From Nexus, an essay on The Criminal History of the Papacy (and part 2 and part 3). The Vatican has called for Catholics to stop donating money to Amnesty International over the human rights organization's stance on abortion. Amnesty had responded by saying the Church is putting its work "in peril".
From The Humanist, an essay on how to counter religion's toxic effects; and how a California Congressman became the most honest person in politics. From Commentary, a review of God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens, and more from Commonweal, and more from The New Criterion. A review of The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris and a review of The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.
From The Wittenburg Door, an interview with Jimmy Dorrell, author of Trolls & Truth: 14 Realities About Today's Church That We Don't Want to See (and part 2); an interview with Shane Claiborne, author of The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical; an interview with Ron Hall and Denver Moore, authors of Same Kind of Different as Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together; and you've got to hand it to Florida. Between various hurricanes, hanging chads, Kathleen Harris and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, times are tough all over in the Sunshine State. Take the tragic case of the Rev. Markus Bishop, a minor-league televangelist in the making in ritzy Florida Bay County.
From Forward, an interview with Mark I. Greenberg, co-editor of Jewish Roots in Southern Soil, and Mark Bauman, editor of Dixie Diaspora; and a review of Lone Stars of David: The Jews of Texas. Never mind, I'll just sit here in the dark: A brief history of the Jewish mother. From Jewcy, The End of the Jewish People: Judaism must prepare itself for a world after peoplehood. From Nextbook, The Great Brain: Pseudoscience helps Haim Watzman straddle the Sephardi-Ashkenazi divide; and Bell Curve to Bell Jar: Sander L. Gilman challenges the fetishistic fascination with Jews and intelligence.
From TNR, is race in the genes? Merlin Chowkwanyun & Justin Shubow debate (and part 2). An interview with Harriet Washington, author of Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present. From News & Views, a review of Alienable Rights: The Exclusion of African Americans in a White Man’s Land, 1619-2000 by Francis Adams and Barry Sanders; and a review of White Guilt by Shelby Steele. From The Black Commentator, a series on "getting over" racism.
