Religion

The world has hundreds of religions, and each impacts the culture and politics of certain regions differently. In the U.S., common Christian or Catholic understandings of religion have immensely impacted American culture and politics, though the Constitution attempts to keep separate the ideas of church and state.

‘Feminism, Fascism and the Future’: Sociologist Laurie Essig on Dissolving Democracies in Russia and the U.S.

Sociologist and author Laurie Essig has decades of experience studying and visiting Russia (and before that, the Soviet Union). Her first book, Queer in Russia, chronicles and analyzes the time between the dissolution of the USSR and the solidification of Putin’s non- (or anti-)democratic rule in Russia.

As Trump’s second term intensifies anti-gender rhetoric, sociologist Laurie Essig draws chilling parallels between rising U.S. authoritarianism and decades of state-sponsored repression in Putin’s Russia.

“One of the things we can learn from Russia is just how important resistance is. There were moments when things could have gone differently. They didn’t, but I don’t think that was pre-ordained. …

“Every strongman, every dictator we look at, had anxiety about masculinity.”

Pauli Murray: The American Hero You Never Learned About (and the Federal Government Doesn’t Want You To)

A few years ago, I went searching for Pauli Murray. By that point, the poet, civil rights activist and pioneering legal scholar had been dead for 35 years. But in researching her life for the book I was working on, I’d learned about the profound impact that her work had had on the very fabric of America and particularly on the country’s legal system. I was convinced that because of everything Murray had done—the extent to which she had shaped movements and laws and lives—she would have to be remembered prominently and publicly. It was probably just my own fault, I reasoned, that I hadn’t previously heard of her.

Like millions of others around the world, I have spent the last few weeks oscillating between fear, anger and sadness as I’ve watched the new U.S. administration neglect the core values of democracy and wreak havoc with the systems that have propped up this country for centuries. With no way of changing the mind of a morally bankrupt megalomaniac, I’m concentrating on what I can do. Since I’ve learned of her remarkable life, I’ve loved telling people about Murray; about the unlikely against-all-odds battles she faced head-on—public wars she waged while simultaneously grappling with her own often-debilitating private troubles. If the federal government chooses to ignore those upon whose shoulders we all stand, those of us who recognize the indignity of this will simply have to make up for it by telling their stories loudly, telling their stories often and then repeating them over and over and over again. It is, after all, what Pauli Murray would do.

Black Faith Leaders Organize 40-Day ‘Fast’ from Target During Lent, Protesting DEI Cuts

In late January, Target announced an end to its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) program in response to external political pressures and as a preemptive measure to avoid potential legal or financial repercussions under the Trump administration’s executive orders cutting DEI from the federal government.

Now, in the season of Lent, Black faith leaders are calling for a 40-day “fast” from Target, urging people to boycott the retail giant to protest its caving to the federal government’s anti-diversity rhetoric. So far, more than 100,000 shoppers—many involved with Black churches—have joined the pledge to abstain from shopping at Target for 40 days. Target stock is already down 57 percent.

Trump’s Detention of Pro-Palestinian Protester Marks Dark Turning Point in U.S. Jewish History

Days before Purim, the Jewish “festival of the lots,” the Trump administration arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a U.S. green card holder whose spouse is a U.S. citizen, because of his role in anti-Israel or pro-Palestinian protest activity at Columbia University.

This is a terrible breach of civil libertarian principles and university cultures of critique and dissent. Immigration and naturalization are being pulled back, it seems, into an early-20th-century mode in which ambiguous standards of what constitutes acceptable or unacceptable political speech become grounds for admission or deportation from the U.S.

The Witch Hunts of Abortion Providers: How Reproductive Care Became a Crime

St Walburga of Eichstatt with Nuns

In 1618, in the German town of Eichstätt, Anna Harding was interrogated repeatedly about her life and abortion practice, sometimes under torture.

Harding worked as a healer for decades. She and other women like her had their ordinary medical practices transformed into evidence of magic by misogynist fantasies of male interrogators and a larger cultural shift that sought to control female sexuality in the interests of Church and state. Abortion became associated with witchcraft because it was a routine part of women’s lives and healing practices.

Anti-Gay Marriage Former County Clerk Kim Davis Lost Again, Unanimously—But This Still Might Not Be the End

Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who refused to issue same-sex couples marriage licenses, lost her appeal on Thursday of a lawsuit she previously lost at trial that was brought by same-sex couples whose constitutional right to marry she violated.

All three judges on the panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit—which included one Trump appointee—agreed that Davis should lose her appeal.

But … Davis and her lawyers could now seek Supreme Court review. In seeking such review, Davis’ lawyers could raise the question of overturning Obergefell directly to the justices.

For now, though, Davis lost—again, and unanimously—from a panel of 6th Circuit.

‘Money, Lies, and God’: The Rise of Christian Nationalism and the Battle for American Democracy

Katherine Stewart’s Money, Lies, and God exposes the alarming rise of Christian nationalism as a well-coordinated, anti-democratic movement seeking not just power, but the destruction of democracy itself. She describes this movement as “more political pathology than political program,” with its leaders intent on “burning down the house.” Stewart reveals how right-wing religious and political forces use disinformation, authoritarian alliances and targeted outreach—particularly through churches and media—to gain influence.

Despite internal contradictions, she warns that their strategy is effective: “A fractured and ill-informed public is easier to control than a well-informed one.”

However, she argues that a broad, pro-democracy coalition can push back, emphasizing the need to expose dark money, defend public education and strengthen the separation of church and state.

Against the Normalization of Trump’s Misogyny

In just over two weeks, an emboldened and angry Donald Trump, restored to power, has plunged the federal government into chaos and threatened the rule of law, separation of powers, and other core tenets of American democracy.

It’s important for people to stand up and take action in real time, and do whatever they can—through lawsuits, legislative action and public protest—to block the implementation of immoral and illegal policies. But let’s take a moment to step back and ponder a broader question: Trump’s legitimacy as the nation’s leader, and what that means in terms of social norms, or what effect Trump’s behavior has on what it means to be normal.

Feminist Musicals ‘Teeth’ and ‘Suffs’ Steel Us for the Next Four Years

As feminist resistance faces a critical crossroads, Suffs and Teeth present two diverging paths: marching forward or tearing it all down.

It is the feminist movement’s challenge moving into a time that will most certainly require vigilance and resistance to consider how to reconcile these two paths forward. Will we keep marching? Or will we lick our teeth? 

Jimmy Carter Was One of the World’s Leading Anti-Sexist Men

Jimmy Carter was one of the world’s most prominent male supporters of gender equality.

His overall record as president was decidedly mixed. But one overlooked aspect of his presidency was that he unabashedly championed women’s leadership, including Black women’s. By the end of his term, Carter had appointed more women and people of color to the federal judiciary than all previous presidents combined. Carter was also a founding member of The Elders, an international group of former political leaders, peace activists and human rights advocates.

And once he left office, Carter’s pro-feminist commitments deepened, as did his passion for pushing fellow religious believers to take on gender inequality directly.