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   The Cross and the Sword Nicole Greenfield: In repsonse to "Fundamentalism's Power Principle," Mark I. Pinsky of The Orlando Sentinel wrote to The Revealer with his interpretation of what might currently be going on within the evangelical movement. He argues, "It is less confrontational and less fixated on abortion and gay marriage, and more amenable to coalitions in support of environmentalism ("creation care")and help for the poor," and provided the example of the Rev. Joel Hunter, leader of a Florida megachurch and author of a new book entitled Right Wing, Wrong Bird: Why the Tactics of the Religious Right Won't Fly With Most Conservative Christians. [ Continue reading: ]  Ralph Reed Gets Shaved Religious Right-watcher Frederick Clarkson looks past liberal satisfaction over the electoral defeat of former Christian Coalition kingmaker Ralph Reed in Georgia's GOP primary for lt. governor. A loss for the Christian Right, as most of the press portrayed it? Not... [ Continue reading: ] "The Killling Box" More on Lebanon from Ken Silverstein: a short interview with Augustus Richard Norton, an anthropologist and retired U.S. Army colonel who served in Lebanon and has been studying the region for 25 years. Amidst all the punditry, startling clarity on... [ Continue reading: ]  Glory Bumps and Cartwheels In a recent Washington Babylon post, Ken Silverstein draws our attention to an unconventional barometer of the worsening situation in the Mideast--the Rapture Ready message board, a forum for believers to share their excitement about what they feel is the... [ Continue reading: ]  The Facts According to Fundamentalism Jeff Sharlet: The New York Times is filled with ups-and-downs for Christian conservatives today -- Ralph Reed has lost his primary race for lt. governor of Georgia, Bush vetoed stem cell research, and the Kaczynski twins, darlings of American Christian Right activists (though you wouldn't know it from the Times' coverage) are twisting Poland's crank rightward. But the Times seems most fascinated -- and confused -- by the Christian activists' imperviousness to research undertaken on its own behalf... [ Continue reading: ]  This Is What Domestic Partnership Gets You A diarist on the liberal blog Daily Kos reports on "What Domestic Partnership Gets You." Much of the press has lately been following the centrist line that queer activists pushed too hard in seeking marriage equality; implicit in this narrative... [ Continue reading: ] Bidding Once, Bidding Twice... The New York Times reports on the G.O.P's "faltering" efforts towoo black voters (and wow easily impressed white "moderates") but so thoroughly disregards the role of religion in that strategy that former congressman J.C. Watts, a deeply conservative black Republican buried deep in the story, can sound like the voice of reason... [ Continue reading: ] The Next Taliban? The good news, we guess, is that the old "domino theory" of the Cold War is really dead. The bad news is that as a result, the press is mostly ignoring the transformation of Somalia into a Taliban state. The... [ Continue reading: ]  Good Enough Mitt Romney's evangelical appeal By Nicole Greenfield Last year Amy Sullivan predicted in the Washington Monthly that Mitt Romney, the nationally-popular Republican governor of Massachusetts, will face an “evangelical problem” if he runs for president in 2008. More recently, results from the latest Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll further support Sullivan’s argument by finding that thirty-seven percent of those questioned would not vote for a Mormon candidate simply on the basis of religion. But if recent coverage of Romney in evangelical and conservative media outlets provides any indication, he may stand more of a chance with evangelicals than we think. Over the past several weeks, Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), Townhall.com, and Christianity Today have all published articles discussing Romney—articles that portray the governor in a positive light. Although they each note the problem that evangelical voters could pose, they do so casually, emphasizing Romney’s firm conservative stance on social issues instead. [ Continue reading: ]  Supporters of Hizbollah Twice now, on CNN and, we think, NBC, we've heard all critics of Israel's actions in Lebanon lumped together as "supporters of Hizbollah." Media shorthand, sure; obscuring the real story, definitely.... [ Continue reading: ] The Jewish Friend Elizabeth Rich: "Today's program reads, as it does every Sunday, 'We are a growing family, focused on loving God, loving others and making disciples of Jesus Christ.' I'm here with my friend, Sharon, who brings me, 'her Jewish friend,' to this Oklahoma Baptist church as often as I allow. We watch the church-goers float down the aisle in outfits of red, white and blue. Jeweled flag pins decorate the women's blouses. Fireworks tumble down men's neckties. Sharon squeezes my hand..." Keep reading at Killing the Buddha. [ Continue reading: ]  Conservatives Against Standards The Weekly Standard says that the MPAA has given a PG rating to a movie based on its evangelism. Writer Anne Morse, of the evangelical Wilberforce Forum, is outraged... that parents are being informed about what their kids are watching.... [ Continue reading: ]  Fundamentalism's Power Principle Writing in The Boston Globe, the eminent historian of religion Harvey Cox sees the "new" evangelical powers such as Rick Warren as much like the old, and he thinks that's a good thing. In Cox' reading, Billy Graham was a nice fella, Falwell isn't, but now American evangelicalism is reasonable again. Well, that's the official story, anyway... [ Continue reading: ] No Go Godot A lefty is fed up with waiting for the religious left: "The fervent hope for the creation of a vigorous, cohesive religious left has amounted to a vigil for Godot -- the one who never arrives. And now I am... [ Continue reading: ]  The Long Leash of the Lord Noel Black: When Rob Brendle, Associate Pastor at New Life Church, agreed to write a column for my Colorado Springs-based monthly satire and humor rag, The Toilet Paper, I thought I had staged a major coup. [ Continue reading: ]  I Heart Decadence Christianity Today's Philip Yancey considers "The Lure of Theocracy." He's against it -- we think. [ Continue reading: ]  Belief and Disbelief Salon writer Steve Paulson talks belief with disbeliever Sam Harris, author of the bestselling book The End of Faith. Read the interview here.... [ Continue reading: ] Innocent "Hamza Walker Lindh has come to embody the challenge of Islam to America, and the challenge is simply this: In response to what America has done to him, Hamza has become more Islamic—-more himself, and a better Muslim. And in... [ Continue reading: ]  Queen of the Night and Stone Flower "Long ago when the Sun thoroughly warmed the Earth blessed by the good gods, where the Gypsies lived their lives, I mean, where our country once was to be found, there stood a camp pitched not far from a forest, at the edge of which was a beautiful castle..." Traditional Roma knowledge from Luminita Mihai Cioaba, a poet who is also a Gypsy princess. [ Continue reading: ] Updike Misses Jihad "If only the novelist had spent more time dreaming himself into the paranoid and angry world of Qutb and his followers..." Jonathan Raban on the failure of John Updike to comprehend jihad.... [ Continue reading: ] Sequins and Solidarity Forever Jeff Sharlet: I received a call the other day from a CBS news producer looking for help on a segment about the new religious left, said by pundits to be in the offing. The man had done his research and understood the complexities of the subject, but still — he needed a talking head, and wondered whom I’d recommend. [ Continue reading: ] |