The Great “Persecution of Christians” Myth

EARLY IN THE FOURTH CENTURY, the Roman Emperor Diocletian issued an edict barring Christians from meeting for worship. Christian scriptures were ordered destroyed, and all citizens of the empire were compelled to sacrifice to traditional... Read More
Land of Confusion: The Religious Right, Trump, and “Post-Truth” America

IF WE LEARNED nothing else from the 2016 election cycle, we certainly learned this: the religious right is morally bankrupt—utterly and profoundly so. You don’t have to look far to see proof of this, but... Read More
Want to Survive the Next Four Years? First Step: Open Your Mouth

LIKE A LOT OF PEOPLE, I spent election night filled with dread and anxiety. The country had just elected a thin-skinned, inexperienced, intellectually uncurious reality TV host as president of the United States and leader... Read More
His Porn, Her Pain: Confronting America’s PornPanic With Honest Talk About Sex

BY MARTY KLEIN PRAEGER, 2016 208 PP.; $24.00 I WAS ONE of those teenagers who really did read the articles in Playboy, though not before carefully exploring and sometimes masturbating with the centerfold in full... Read More
No Moore: Alabama Is Finally Rid of the Worst Judge in America

ROY S. MOORE, chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, has lost his job—again. This is cause for celebration. It means that we may finally be rid of the fundamentalist fanatic some like to call... Read More
Securing the Wall: Church-State Separation and Youth Activism in America

I WAS TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OLD when I began working for Americans United for Separation of Church and State in 1987. No one back then used the term “nones” to describe nonbelievers, but it would have... Read More
Checking the Privilege of Religious Groups in American Politics

NOW THAT DONALD TRUMP has nailed down the Republican Party’s nomination for president and Hillary Clinton is the presumptive Democratic nominee, we can look forward to certain things: attack ads on television 24/7, constant polling... Read More