Puritans

How Protestantism Redefined Marriage

Bethany Blankley | Posted 05.15.2012

Read More: Catholic Church, Marriage, Puritans, Protestants, Christianity, Gay Marriage, Same-Sex Marriage, Marriage Equality, Religion News
Bethany Blankley

The sanctity of marriage would be best preserved if marriage were left to the authority of the church. Instead, most Bible-believing Christians find themselves defending a religious practice that was never designed to be governed by a secular institution.

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Advice to Fundraisers: Go West (and East and South)

Michael Kaiser | Posted 04.07.2012

Read More: Arts Management, Arts Managers, Puritans, Arts, Government Funding, European Union, Fundraising, Fundraisers, Non Profits, Arts News
Michael Kaiser

As country after country announces substantial cuts in government arts funding -- and the economic challenges the EU is now facing should only hasten this trend there -- the need to develop more sophisticated knowledge of fundraising techniques is only going to grow.

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Faith, Tebowing And The Super Bowl: Does It Pay To Pray For Play?

David Briggs | Posted 04.02.2012

Read More: Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Puritans, Sports and Religion, Ncaa, Tim Tebow, Super Bowl, Muscular Christianity, Robert De Niro, Religion News
David Briggs

Research provides evidence that for both athlete and fan, prayer may serve to help them cope with the pressures of sports, and help them keep in perspective that, in the end, it is just a game.

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Hey Fox, Here's What a Real 'War on Christmas' Looks Like

Matt Zencey | Posted 02.15.2012

Read More: War on Christmas, Clement Moore, Philadelphia, Cotton Mather, Fox, Puritans, Media News
Matt Zencey

Fox's Bill O'Reilly, in a broadcast last month, boasted to his viewers he's a "passionate defender of Christmas traditions in America." The Christmas our country knew during its first 200 years was probably not what O'Reilly had in mind.

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The Real "War on Christmas"

Chris Weigant | Posted 02.13.2012

Read More: Jethro Tull, Church, Maypole, Puritans, War on Christmas, Christmas, Massachusetts, Mencken, Jeff Schweitzer, Drunk Driving, Colony, Thomas Morton, Christmas Story, Chris Weigant, Miles Standish, Christian, Catholic, Merrymount, Politics News
Chris Weigant

Just because the modern "War on Christmas" may not exist does not mean such a war never existed in America. The subject of Christmas was indeed at the heart of a previous bitter political dispute, but you've got to go pretty far back to find it. All the way back to the Puritans.

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Was The First Thanksgiving A Religious Celebration?

Posted 11.18.2011

Read More: Thanksgiving and Religion, Video, Puritans, Early Thanksgiving, Puritans and Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving 2011, Thanksgiving History, Thanksgiving Traditions, First Thanksgiving, History of Thanksgiving, Religion News

By Daniel Burke Religion News Service (RNS) If you want to prepare for Thanksgiving like a real Pilgrim this year, here's what you should do: Canc...

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Breastfeeding - Our Country's Lactation Intolerance

Tessa Blake | Posted 10.19.2011

Read More: Toys, Infants, Dolls, Sweden, Baby Dolls, Puritans, Barbie, Newborns, Breast Milk, Fox News, Cdc, Breast Milk Baby, Breast-Feeding Baby Doll, Breast-Feeding Doll, Breast-Feeding, Benefits of Breastfeeding, Parents News
Tessa Blake

A month ago a breastfeeding doll from Europe made a controversial splash in the U.S., erroneously accused of "sexualizing" children. I hate to break it to you, but children who see mothers nursing will mimic it. Are you suggesting this is shameful? What if she feeds her doll with a bottle? Is she not being a kid then, or is it just the breast that's the problem?

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The Real Dope on Osama Bin Laden's Porn Stash

Susie Bright | Posted 07.16.2011

Read More: Puritans, Andrea Dworkin, Susie Bright, Islamic Fundamentalists, Carl Jung, Al Queda, Porn, Osama Bin Laden, World News
Susie Bright

Send me into any dwelling in the world and I will emerge a few minutes later with objects of sexual fascination from the inhabitants' stash, be they books, drawings, movies, sketches.

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Don't Put Down the Airport Pat-Down!

Lennard Davis | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Airport Screening, Tsa, Massage, Pat-Downs, Full-Body Scanners, Full Body Scanners, Puritans, Airplanes, Airports, Politics News
Lennard Davis

I'm puzzled about this fuss surrounding enhanced pat-downs and body-imaging machines. And I'm wondering if the truth is that Americans don't like them because of our puritan heritage.

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Anti-Gay Bullying is Today's Witch-Hunting

Irene Monroe | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Halloween, Puritans, Witch, Lesbian, Bullying, Witchcraft, Gays and Lesbians, Bullies, Gay, Witch Hunt, Gay Bullying, Gay Rights, Halloween Costumes, Cyberbullying, Africa, Salem-Massachusetts, Gay and Lesbian Rights, Anti-Gay Bullying, Gay Issues, School Bullying, Witches, Education News
Irene Monroe

Due to homophobic bullying some of our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) children feel like they are looked upon as today's witches.

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The Myth of American Religious Tolerance

Kenneth C. Davis | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Founders, Ground Zero Mosque, First Amendment, Thomas Jeffersson, Puritans, George Washington, Madison, Religion and Politics, Religious Intolerance, Religion News
Kenneth C. Davis

In the Oct. 2010 issue of Smithsonian, I delve into the real history of America's attitudes about religion, and it is a far different picture from the tidy tableau and storybook version of tolerance that we tell our children.

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Outrage Over South Park's Muhammad: Not Just a Muslim Thing

Diana Butler Bass | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Muhammad Cartoon, Images, History, Islam, Art, Graven Images, Puritans, Jesus, Christianity, Christians, Media, Piss Christ, Muslim, South Park, Religion News
Diana Butler Bass

It is worth pointing out that Christianity has a long history of violence against visual depictions of Jesus, the saints, and God.

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The Puritans are Dead: Long Live the Puritans?

Deborah M. Roffman | Posted 11.17.2011

Read More: Puritan Sexuality, Puritans, Sex Education, Sex in American Culture, Talking About Sex, Sex in Society, Healthy Living News
Deborah M. Roffman

The time has come to face an embarrassing truth, America: It's 2010 now, and sex education in the United States is still rooted in the early 17th Century. I see evidence of this unchallenged presumption everyday.

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Today In History: John Winthrop

Sophie Pollitt-Cohen | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Model of Christian Charity, City on a Hill, Puritans, America, Sermons, John Winthrop, Thanksgiving, Witchcraft, Pilgrims, Thanksgiving Traditions, The-History-of-Showering, Puritanism, History, Gulliver's Travels, American History, Jonathan Swift, Massachusetts, Israel, New England, Comedy News
Sophie Pollitt-Cohen

Winthrop, the first governor of Massachusetts, used the metaphor City on a Hill." He advised the colonists to be a model community, as the whole world was watching them. Even when they showered. Especially when they showered.

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Paper, Scissors, Plymouth Rock

Patt Morrison | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Native Americans, Pilgrims, Puritans, Jamestown, Thanksgiving Commentary, Thanksgiving, Politics News
Patt Morrison

Considering all the hoopla we make over Thanksgiving, I'd be willing to bet that most Americans believe the Pilgrims were the first non-native American settlers in North America.

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Why Gossip Matters So Much It Hurts

Richard Laermer | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Fake Fame, Bill Clinton, History, Puritans, Jennifer Aniston, Perez Hilton, Liz Smith, Tmz, Gossip, Tucker Max, David Beckham, Hedda Hopper, Media, Ralph Fiennes, Entertainment News
Richard Laermer

Buzzing about others is one of those immutable truisms of the human condition: people gossip for the sake of gossiping. Today, gossip is the province of shouters on the Web.

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How the Right and the Left Destroyed the Public Option

Frank Schaeffer | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Left, Health Care Reform, Right, Public Space, Puritans, Public Option, Politics News
Frank Schaeffer

The United States of America is one of the only places on earth where all sense of a public space, let alone public duty, is off the table as a matter of faith. Privacy, ownership and profit are what we are about.

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Tibet: Polar Perspectives. Can Both Sides Be Heard?

Jim Luce | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Serfs, Hanificiation, East Asian Studies Major, India, Taiwan, Mandarin, Family Planning, Dalai Lama, Colonialization, Puritans, Poverty, Native American, Han Chinese, Togo, Hong Kong, Ghana, Theocracy, Iran, Tibet, Priest Class, Anti-Chinese, Appalachia, Slaves, Singapore, U.S. Healthcare System, Ewe, Buddhist Clergy, Birth Control, Middle Kingdom, Buddhism, Separation of Church and State, Sharia, Thomas Friedman, World News
Jim Luce

The truth about Tibet is perhaps more nuanced than it has been presented by either side of the highly polarized debate.

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Israel as Mini-Me

John Feffer | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Palestine, Bush Administration, Israel, Gaza, Israeli Airstrikes, Puritans, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Hamas, Israel Gaza Airstrikes, Settlers, Israel Airstrikes, Israel Gaza Operation, World News
John Feffer

We are both settler states -- the Puritans, who escaped oppression in the Old World only to mete out oppression in the New, unfolded their Zionist project in the 17th century with their "city built upon a hill" as the New Jerusalem.

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