Christianity

Charleston, W.V. (Special to Informed Comment) – Barely three months from now, the 2020 election may reveal whether America’s white evangelical “religious right” finally is losing political power. So far, early polls imply that obnoxious President Trump, the darling of born-again whites, may suffer a historic defeat. (Although I’m unreligious, I pray ardently for that […]

Christianity

Turkey Turned the Hagia Sophia back into a Mosque: Is it Consistent with Muslim Values, the Dialogue of Civilizations?

Abdullah al-Ahsan

(Special to Informed Comment) – Debates are currently going on regarding the destiny of the Hagia Sophia (literally “Divine Wisdom”, the sixth-century cathedral built by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian) in Istanbul. President Erdogan made a kicked off this dispute with his declaration a few days ago allowing Muslims to pray at the venue. This wide-ranging […]

African-Americans

John Lewis and C.T. Vivian belonged to a long tradition of religious leaders in the civil rights struggle

The Conversation

By Lawrence Burnley | – With the deaths of Rep. John Lewis and the Rev. Cordy Tindell “C.T.” Vivian, the U.S. has lost two civil rights greats who drew upon their faith as they pushed for equality for Black Americans. Vivian, an early adviser to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., died July 17 at […]

Christianity

As Odd Bed Fellows Fall out, Israel bans Evangelical GOD TV for Evangelizing Jews

Juan Cole

What did the Likud Government Expect? “Evangelical” is right there in their Name

Christianity

Tear them down? “White Jesus” statues have an Unsavory History in Aryan Racial Theory that also Influenced Nazi Theology

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Emily McFarlan at the Religion News Service explores the controversy over depictions of Jesus as white in American statues. She notes that Brooklyn activist and podcaster Shaun King wrote that “Yes, I think the statues of the white European they claim is Jesus should also come down. They are a […]

Christianity

I’m Outraged By Trump’s Church Photo-Op: A Nun Speaks Out

OtherWords

By Sister Karen M. Donahue | – (Otherwords.org) – As a Catholic sister, I think Trump should read his Bible, not pose with it. By Sister Karen M. Donahue | June 3, 2020 In the book of Jeremiah, the Hebrew prophet shares instructions from God about entering a place of worship. “Stand at the gate […]

Christianity

Top 4 Reasons Trump is playing to Evangelicals by Demanding Church Reopening at cost of Mass Infection

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump on Friday attempted to declare church services “essential” and called for their reopening, threatening to overrule governors who begged to differ. Although he paid lip service to synagogues and mosques, he was obviously mainly interested in supporting his evangelical base. Trump has never been exactly what you would call […]

Books

Fundamentalist Pandemics: What Evangelicals and Khomeinists Could Learn From The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam

Juan Cole

This essay by Juan Cole was originally published in Tomdispatch.com. See the original for a perceptive introductory essay by Tom Engelhardt. This spring, the novel coronavirus pandemic has raised the issue of the relationship between the blindest kind of religious faith and rational skepticism — this time in two countries that think of themselves as […]

Christianity

What Christians can Learn from Islam about Easter: The Qur’an denied Jews were Responsible for the Cross

Juan Cole

Revised Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – That the Qur’an recognizes the virgin birth, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus is something worth remembering on Easter. In a nativity scene about Jesus’s supernatural precociousness, the Qur’an has him speak in the cradle, saying, (Mary 19:33): “So peace be upon me, the day I was born, […]