Collision: Is Religion Absurd or Good for the World?

Christopher Hitchens, 10.20.2009

Are our morals dictated to us by a supreme entity, or do discoveries made by science and reason make Atheism a natural conclusion? You decide.

Gardiner's Haydn, or, A Musical Garden of Eden

Alex Henry, 10.20.2009

Writer

John Eliot Gardiner, the redoubtable British conductor, brought his Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique to Carnegie Hall twice this past week to p...

Does the Left Understand the Faithful?

Peter Henne, 10.15.2009

Security Fellow, Truman National Security Project

Progressive Christians will never whole-heartedly embrace Democrats as long we feel the need to justify our faith during waves of Left-Right tensions over religious symbols.

The Perfect Semitic Storm: Five Reasons Everybody Should Buy the New Christmas Albums by Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan And Barry Manilow This Season

David Wild, 10.14.2009

TV Writer, Rolling Stone Contributing Editor and author of "He Is . . . I Say"

Don't crucify me, but sometimes it takes a Jew to make truly great Christmas music. Irving Berlin wrote "White Christmas" poolside at the Arizona Biltmore.

Muslim And Christian Leaders Seek a Global Agenda for Change

John L. Esposito, 10.13.2009

Professor of Religion and International Affairs at Georgetown University

Islam and Christianity are indubitably the two largest global religions. Ideologically, they are very different. But if religion has often been part of the problem, it must also be part of the solution.

Down with Demonology: The Left Can Do Better

Nancy Wadsworth, 10.13.2009

Political Science Professor at Denver University

In my division at DU of over 70 professors, I can count the number of tenure-track faculty of color on one hand. In DU's service and maintenance position ranks, the demographics are reversed.

On Lars Von Trier's Anti-Christ

Michael Vazquez, 10.15.2009

Contributing Editor at URB

While many are going to focus yet again on whether Von Trier is a misogynist (more on that in a minute), I found in this film a central impulse to indict as ineffective and self-deceiving man's attempts to superimpose order atop his own woefully un-examined (mis-examined?) nature.

Christmas in Bob Dylan's Heart

Paul Snyder, 10.13.2009

Editor at Lost Planet

To imagine Bob Dylan is out of touch with the symbolic value of making a Christmas album--as hilarious a sign as it is--is just underestimating him.

The God Crisis

Landon Ross, 10.14.2009

Los Angeles based writer, artist, and progressive thinker.

Other countries are on a future trajectory to out-compete us in science and technology. It's hugely unpatriotic to do nothing in the face of moneyed interests pushing superstition into the classroom.

Of Columbus Day and Crosses

Kenneth C. Davis, 10.12.2009

Author of Don't Know Much About History, www.dontknowmuch.com

The litany of sectarian killings that has been such a grotesque piece of America's "hidden history" is the reason that some of the Framers thought the First Amendment was so necessary.

Why Obama Deserves His Nobel

Rob Asghar, 10.13.2009

Fellow, USC Center on Public Diplomacy

What truly deserving champion of peace did the Nobel committee slight this year in the process? None to my knowledge.

Not The Bible -- The Ultimate and Eternal Parody

Tony Hendra, 10.09.2009

author, actor, satirist

Earlier this week, an enraged righty named Andrew Schlafly, fruit of his Blessed Mother Phyllis' virgin womb, together with some of his fellow pseudo-...

Say It Ain't So

Donna Scott, 10.09.2009

Advocate, activist, author and documentary filmmaker from Houston

In a time where too few journalists try to tackle subjects that are controversial, Lynn Vincent is a bit of a maverick. Lynn is witty, funny, and like it or not, evangelical. And she's co-authoring Sarah Palin's new book.

Defiant Danish Director Lars von Trier Tackles Antichrist

Brad Balfour, 10.10.2009

Veteran Interviewer and Pop Culture Chronicler

Questions for Lars von Trier: "You had a a researcher on misogyny in the credits. In the writing or making of this film did you learn something about misogyny in yourself, in your work?"

Justice Scalia's Cross

Geoffrey R. Stone, 10.09.2009

Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor of Law at the University of Chicago

Justice Scalia takes umbrage at the suggestion that an eight-foot-high Christian cross, erected as a memorial to soldiers killed in military service, violates the First Amendment's Establishment Clause.

Conservative Edit of Bible Follows Time Honored Precedents

Valerie Tarico, 10.08.2009

Author of "The Dark Side: How Evangelical Teachings Corrupt Love and Truth," and founder, WisdomCommons.org

When conservatives squawk about the Bible having been twisted along the way by political bias, our first response should be -- they're right.

Do You Rock With Jesus?

Brandon Mendelson, 10.08.2009

Co-Author, Dracula And Kittens

Trooper, Slightly Imperfect, Pablo, The Dirty Italian, and I were forced to go to a “Transfer Orientation” a day after arriving at SUNY Po...

Do the Rockies Discriminate Against Non-Religious Players?

Jason Salzman, 10.08.2009

www.bigmedia.org

I wonder about whether the team favors religious players every time I see another Rocky show his faith by crossing himself or pointing upward after a base hit.

How Alan Grayson and Michael Moore Changed the Conversation

Cenk Uygur, 10.08.2009

Host of The Young Turks

Now the conversation we're having is whether the health care system leads to killing people for profit. This is an old trick of lobbyists. You change the conversation to a battle you can win.

A Playlist for Recovering Fundies

Valerie Tarico, 10.06.2009

Author of "The Dark Side: How Evangelical Teachings Corrupt Love and Truth," and founder, WisdomCommons.org

Music can be a path out of insularity. Not by itself, of course. But music creates links to a whole wide world of human activities and ideas. For former fundies, it can also help with the healing process. When you've had your child-mind warped by scary songs liked "I Wish We'd all Been Ready" or when you've spent Sunday mornings swaying to "I'm a Pentecostal" or your dulcet tones were trained on "Saved by the Blood," it can help to start feeding your brain some alternatives.

Why Prayer Is Such a Political Football -- The Lord's Prayer Got Lost in the Mix

Stephen C. Rose, 10.15.2009

Founder of prize-winning magazine 'Renewal'

Time to dust off my Union Theological Seminary creds and weigh in on prayer.