Robert Lewis Dear

Planned Parenthood Gunman Robert Dear’s “Idiosyncratic” Faith

Planned Parenthood gunman Robert Dear has been pigeonholed for his "idiosyncratic" faith. But it's very much a part of the American evangelical tradition.
Cuisine des sorcières

What Caused the Salem Witch Trials?

Looking into the underlying causes of the Salem Witch Trials in the 17th century.
A pastor speaking to his congregation

When Televangelism Got Big

Deregulation of the airwaves helped lead to the success of televangelism, and cable made it stronger.
Young girl's hand touches and holds an old woman's wrinkled hands.

Medically Assisted Suicide, Christianity, and Confucius

The debate on medically assisted suicide often pits Christian and secular liberal values against each other.
A teacher helping a student in a classroom

Teaching Facts and Values in Public Schools

For most of the country's history, teaching "moral facts" was the main duty of the public schools.
Byzantine illustration from the 9th century; a robed figure is destroying an icon.

A Short Guide to Iconoclasm in Early History

In the 8th century, the Eastern or Orthodox branch of Christianity gave history the word iconoclasm, from the Greek words for "icon smashing."
A student learns at home with a caretaker close at hand

‘Traditional Values’ Meet New Technology in the Home Schooling Movement

Michael W. Apple traces both the growth of home schooling and its related political activism to virtual communities made possible by the Internet.
Light floods in between large Egyptian columns

That Old Scroll is Actually an Egyptian Book of Spells!

A mysterious document turned out to be a book of Egyptian book of spells, according to a newly-completed translation
The Burning of the Library at Alexandria in 391 AD

A Brief History of the Yazidis of Iraq

From the Christian mob’s destruction of Sarapeum in Alexandria in 391 CE to the Taliban’s 2001 dynamiting of ...