Steve Waldman: December 2008 Archives

Paul Raushenbush at Progressive Revival has put together an excelent list of the "worst religious stories" -- meaning the ones that made us groan or roll our eyes.

Two samples:

7. Prosperity Gospelers add to the foreclosure crisis by preaching that Jesus had provided poor congregants with a house they could not afford.

6. Elizabeth Dole runs the "There is No God" campaign ad accusing opponent Kay Hagen (who teaches Sunday School) of atheism.

Check out the full list. . Any you would add to the list?

A new study from Psychological Bulletin indicates that church attendance does promote self control. (Hat tip: New York Times)

The traditional explanation might be that fear of divine retribution scares youngsters into behaving. But the scientists who did this study suspect a more positive effect: religious ritual stimulates our self-control muscles. Michael McCullough explains:

"Brain-scan studies have shown that when people pray or meditate, there's a lot of activity in two parts of brain that are important for self-regulation and control of attention and emotion. The rituals that religions have been encouraging for thousands of years seem to be a kind of anaerobic workout for self-control."

Our gallery of spiritual leaders includes many great men and women. I wanted to ponder for a moment Warith Deen Mohammed, who did more than any other American to bring Islam into the mainstream here. He was the son of Elijah Muhammad, who had founded the Nation of Islam. But after Elijah died, Warith drew the movement away from radicalism and toward mainstream Islam. I can't help but wonder whether Islam in America might have evolved in a different direction - perhaps more like the more radical strain of Islam we find in Western Europe - had it not been for Muhammad. He's a truly important and underappreciated figure in modern American religious history.

A thought-provoking post from "Paul":

"About three years ago, my church started asking for prayers for 'our troops in the Middle East.' I thought that was a good idea, but suggested three times that the phrase "and all those suffering from the Middle East wars" be added to that petition. Nothing happened.

I then sent a letter in which I explained that I believed God (Jesus for me) cared for ALL people, but especially the suffering, the homeless, and one's enemies. Again nothing happened. I wrote another letter in which I stated that I would henceforth withhold my weekly donation any time I heard only "for our troops."

For a while, they stopped praying for even our soldiers. They now, once again, are praying for "our troops" and not 'the victims." So, to end this, every time I hear that, I send my donation to DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS. They help people on all sides. I just think they might be more 'Christian' than my church."

Ed Kilgore has a thought-provoking post arguing that the central split within modern Christianity is not whether you accept the basic creeds but whether you view the Bible as inerrant. And the divide over this leads to fundamental culture war splits over issues llke abortion and gay marriage.

"It's a wonderful thing that Christians are no longer killing or repressing each other over different opinions about the precise nature of the Godhead or the presence of the Lord at His table. But our communion is broken in ways that cannot help but spill into politics and culture wars. "Liberals" and "conservatives" across all the old confessional lines are in irrepressible conflict. And perhaps God alone can heal the breach. "

I tend to agree. When we did our big post-election survey, a central difference between McCain and Obama voters was how they interpreted the Bible.