Christianity

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis notoriously just came after the Walt Disney Co. for its opposition, if belated, to his “don’t say gay” legislation forbidding school teachers to mention the subject of gay relationships to children under 9. The act vaguely insists that mentions before children older than that had to […]

Christianity

E. Orthodox Christians in Jerusalem accuse Israel of Violating Freedom of Worship over Easter Holy Fire Ceremony

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Palestine’s foreign ministry on Saturday called on the Biden administration to pressure Israel to cease its encroachments on the religious liberties of Palestinian Christians and Muslims in Jerusalem. The issue shifted this weekend to Israeli restrictions on Christian crowds flocking to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for Eastern Orthodox […]

Christianity

For Easter: The Joyous, Dancing Ascendant Christ in a Love Poem of Hafez

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Just as Good Friday is a time for sober reflection and grief at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, so Easter Sunday is a time for blissful celebration at his rising from the dead and his ascension into heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father. In keeping […]

Antisemitism

How misreadings of the Christian Gospels fuel anti-Judaism and Ignore Jesus’ Jewishness

The Conversation

By Matthew Thiessen, McMaster University | – This year, Easter and Passover, holidays central to Christianity and Judaism, respectively, begin on the same weekend. This timing provides an ideal opportunity to address faulty and often dangerous misconceptions that have been part of Christian communities for nearly 2,000 years. The harmful belief that Christianity ‘replaced’ Judaism […]

Evangelicals

War in Ukraine is testing some American evangelicals’ support for Putin as a leader of conservative values

The Conversation

By Melani McAlister, George Washington University | – In February 2022, evangelical leader Franklin Graham called on his followers to pray for Vladimir Putin. His tweet acknowledged that it might seem a “strange request” given that Russia was clearly about to invade Ukraine. But Graham asked that believers “pray that God would work in his […]

Christians

How the most Powerful Israel Lobby started Preferring anti-Democratic White Christian Nationalism to American Jews

H. Scott Prosterman

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment) – The American-Israel Public Affairs Committee or AIPAC, the major coordinator of thousands of organizations making up the Israel lobbies, can no longer call itself “non-partisan.” That they would openly endorse 37 Republican Members of Congress who voted to overturn the 2020 Election quashes any notion of non-partisan standing. […]

Christianity

Which Way America? Confronting Christian Nationalism in the Spirit of Desmond Tutu

Liz Theoharis

( Tomdispatch.com) – “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” — Archbishop Desmond Tutu The world lost a great moral […]

Antisemitism

The Capitol Insurrectionists came for America with Bibles, Guns and a Messianic Trumpism

H. Scott Prosterman

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment) – At Christian Nationalist conferences , “ . . . resistance to Mr. Trump is tantamount to resistance to God,” according to New York Times writer Katherine Stewart. That accounts for the heavy presence of Christian symbols, crosses and Bibles, AND guns carried by rioters during the January 6 […]

Christianity

Archbishop Desmond Tutu: father of South Africa’s ‘Rainbow Nation’

The Conversation

By P. Pratap Kumar | – Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu has died at the age of 90. Archbishop Tutu earned the respect and love of millions of South Africans and the world. He carved out a permanent place in their hearts and minds, becoming known affectionately as “The Arch”. When South Africans woke up […]