Believe It or Not

Is it a fit of nerves about the coming millennium? A sneaking suspicion that there is more to life than money, success, and a great hairdo? Or is it a genuine desire for communion and transcendence? Whatever the source, Americans’ search for spiritual meaning is well under way.

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


The World of Religion According to Huston Smith” Religion is an energizing force for good and the “winnower of the wisdom of the human race,” says renowned theologian Huston Smith in an interview with Marilyn Snell. He adds that the world’s faith traditions give us another realm to live in — one that fulfills our need for values, meaning, and purpose.

Unfaithful” How has organized religion adapted to a rapidly changing world? Cheryl L. Reed’s yearlong investigation into the struggle between the Catholic Church and an increasing number of its clergy over the touchy topic of earthly love.

“The $100 Christmas” Environmentalist and author Bill McKibben is a nice guy who’s not very popular these days among merchants in his small upstate New York town. The reason? His campaign to trim America’s Christmas shopping spree.

“Faith: Marianne Williamson Is Full of It” If no-fault redemption and do-it-yourself salvation are what you want, start at the self-help and New Age sections of any bookstore. Chances are they’ll be filled with Marianne Williamson’s best-sellers. Lynda Gorov explains the wild popularity of New Age’s high priestess.

“Why Einstein Wasn’t an Atheist” Noted evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins maintains that, no matter how you look at it, religion is a virus. However, writer Gordy Slack has found that some of science’s heaviest hitters (a Nobel laureate and a cutting-edge geneticist among them) use their religious faith to inform their science — and vice versa.

“Does the Bible Tell Me So?” Americans, says Ann Monroe, read the Bible as a giant Rorschach test: It looks one way to the politically left, and quite another to those on the right. Both miss the point — and the Bible’s promise. Also “Lost in the (Biblical) Translation” by Seth Sanders.

See HotMedia for more resources. Statistical research compiled by Gary Thill.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate