation and self-worth to people who have been demoralized and exploited in almost every other possible way.

To read the Qur’an “properly” is to read it with full tajwid.

So say tea partiers.

It’s not about Jesus, it’s about propriety.

Anti-abortion organization wants definition of life determined by popular vote.

When it’s hot and dry, like in a desert, ablution must be really, really refreshing.

South Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidate wants to solve an education crisis by creating a constitutional one.

Trying to stay relevant as the political times get ugly.

Sam Harris latest, The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values, is undermined by poor scholarship, ad hominem attacks and an obsession with religion.

I’d always considered myself a rationalist, but over the next twelve months a series of odd events would challenge the way I viewed the world. Many people suggested I write a book about my experiences, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that for the simple reason that if you tell someone, especially a stranger, that you might have a ghost in your house, the probability of that person thinking you’re crazy is rather high.