religion
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Trump Just Made the Christian Right the Most Powerful Political Group in America
Many groups were afraid that Donald Trump’s newly signed executive order would be an attack on LGBT groups and other minorities whose lives and beliefs fall outside of traditional religious thinking. Even the ACLU exhaled when it saw the actual wording today. Although it has been lost in the butt-hurt wake of the fiasco that…
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Do Heathens Go to Heaven?
I have a confession: Apparently, I need Jesus—or so I’ve been told. “Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior?” The grinning eyes of my cab driver inquire through the rearview mirror. I cringe. The gospel music I’d been enjoying a moment before suddenly feels invasive. I’m literally trapped in a conversation I’m…
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Greenleaf Returns, Self-Righteous but as Necessary as Ever
Last season, OWN premiered the church-family drama Greenleaf. I caught the previews between commercials for Tyler Perry’s soap opera, If Loving You Is Wrong, and made a mental note that it might be worth checking out, if only to see whether it veered left into Perry melodramatic land. Then I promptly forgot about it. Thankfully, Netflix’s…
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Where Are All the Black Atheists?
I am black. I am also an atheist. It’s understandable if that surprises you. You’ve probably heard that the number of religiously unaffiliated people is rising. According to the Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Study, the percentage of Americans who identify as “unaffiliated,” or “religious nones,” is currently 22.8 percent. That’s a huge increase from…
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To Black Church Folks Just Waking Up: A Welcome and a Warning
The past few weeks have been rough. We are dying daily, and yet many of you have been sound asleep. You saw Mike Mike’s body lying in the middle of Canfield Green in Ferguson, Mo., on Aug. 9, 2014, but you did not “cry aloud and spare not.” Some of you prayed, and others recited…
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#PulseShooting: A Homegoing for Our (Queer) Dead
Last week I attended a church member’s funeral. Hues of black and brown formed a beautiful palette as the saints marched in their white-and-black vestments. White for the sacredness of the one to whom the service was dedicated, and black for their anguish. The preacher read Scriptures as the family processioned into the church. This…
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What Happened To Craig Mack? (And Why Do So Many Ex-Bad Boy Artists Become Religious Fanatics?)
After a generally well received and meme-worthy Bad Boy reunion performance at the 2015 BET awards, the soon to be retired mogul Diddy took to Instagram to praise Lil Kim’s showmanship, and informally announce the coming of a Bad Boy Reunion tour. Earlier this year, he shared more details with DJ Khaled — the Dale Carnegie…
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Zack Morris, Religion, and Me
Have you seen Truth Be Told? It’s the new Zack Morris sitcom on NBC in the doomed Friday night slot when all of the people that might watch this show are out doing way cooler shit. It’s not the best show, but it’s also not the worst show, either, but I like Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Zack Morris) and Tone…
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Six Foolproof And Effective Things To Do To Bring Atheists Back To The Lord
A few years ago, I told my mother, a Christian woman from Mississippi who had freshly aged into her 60s, that I was an atheist. She didn’t speak to me for three days straight. I should be clearer—I actually told her, as we waited at the window of an Arby’s drive-thru, that God didn’t have…
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After Charleston, Questioning The Power of Prayer
Lookin’ down on my soul now Tell me I’m in control now Tell me I can live long and I can live wrong and I can live right And I can sing songs and I can unite with you that I love, you that I like Look at my life and tell me I fight.”…