Category: Politics
April 11, 2018

Of Course Conservative Christians Will Stick by Trump After Stormy — Did You Expect Anything Else?

If there are indeed multiple parallel universes all stacked on top of each other, there isn’t a single one in which support for President Trump is compatible with a modern understanding of civility.

Yet here we are, living in a country where more than 80 percent of white, self-identifying evangelicals chose Trump as the exemplar of their values and the savior of Christianity’s flagging dominance in American politics.

Among the several amazing feats of mental gymnastics Christians engage in to allow the inclusion of Trump into their ideological canon, the idea that vociferous support for him comes only from the fringes of their leadership is one of the most ridiculous. Donald Trump is as mainstream a Christian president as it’s possible to be. However, “no one upholds Trump as a moral exemplar,” wrote a breathlessly apologetic Marc Thiessen even before the Stormy Daniels interview aired.

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March 16, 2018

Religious Mural In City Municipal Building Violates 1st Amendment

street sign showing Church and State intersection

Today we have a story from my hometown, Findlay, Ohio. The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) sent a letter to the city of Findlay complaining about a mural in the municipal building that included a quote from the Holy Bible. Mayor Lydia Mihalik appeared on the ‘Fox and Friends’ show to double down on the church and state violation the mural is causing and to dare FFRF to sue.

The mural is a large painting on the third floor of the Findlay municipal building that has a Bald Eagle swooping over water with the quote “Under His Wings Shall You Find Refuge Psalm 91”.

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March 14, 2018

I’ll Never Understand How Some Christians Support Child Abusers

Olympic athlete Aly Raisman may not have predicted being able to face down her abusive team physician and actually winning. Her moving speech, delivered at the trial of former team doctor Larry Nassar, has captured the world’s attention.

But even as Raisman was preparing to compete for gold, the story of another member of Team USA Gymnastics, Rachel Denhollander, was falling on deaf ears. Not in the Indianapolis Star, where Denhollander’s story would eventually be published, but inside the halls of an institution she thought would help her feel safe — her church.

No Sanctuary Here

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February 6, 2018

Another Nonsensical Agenda: The Conservative Christian Case Against Marijuana

Comedian Adam Ferrara has a very direct one-liner that he uses to define Catholicism: “Basically, if it feels good, stop.”

Depending on who you ask, Catholics may or may not qualify as Christians. The idea of preserving oneself, however, as a matter of faith, is present in both. The Bible says that “your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.” A vessel that should remain pure to carry out the Lord’s work.

But as we know, many people of Christian faith practice some form of indulgence and don’t believe it to compromise their faith. So the fact that the Christian right takes such an issue with marijuana is a bit confounding.

Sin and Perception

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January 8, 2018

The (Necessary) Death of Christianity as We Know It

December 12, 2017

Nothing About the Conservative Christian Hero Is Consistent With the Bible

Religious texts are powerful rhetorical devices because they are subject to interpretation. America has no state religion, but the right wing has strongly endorsed what it preaches are a set of Christian values, making the movement more approachable to the seventy percent of Americans who identify as Christians.

You might think that for people who hold this set of values, Alabama’s Republican candidate for Senate, Roy Moore, would be stoned after five women came forward and made claims that Moore came on to them or worse when they were teenagers. The Christian right, however, seems to have taken a position of denial.

Moore’s not the only one setting a bad example for Christians in politics, either. There’s also our president.

Where Organized Religion and Politics Meet

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