Belief & Religion

‘Daily Show’: Rapture Watch 2006

Staff / Truthdig Aug 4, 2006 Jon Stewart had a roundup Thursday of a bizarre recent trend: Armageddon ?news? coverage. Behold this montage of shame, in which every TV news outlet from ?Good Morning America? to MSNBC seemed to make an appearance. CNN, in its quest for fact, checked something called a ?rapture index,? while Fox News demanded a rapture timetable, prompting Stewart to comment, ?That?s the timetable Fox News is demanding we have." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Column: Press Ignores Role of Fundamentalism in Bush’s Policies

Staff / Truthdig Aug 4, 2006 The media has grossly underreported the extent to which Bush's Christian fundamentalism informs his policies on Israel, Iraq, stem cells and abortion, argues a former Newsday and Knight Ridder White House correspondent. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Evangelical Pastor Disowns Church Role in Conservative Politics

Staff / Truthdig Jul 30, 2006 A Minnesota megachurch leader says "the church should steer clear of politics, give up moralizing on sexual issues, stop claiming the United States as a 'Christian nation' and stop glorifying American military campaigns." Amen. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Divine Inspiration From the Masses

Staff / Truthdig Jul 26, 2006 The "open source" programming movement, which harnesses the wisdom of crowds to collectively make a better product (like Wikipedia entries), has grown beyond its software roots to embrace religion. The holy texts of "yoism" shun the wisdom of high priests and rely instead on teachings that evolve online organically. Open-source programming's organizing principle has been embraced in medical research, engineering -- even religion Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Religious Left Leader: Jesus Was Mum on Gays, Abortion

Staff / Truthdig Jul 11, 2006 "Jesus never said one word about homosexuality, never said one word about civil marriage or abortion," said a prominent religious left leader in an article about religious progressives trying to regain the political ground they lost after the MLK Jr era (h/t: Huff Po) The mixing of religion and politics is a bad idea regardless of the ideological slant But until Sam Harris wins that argument (more). Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Christian Weight Loss Programs Booming

Staff / Truthdig Jul 10, 2006 Apparently the programs' emphasis on group support and, like Alcoholics Anonymous, deference to a higher power aid some people in losing weight. But a Yale diet expert is extremely skeptical. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Sam Harris, Disbeliever

Staff / Truthdig Jul 7, 2006 The frequent Truthdig contributor and interviewee tells Saloncom that Martin Luther King Jr performed his admirable works in spite of his religious beliefs, not because of them (Link - reg req'd). Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Bush, Pleasing God by Skipping Briefings on Sunday

Staff / Truthdig Jul 7, 2006 In a mostly softball interview with Larry King Thursday night, President Bush said that he doesn't get intelligence briefings on Sunday (Presumably because that's the day the Lord takes a break from those updates, too) Story about the interview Full transcript. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Georgia Courthouses Can Display 10 Commandments

Staff / Truthdig Jul 3, 2006 Any municipality in the state apparently can post the commandments as long as they're displayed alongside other historic documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Mayflower Compact. Didn't the Supreme Court have something to say about this recently? Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Truthdig: Don’t Believe Obama’s Hype on Evangelicals

Staff / Truthdig Jun 28, 2006 The Illinois senator chastised his colleagues for leaving the evangelicals to the Republicans. Electorally, he may be correct, but no self-respecting progressive should be fooled. On the whole, evangelicals are the most regressive people in the country. Just look at the hatred and intolerance they've made central to the Republican Party. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Vatican Rages at Contraception, Gay Unions

Staff / Truthdig Jun 13, 2006 In a newly released report, the Vatican described same-sex marriages as an "eclipse of God," and said that feminism "reinforced the individualistic image of man and woman" and in doing so was "surpassing the family." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

God’s Army of 6-Year-Olds

Staff / Truthdig Jun 13, 2006 A prize-winning documentary called "Jesus Camp" chronicles the experiences of children as young as 6 who attend a summer camp to become the next Billy Graham Truly sickening scene from the trailer: An adult pastor thunders at the children: "Had it been in the Old Testament, Harry Potter would have been put to death Warlocks are enemies of God" Unofficial trailer American Prospect article on the phenomenon Interview with the 'Harry Potter' pastor Synopsis of the film. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )