News items from the past week include a letter from an Air Force cadet about religious tolerance and intolerance at the academy, how internet communities might be too insulated for their own good, the real impact of bans on gay marriages, how easy it is to have a godless Christmas without Christ, and the claim that removing God from the Pledge would make atheists "more equal" than others.

Christ Back in Christmas: Jesus the Reason for the Season?
Many conservative evangelical Christians at this time of year want to 'put Christ back in Christmas' and insist that 'Jesus is the Reason for the Season.' With these slogans, they hope to remind people that Christmas is a Christian holiday and that without Christ, there would be no Christmas in the first place. Such Christians are offended that so many people enjoy the holidays without any reference to Jesus or Christianity and want it to stop. Unfortunately, they don't have much of a case.

Religion, Terrorism, Violence, and Power
Terrorism and religion have become closely linked in many people's eyes today, which is curious because through the 1980s terrorism was as likely to be committed for irreligious, political causes as it was for religious causes. Part of the problem here is that the absolutism of religion makes religious terrorism more extreme, dramatic, and dangerous than most political terrorism.

Religious Institutions: Powerful or Powerless?
Perhaps the best way for a group or person to exercise power in a manner that harms others is to convince people that one doesn't actually have any power to begin with. This is the tactic adopted by many conservative religious institutions in America: despite wielding tremendous direct power as well as indirect power through their influence, they have persistently argued that they are powerless.

Atheists More Equal than Others?
Removing 'God' From Pledge

Religion at the Air Force Academy
A Cadet Responds

Future of Islam in America
Muslims vs Nation of Islam

Internet Communities
...and Reinforcing One's Assumptions

Ban on Gay Marriages
What it Really Means

Narnia's Religious Problems
Revealing Christianity's flaws...

Protestant vs. Catholic Reactions to Nazism
Differences and similarities...

 

Book Reviews:

1) Papal Sin: The Structures of Deceit
There was a time when Catholics knew that their popes were human and very capable of sinning - even egregiously. But Catholics also had faith in the institution of their Church to eventually overcome the problems of any one person. Today, however, a cult of personality has developed around the current pope, and the independent authority of institutions has eroded. Even worse, past errors are being covered up (or worse yet, perpetuated) in order to protect the image of the Church as never

2) Sacred Pain: Hurting the Body for the Sake of the Soul
For most people, pain is something to be avoided: it is a sign that something is wrong and that something needs to be fixed. But for a few people, at least some times, pain is something sought after. There are even religious reasons to seek pain and discomfort. But why would people do this? Are they insane, or do they know something the rest of us don't?

3) Rage Against the Veil: Life and Death of an Islamic Dissident
What is it like to live as a woman in a strict Islamic society? Or better yet, what is it like to live in such a society when you are a well-educated, talented, politically active, and self-assured woman who knows what she wants in life? It's tough to imagine such a situation, but Parvin Darabi tells the story of one such person: her sister. Unfortunately, her sister is unable to tell us herself because she committed suicide by burning herself to death in Tehran. What drove her to such an act of desperation?