Lauren Nelson is an advocate and aspiring ally focused on intersectional justice. When she's not gabbing on social media or chasing after her precocious seven year old, you'll find her researching and writing extensively on the subjects of politics, policy, culture, neurodiversity, and faith for The Friendly Atheist and Rethink the Rant.
As we head into tonight’s Republican caucus in Nevada, the race has dwindled to five candidates. Donald Trump continues to dominate the field with his chest-beating and bravado, leading in the state by 20 points. Ted Cruz, despite coming in third in both New Hampshire and South Carolina, continues to push forward with a traditional ground game based on traditional values. John Kasich is still positioning himself as the reasonable candidate, but with single-digit polling numbers, it looks like the electorate isn’t buying it. Dr. Ben Carson, with his painfully dull persona and woefully shallow policy perspectives, refuses to bow out. And Marco Rubio, the establishment heir apparent in the wake of Jeb Bush’s departure, seems strapped in for the long haul. But Trump still holds a commanding lead in national polls and is positioned not only to win Nevada, but the bulk of the Super Tuesday states. So why do the remaining candidates seem so resolute? Read more
The results from Saturday night are not shocking. In both Nevada and South Carolina, the outcome was predictable. Hillary Clinton pulled off the win for the Democrats, even if by a smaller margin than would have been expected a month ago. Donald Trump won by a much larger margin, more or less aligning with what the polls had been saying. No surprises. That is, unless you look below the surface. When you go beyond the vote tallies to turnout and demographics, the results get a little more disconcerting. Read more
Scientists have long been the resource atheists turn to when making their case for atheism. Fairy tales in religious texts seem absurd when weighed against centuries of research and mountains of evidence that directly contradict their implausible premises. So when a scientist comes out and endorses religion as an acceptable way to parse the world around us, there’s always a bit of a cringe factor involved. The latest case of this can be found in Dr. Michael Guillen. On face, his credentials are impressive. A former Harvard professor with a Ph.D. from Cornell in physics, mathematics, and astronomy, one might assume that he would be a staunch defender of logic and reason. And you’d be wrong. Read more
Though it wasn’t the main narrative coming out of the New Hampshire primary, Bernie Sanders made history that night as the first American Jew to win a primary in a major party’s nominating contest. That this flew under the radar is not surprising. Sanders only really talks about his faith when asked. It’s never been a big focus for him. But as national polls put him neck and neck with Clinton and more people view him as a serious contender for the presidency, it’s fair to wonder what role his faith might play in the election. Read more
Over the past several years, there has been a sharp uptick in the number of Catholic hospitals in the U.S. In 2013, a joint study by MergerWatch and the ACLU found that the ten largest hospital networks in the nation were Catholic-affiliated, a result of sections in the Affordable Care Act that encourage and facilitate mergers. In most of these mergers, Catholic organizations featured as dominant partners. In theory, this spike in mergers should have saved struggling hospitals and maintained community access to healthcare while creating more efficient systems that lowered the cost of that healthcare. And it might have, too, if the Catholic organizations involved had not shaped their medical directives to advance religious beliefs over patient health. Read more
