Thomas and Sam attempt to bring some thoughtfulness to the discussion of religion again this week with a discussion of presidential politics, ISIS, and what’s wrong with CNN’s Finding Jesus show.

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• Could an atheist become president?
  
• America is surprisingly religious, Israel is surprisingly not.
  
• Is ISIS forging the destruction of antiquities?
  
• What’s wrong with CNN’s Finding Jesus and pop Jesus shows?
  
• Ted Cruz announces that he’s running for president. What does this have to do with religion?
  

Religion In The News

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• Mike Huckabee wants to be Elijah on Mt. Carmel
  
• For a rich country, we sure are religious
  
• Idols or Artifacts? An Exercise in Self-Reflexivity When Pondering ISIS’s Destruction of Mosul’s Antiquities
  
• While everyone continues to talk about Mosul, Dura Europos suffers
  
• Did ISIS really destroy antiquities?  More here and here
  

Religion In The Ancient World

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• Sam is NOT a fan of CNN’s Finding Jesus
  
• Take CNN’s terrible quiz on Jesus and see if you’re an expert too!
  
• USA’s Dig
  
• Ancient Jew Review
  

Thought Piece

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• Ted Cruz announces he’s running for president at Liberty University
  
• An analysis of Cruz’s speech
  
• Why did Cruz pick Liberty University for his speech?
  
• A few Liberty students used the anonymous Yik Yak app to express their feelings about the speech and Cruz
  
• Why were Liberty students required to be at the speech? (Falwell sounds moderate here)
  
• Get your own domain, Ted
  
• Maybe we’re wrong about Cruz
  

Showtime: 1 hour 31 minutes