Christianity

By John Fea | – A devout evangelical Christian friend of mine recently texted to explain why he was not getting the COVID-19 vaccine. “Jesus went around healing lepers and touched them without fear of getting leprosy,” he said. This story that St. Luke tells in his gospel (17:11-19) is not the only Bible verse […]

Christianity

Critical race theory is an important tool in better understanding how religion operates in America

The Conversation

By Tiffany Puett | – ( The Conversation) – The debate over critical race theory has played out in TV studios, school board meetings and state legislatures across the U.S. It has also found its way into churches. The theory comprises a set of concepts that frame racism as structural, rather than simply expressed through […]

Arab World

Don’t Compare Texas Abortion law to Islamic Law: Most Muslims are and have been More Liberal

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Texas “heartbeat law” banning abortion after six weeks has prompted comparisons of Texas evangelicals to Afghanistan’s Taliban. There is a resemblance globally of religious-Right movements on women’s issues, since religious conservatism is usually patriarchal and aims at controlling women. If, however, the comparison is between Christianity and Islam in […]

Featured

Palestinian Christians welcome U.S. United Church of Christ affirmation of right to Boycott Israel for Occupation of Palestinian Territories

Juan Cole

Palestinians UCC BDS Occupation Israel

Evangelicals

As a new Generation Emerges, Evangelical support for Israel is neither permanent nor inevitable

The Conversation

By Walker Robins | – Israel’s former ambassador to the U.S., Ron Dermer, made waves in May 2021 when he publicly suggested that Israel should prioritize its relationship with American evangelicals over American Jews. Dermer described evangelicals as the “backbone of Israel’s support in the United States.” By contrast, he described American Jews as “disproportionately […]

Archaeology

The Catholic Reconquista in Spain outlawed Islam in 1502, but Secret Muslims kept their culture — and Cuisine — Going

The Conversation

By Aleks Pluskowski, Guillermo García-Contreras Ruiz, and Marcos García García | – Granada, in southern Spain’s Andalusia region, was the final remnant of Islamic Iberia known as al-Andalus – a territory that once stretched across most of Spain and Portugal. In 1492, the city fell to the Catholic conquest. In the aftermath, native Andalusians, who […]

Christianity

Trump Held Steady among Religious Believers at the Ballot – the Nonreligious Defeated Him

The Conversation

By Ryan Burge | – For all the predictions and talk of a slump in support among evangelicals, it appears Donald Trump’s election loss was not at the hands of religious voters. As an analyst of religious data, I’ve been crunching data released in March 2021 that breaks down the 2020 U.S. presidential election results […]

Antisemitism

What Christians can Learn from the Qur’an’s denial that Jews bore Responsibility for Christ’s Crucifixion

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Through Christian history, and especially since Christians became numerous and powerful as the Roman Empire adopted the faith as its state religion, Jews have been senselessly victimized around Easter and falsely blamed for the killing of Christ. Interestingly, the Qur’an denies that the Jews were at fault in Jesus’ execution. […]

Featured

Ayatollah Sistani Affirms Religious Freedom to Pope Francis in HIstoric Iraq Meeting

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Saturday, Pope Francis met in the holy city of Najaf with Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the spiritual leader of most of the world’s Shiite Muslims outside Iran. Back in 2004 when US Marines were fighting young Shiite militiamen in Najaf (quite against Sistani’s will), I tried to signal to […]