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Faith vs. reason? That’s really dumb.
A new study, published last month in the Journal of Experimental Psychology by a group of Harvard psychologists, got me thinking for the zillionth time about how much I have come to detest the “faith vs. reason” debate. In this most recent iteration, scientists set out to discover how people who believe in God think
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Loving Judaism but questioning Israel
If politics are personal, then let me say this. I love almost everything about the Judaism I practice: Born into a Jewish family, but raised without any formal religious education, I have in recent years become a member of a Reform synagogue in Brooklyn. I love singing the ancient prayers. I love our rabbis
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New York Mag Cover Story: Parents of a Certain Age
Is there anything wrong with being 53 and pregnant? The first time they had sex, during that initial exploration of unfamiliar flesh, John Ross uttered words to Ann Maloney that would sound to her like prophecy. “You have the body of a young girl. You need a baby.” This compliment, though gallant, could not have
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In GOP race, public prayers seem more political than personal
Among the Republican candidates running for president in 2012, there’s been a whole lot of praying in public. Months before his Christian revival meeting in Houston, Rick Perry prayed, presumably to Jesus, for rain — though when he established the Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas back in April, the proclamation was nonsectarian. He
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Separation of church and state in marriage?
It isn’t exactly a movement — more of a blogosphere hubbub. In solidarity with his gay and lesbian brothers and sisters, one well-known evangelical pastor in Minneapolis is taking a stand. As long as his state won’t confer upon homosexuals the legal right to marry, Tony Jones won’t sign a marriage license. He will officiate at
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Families, The
A potent coalition forms and fractures. More than 1,600 people lost spouses or partners in the attacks; 3,000 children lost parents. There were also parents who lost children, and hundreds more who lost siblings (or cousins, nephews, nieces, in-laws, grandparents, best friends). You don’t choose your family, they say, your family chooses you, and initially
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Be not afraid of evangelicals
Here we go again. The Republican primaries are six months away, and already news stories are raising fears on the left about “crazy Christians.” One piece connects Texas Gov. Rick Perry with a previously unknown Christian group called “The New Apostolic Reformation,” whose main objective is to “infiltrate government.” Another highlights whacko-sounding Christian influences on Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota. A third cautions readers
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Evangelical women rise as new ‘feminists’
In evangelical Christian circles, “feminist” has traditionally been a dirty word. The three short syllables have done heavy work, telegraphing all the things the “Christian right” loves to hate about the “secular left.” A feminist, according to this definition, favors “abortion on demand, government-funded abortion, redistribution of wealth, same-sex marriage and is antiwar, anti-defense,”