Category: Religion

Meaning of the War Over Christmas

From the Archive: It’s Christmastime again, so just as families pull their tree ornaments and lawn decorations out of storage, Fox News and other right-wing media outlets dust off their annual outrage over the so-called “war on Christmas,” which is just as phony now as it…

‘It’s So Not Over,’ Say Occupy Protests

Three months into the Occupy Wall Street movement, protesters took their message uptown in a march that surprised the police and many Christmas shoppers, but helped explain what the economic crisis means to average people, writes Danny Schechter.

Occupying Jesus and His Church

It is an inconvenient truth for mainstream and right-wing Christians that Jesus was crucified for taking his protest against income inequality to the power center of Jerusalem, where he challenged how money had perverted religious principles. Now, that tension is returning…

The Rise of Islamist Democracy

The West has long played a double game regarding democracy in the Middle East, replacing popular leaders who nationalized oil or caused “trouble” with autocrats and then condemning Muslims as politically backward. Now that democracy is returning, the West again is uneasy, writes Adil…

Zealots for Zion

Zionist extremists are determined to expand the territory of Greater Israel by seizing more and more land from the Palestinians. But their haste has now led to clashes with Israeli military authorities, as Lawrence Davidson reports.

The Christmas Truce of 1914

It might seem odd to anyone who understands what Jesus taught that the U.S. presidential candidates who most stress their Christian devotion are often the same ones urging more wars. But this defiling of Jesus’s message of peace is not…

Israel’s Twin Demographic Challenges

Newt Gingrich may call the Palestinians an “invented people,” but how Israel addresses the demographics they represent and the surging numbers of ultra-Orthodox Jews, too  will likely define the future nature of Israeli society, former senior CIA official Paul R.…

Israeli Scholar Disputes Founding Myth

From the Archive: Republican presidential frontrunner Newt Gingrich seems to be laying the groundwork for ethnically cleansing Palestinians from Greater Israel, calling them “an invented people” who “had a chance to go many places.” But an Israeli scholar offered a contrary view,…

GOP Clowns Take Over the Circus

The Republican presidential race has had many jaw-dropping gaffes and fumbles, but perhaps most shocking is the thought that the extreme policies on display might actually come to pass, offering what Lawrence Davidson sees as the strongest argument for supporting…

Gay Rights Advanced in 2011

As 2011 draws to a close, the year has seen clear progress for gay rights, with the repeal of the U.S. military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and New York State’s acceptance of same-sex marriages, changes that Rev. Howard Bess…