David Belden
David Belden has a doctorate in the sociology of religion from Oxford, and was managing editor of Tikkun, an interfaith magazine of politics, religion, and culture, from March 2007 to April 2011.
Articles by David Belden
Can you teach me how to forgive myself?
From the schoolyard to San Quentin, California’s restorative justice programmes are diverting young offenders from a life of crime and allowing even those convicted of serious crime to take responsibility and reform. Might they even transform America’s dysfunctional penal system? David Belden reports
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Many paths to salvation
Atheists should acknowledge that religion can provide a spiritual narrative for violent offenders to take responsibility for their crimes and change their lives. But it's certainly not the only way, and Joanna Jepson's celebration of Angola's evangelical project is naive and lacks an understanding of the violence, and racism, of the system itself
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Backward Christian soldiers
Evangelicals are taking over the US military, reports David Belden. And one man’s determined to stop them
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Is it time for humanists to start holding services?
We all need rituals, says Dave Belden
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Love thine enemy
Not long ago, humanists could feel that theirs was the way of the future. But now, Dave Belden argues, we will need to relearn how to make common cause with religious progressives
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