Behind the Curtain of the Heaven’s Gate Cult
On the 25th anniversary of UFO cult Heaven's Gate's mass suicide, a religion scholar examines its theology and doctrines in the context of the New Age Movement.
Lyman Stewart: Fundamentalist and Oligarch
American oilman Lyman Stewart embodied the uniquely American paradoxes of what would become capitalist Christian fundamentalism and the prosperity gospel.
Gender and Caste at Holi
The Hindu festival of Holi celebrates love, colors, and the arrival of spring. How it's celebrated can vary significantly throughout India.
Terence McKenna’s Anarchic Psychedelic Religion
Terence McKenna was an evangelist for the use of psilocybin and other mind-altering drugs, as a way to transcend and escape “untrammeled rationalism.”
Whatever Happened to Evangelical Feminism?
From Christianity’s beginnings, the religion has been split between two visions of gender relations.
Music and Spirit in the African Diaspora
The musical traditions found in contemporary Black U.S. and Caribbean Christian worship originated hundreds of years ago, continents away.
Why Narendra Modi Presents Himself as a Guru
Drawing on traditions of monastic power, Modi’s party is trying to promote the image of India as a vishwaguru, or teacher to the world.
Julian of Norwich, Anchoress and Mystic
A religious recluse, mystic and author, Julian of Norwich wrote of Jesus Christ as a nurturing mother and teacher to the faithful.
Charity Scams of Yore
Between the 1850s and 1940s, a charity scam worked a collection circuit of Evangelical Christians in least five hundred towns across eighty countries.
