It doesn’t take a degree from Harvard to see that in today’s world, a person needs to know something about religion. The conflicts between the Israelis and the Palestinians; between Christians, Muslims, and animists in Africa; between religious conservatives and progressives at home over abortion and gay marriage—all these relate, if indirectly, to what rival groups believe about God and […]
Should Harvard Have A Religion Department? Read More
It is understandable to want to run screaming from a “spiritual memoir”—especially when you discover it’s been written by a 27-year-old. Memoirs are bad enough, with their cringe-making confessions, their sordid tale-telling, and their self-important self-examination. Why, the reader too often wonders, should we care about you? Spiritual memoirs frequently inhabit the lowest tier of this navel-gazing. In a regular
Stephanie Saldana’s Memoir Bread of Angels Read More
Anne Graham Lotz, the second of Billy and Ruth Graham’s five children, says it’s all right: as long as you have a personal relationship with Jesus, church doesn’t really matter. Neither does denomination. “Religion is an impediment to knowing God,” says Lotz, who is promoting a new book, The Magnificent Obsession. “Procedures, rituals, creeds: how in the world can they
Billy Graham’s Daughter Says Religious Can Be An Impediment Read More
There is a secret organization of powerful Christians in Washington. Only don’t call it “secret,” its defenders say. Call it “private.” Or “below the radar.” And it’s not an organization, more like a global informal network of friends, or, as one of its leaders described it, “a group of people brought together by a common love.” And please don’t use
Secret Religious Group Gathering Political Power Read More
The general convention of the Episcopal Church ended last month in Anaheim, Calif., with a whimper, despite these rather staggering announcements: it would, after years of internal battling, continue to elevate gay priests to bishops, and it would consider blessing same-sex unions in the states that allow gays and lesbians to marry. The convention—and these announcements—received a fair amount of
Who cares about the Episcopal Church? Read More
America is not a Christian nation. We are, it is true, a nation founded by Christians, and according to a 2008 survey, 76 percent of us continue to identify as Christian (still, that’s the lowest percentage in American history). Of course, we are not a Hindu—or Muslim, or Jewish, or Wiccan—nation, either. A million-plus Hindus live in the United States,
We Are All Hindus Now Read More
When it came out in 2000, Every Man’s Battle was an instant sensation. Written by Stephen Arterburn and Fred Stoeker, two evangelical Christians, it brought the subject of male lust into the open. Men, the book said—even Christian men—were dogs. They ogled women, they dreamed about cheating on their wives. They read porn. They masturbated. They cheated on their wives.
Every Man’s Battle by Stephen Arterburn and Fred Stoeker Read More
New ways to download the Good Book. Like so many Christians, Kevin McNeese carries his bible to church on Sundays. He “pops it open,” he says, and follows along as the pastor reads that week’s chapter and verse from the pulpit. For fun, McNeese reads additional, sometimes extensive, Bible commentary. At the conclusion of the service, he closes his Bible—and
The Bible for iPhones and Kindles Read More
The way you talk about your desire for common ground, it turns out, signals whose side you’re actually on. Advice to would-be culture warriors in the 21st century: walk softly and carry a big thesaurus. According to the conventional wisdom, the culture wars are over in Washington—or, at the very least, reduced to sideline skirmishes. Buoyed by the support of
The Battle Over Abortion Language Read More
Before the election I wrote a piece for NEWSWEEK.com about white evangelicals and abortion. In that piece, I predicted that conservative Christians would not move in large numbers away from the Republican Party because of their fundamental theological and cultural objections to abortion. In response, I received many comments—mostly the usual entrenched rhetoric on both sides. But embedded in the
No God–And No Abortions Read More