Belief & Religion

Jesus at the Box Office

Staff / Truthdig Dec 20, 2006 AlterNet's Jonathan Jones probes Hollywood's post-"Passion" fetish for Christian-oriented films and challenges the assumption that religious movies will rake in the cash by pandering to an attention-starved audience. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Probe Sought Into Evangelical Military Video

Staff / Truthdig Dec 12, 2006 A military watchdog group is accusing senior officers of coercing soldiers and airmen into adopting evangelical Christianity -- as demonstrated in a promotional video the senior officers appeared in. "We apparently have a radicalized, evangelical Christian Pentagon within the rest of the Pentagon," says the head of the watchdog group. Read about it here and here Watch the video here Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Public Money Used to Indoctrinate Prisoners

Staff / Truthdig Dec 11, 2006 Tax dollars are going toward an unlawful program of religious indoctrination in prisons, according to Iowa federal Judge Robert W. Pratt, who now finds himself fighting a battle against entrenched forces from evangelical ministries, prison corporations and the Bush administration. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Conservative Rabbis Issue Gay-Friendly Ruling

Staff / Truthdig Dec 7, 2006 A panel of Conservative rabbis has approved a relatively gay-friendly interpretation of Jewish law, paving the way for ordinations of gays and same-sex commitment ceremonies. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Colbert on Christian Conservative Hypocrisy

Staff / Truthdig Dec 6, 2006 Stephen Colbert mocks the Christian Coalition's rejection of Joel Hunter (last week's Truthdigger of the Week) as its president. Hunter wanted to expand the group's agenda to address the AIDS epidemic and poverty -- issues the Christian conservatives thought would cause people to confuse them with liberals, or perhaps Jesus. Watch it Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

E.J. Dionne: Obama Wows the Religious Right

E.J. Dionne Jr. / Truthdig Dec 6, 2006 Sen. Barack Obama's standing ovation at Pastor Rick Warren's church demonstrates why the Illinois senator is one of the hottest commodities in 2008 presidential politics. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Truthdigger of the Week: The Rev. Joel Hunter

Staff / Truthdig Dec 3, 2006 This week Truthdig salutes the Rev. Joel Hunter, who recently resigned as president of the Christian Coalition because the group was unwilling to accept his agenda on global warming, poverty and AIDS. While we don't endorse Hunter's stand on choice and gay marriage, we admire the consistency of his pro-life position. As the pastor himself says, "unless we are caring as much for the vulnerable outside the womb as inside the womb, we're not carrying out the full message of Jesus." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Atheist Proselytizing

Staff / Truthdig Dec 1, 2006 Australia's John Safran goes door-to-door in Salt Lake City, trying to convert Mormons to atheism. Hysterical. (There are lots more Safran vs. religion videos in the YouTube "related" column.) In the scene above, an old man hits Safran with a rake. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Why Are Atheists So Angry?

Staff / Truthdig Nov 30, 2006 Check out this great debate on Jewcy.com between Truthdig contributor Sam Harris and nationally syndicated radio host Dennis Prager, in which the two men square off via e-mail on questions of atheism and faith in America. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Christian Coalition Leader Quits in Doctrine Row

Staff / Truthdig Nov 24, 2006 The Florida pastor tapped to lead the Christian Coalition has resigned because he was not able to get the organization to focus on anything aside from abortion and gay marriage. He wanted to focus on things like poverty and the environment, "issues that Jesus would want us to care about," the pastor said. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Rising Stars of Atheism

Staff / Truthdig Nov 21, 2006 This month's Wired explores the reinvigorated atheism movement and the three men behind it, including Truthdig contributor Sam Harris. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Catholic Church Still Out of Touch

Staff / Truthdig Nov 15, 2006 The U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has voted overwhelmingly to back the Vatican's stand against gay sex, marriage and adoption. The group also renewed its opposition to contraception, though only 4 percent of Catholic Americans abide by the ban. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )