ReligionDispatches - Stories

Jesus Loses His Freak: How I Lost One Leper Messiah, and Gained Another

Mark Dery — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:00:01 PDT

In this fourth installment of Mark Dery’s cultural critique-cum-“nonfiction novella” about a born-again teen’s transcendent encounter with Ziggy Stardust in the 1970s, our hero reckons with a conflicted Christ and watches in disgust as his beloved friday night coffee house is subsumed by the very church it served as an alternative to.

Making ‘The Link’: AIPAC’s New Crises

Matthew Duss — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:00:01 PDT

As its annual policy conference kicks off this weekend, AIPAC tamps down concerns about a U.S.-Israel rift, but still faces its worst fear in a challenge from U.S. military commanders: Will the link between destabilization in the rest of the Middle East and the crisis in Israel/Palestine become normalized in the minds of Americans?

Capricology: Divine Madness

Henry Jenkins, Salman Hameed — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:00:01 PDT

This week’s episode asks big questions about psychology and religion, and reminds us that a dog is a robot’s best friend.

Creationism and Global Warming Denial: Anti-Science’s Kissing Cousins?

Lauri Lebo — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:00:01 PDT

Both evolutionary theory and climate change have scientific consensus, but explain that to state lawmakers seeking to ‘teach the controversy.’ This is broader than attacks on specific scientific disciplines. In a way, it doesn’t matter to them which scientific discipline they are criticizing—their main thrust is a denial of the validity of science itself

The Rundown Truth: Scientology Changes Strategy in War with Media

Hugh B. Urban — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:00:01 PDT

For the past half-decade, Scientology has responded to withering attacks with a variety of aggressive and secretive tactics, drawing comparisons to the CIA and FBI. After a recent report alleging the use of violence, however, the church has responded by hiring an ‘independent’ panel of editors and journalists to produce a 20-page assessment of the report.

Pentecostal Scholars Call for Academic Freedom

Arlene M. Sanchez Walsh — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:00:01 PDT

A scholar of Pentecostalism tells how an academic conference became a culture war battleground, and what she plans to do about it.

Battling The Antichrist By Outlawing Microchips

Joseph Laycock — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:00:01 PDT

We can rest easy, knowing that our government wants us to be safe from forced implantation of microchips. But it's not about civil liberties, it's about dispensational paranoia and fear of the “Mark of the Beast.”

Upside Down Judaism: Why Are Progressives Studying Talmud?

Aryeh Cohen — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 23:00:01 PDT

The first decade of the twenty-first century seems to have upended the Jewish world. What does it mean that conservatives, and some Orthodox, have begun to agitate for social justice, while progressives, traditionally secular, are “taking back the texts”?

The Plot to End the World

Michael J. Baigent — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 23:00:01 PDT

Writer Michael Baigent talks about his latest book, Racing Toward Armageddon.

Will Ralph Reed’s New Venture Wed Religious Right to Tea Partiers?

Sarah Posner — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 06:00:01 PST

With his new Faith and Freedom Coalition, Ralph Reed hopes to simultaneously bury his past and to make the connection he’s been yearning for: to “address a wider range agenda, social issues plus economic issues.” Will that connection and mutual cries of socialism be enough to wed the two most energetic right-wing movements?

Coffeehouse Churches and the ‘Party-on Messiah’: How I Lost One Leper Messiah, and Gained Another, Part 3

Mark Dery — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:01 PST

In this third installment of Mark Dery’s cultural critique-cum-“nonfiction novella” about a born-again teen’s transcendent encounter with Ziggy Stardust in the 1970s, our hero experiences an agape that is equal parts sanctified rapture and endorphin rush at a radical Friday night coffeehouse church. Meanwhile, the hippie Jesus of the Jesus Freaks reaches the big time in mainline protestantism.

Capricology: Tattoos, Blood, Cyber-Dating

Diane Winston, Henry Jenkins, Anthea Butler — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:01 PST

In the ever more dystopian world of Syfy Channel’s Caprica, teenage girls inhabit robot bodies, or live eternally without bodies at all, human bodies are marked by memories, and all the while there is blood flowing in the virtual streets.

War of the Worldviews: Why Avatar Lost

Bron Taylor — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:00:01 PST

Avatar had audiences rooting for nature, against the destruction of marauding tanks—but the Oscar went to the film that offered a soldier’s-eye view.

Consumerism’s New Frontier: The Preschool Set

Peter Laarman — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:01 PST

Recent studies show that children as young as three years old use “brand cues” to choose among food and play options—and thus is a Pandora’s toybox opened.

Sara Hurwitz’s ‘Rabba’ Title Sparks Orthodox Jewish Condemnation

Rachel Barenblat — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:00:01 PST

Because women aren’t permitted to be rabbis in the Orthodox Jewish tradition, Sara Hurwitz was given the made-up title Mahara”t upon her ordination. A little while later, after she was quietly given the title rabba, the Orthodox Jewish world responded with condemnations.

Updated with Response: The Black Church is Dead—Long Live the Black Church

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:00:01 PST

What is the black church and what does it mean to say that the black church is dead? A provocative assertion and prophetic challenge by a prominent interpreter of African-American religion occasions a lively and varied set of responses. Updated with a response to those responses by Eddie Glaude, Jr., whose article sparked the discussion.

Anti-Choice Doc Aims to Link Reproductive Rights to ‘Black Genocide’

Michelle Goldberg — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:01 PST

Anti-abortion activists are screening an expertly-made documentary to black audiences across the country. Maafa 21 creates a highly selective, distorted history of the reproductive rights movement and frames abortion as a tool of eugenics and genocide.

The Mystic in the Rye: JD Salinger’s Religious Fiction

Louis A. Ruprecht — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:01 PST

The one thing that seems able to tame even a hardened cynic like Holden Caufield, in the least overtly religious Salinger book, is an encounter with the innocence of childhood; especially children at play. It is this quest for lost innocence that defines the spiritual trajectory of Salinger’s most memorable characters. They are all teachers, parents, players, children-at-heart.

Hollywood Agents of God: Are Movies the Sacred Texts of our Time?

Anthea Butler, Gary Laderman — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:00:01 PST

As the ‘gods’ of Hollywood descend in designer digs, religion scholars Gary Laderman and Anthea Butler discuss the divinity of celebrity in America.

Should I Scream and Shout, Should I Speak of Love?: How I Lost One Leper Messiah, and Gained Another, Part 2

Mark Dery — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:00:01 PST

In this second installment of Mark Dery’s autobiographical essay (a “nonfiction novella”) about a suburban teen’s transcendent encounter with Ziggy Stardust, our hero has his congenitally straight brain blown in a late-night, black and white encounter with the confusingly feminine Ziggy during Bowie’s final appearance as the character.

Oscar-Nominated Ajami Depicts Reality of Second-Class Citizenship for Arab Israelis

Meghan McCarty — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:00:01 PST

Set on the mean streets of Jaffa, politics are ever-present in a tragic tale of a drug deal gone bad. Meanwhile, in the city that gives the film its title Jewish-only housing is being approved and properties developed.

Capricology Week 5: Fathers, Funerals, and the Ethics of Gaming

Diane Winston, Salman Hameed, Anthea Butler, Henry Jenkins — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:01 PST

Tamara, the girl who is dead but doesn’t know it, who exists only within the “magic circle” of a virtual game, takes center stage in this week’s episode, and in our commentary.

Should Faith-Based Orgs Be Allowed to Discriminate in Hiring? Introducing: A New Collaboration with Bloggingheads

Peter Laarman — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:01 PST

In this first installment, RD Contributing Editor Peter Laarman debates evangelical professor David Gushee over the Obama administration’s decision to effectively continue to allow recipients of federal faith-based funding to discriminate in hiring. In other clips, the two tangle on gay marriage, whether the Christian Right is dead, and more.

Mortal Combat: Risk in the Winter Olympics

Louis A. Ruprecht — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:00:01 PST

The exaggerated indulgence in high-risk activities at the Winter Olympics offers more than a subtle glimpse into the deeper connections the Greeks perceived between sport and war. In the US we want greater speed, but fewer crashes; higher platforms, but we don’t want anyone to get hurt. We imagine ever-riskier surgical procedures, but we seem surprised and morally outraged if they fail.

Israel Claims Holy Sites, Reignites Religious Flashpoint

Orly Halpern — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:00:01 PST

Netanyahu’s decision to declare two holy sites located in the Palestinian Territories and once shared by Jews, Christians, and Muslims “national heritage sites” triggers violence and conflict.