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.
Speaking in front of a New Jersey crowd Wednesday night, Senator Bernie Sanders was asked about his faith. It’s a pretty standard, even if irrelevant, line of questioning faced by presidential candidates. In a world of separation of church and state, a candidate’s religious holdings should have nada to do with the way they govern. But Sanders, being Sanders, just had to go ahead and challenge that. He started off by deflating the atheists who were rooting for a secular candidate, saying: Read more
It was hard not to do a little knee-jerk reaction cheering when Donald Trump lost in Iowa last night, especially with that ramble of a concession speech that sounded a lot like a drunken “I love you, man” frat boy rant than a political address. The Donald had been taken down a peg, and it was a glorious thing to behold. Until it hit you that Senator Ted Cruz — easily the most radically conservative and religious viable candidate on the right — was the one who’d taken first prize. As he took a 30-minute victory lap that could have just as easily been mistaken for a backwater revival church sermon, glee gave way to dread. What did Iowa’s exaltation of this fire-and-brimstone evangelical over the favored business mogul mean? Was the Religious Right about to strike back with a vengeance? I wouldn’t count on it. Read more
When the media and politicians discuss Islamic terrorism, they conjure specific images: Middle Eastern men, dressed in the traditional garb of the region, shouting in Arabic as they wreak havoc across their native lands. It’s a myopic view of Islamic extremism that has fostered intense racism and xenophobia, especially in the U.S. But the threat of Islamic extremism extends far beyond what flashes across our TV screens. Say what you will about ISIS, Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Hezbollah — the names with which the public has become familiar. As recent events underscore, Boko Haram may just be the most brutal extremist group operating today. If you’re unsettled by gruesome details or prone to nightmares, you might want to skip this. Read more
Thursday night’s Republican primary debate held promise, if only because Donald Trump and his antics would be absent. The Donald was apparently worried that Megyn Kelly would give him cooties, or, ya know, ask him substantive questions. With the carnival barker absent, this was an opportunity for the presidential hopefuls to demonstrate their gravitas and qualifications. There was a chorus of conservative voices excited about Senator Marco Rubio afterwards, and that excitement wasn’t necessarily misplaced. Relative to the rest of the folks on the stage, Rubio didn’t do terribly. That said, not doing terribly on a stage full of absurdity isn’t saying much. There was one instance, in particular, that deserves a point-by-point analysis of the nonsense. Read more
