Sacred Real Estate: What Makes Washington’s WWII Memorial So Dreadful?
What does it mean that the World War II Memorial in DC drowns conversation in the roar of its fountains? A new book explains what our monuments reveal about the intertwining of sacred and patriotic in American civic culture.
Telling the World a ‘Big Story’: RD in Conversation with Karen Armstrong
Compassion is not just a sloppy emotional bonhomie; it requires a serious intellectual effort to learn about one another, even if it’s unflattering to ourselves. RD contributor and religion scholar Laurie Patton interviews Karen Armstrong upon the launch of her global call to action, the Charter for Compassion.
Jewish Past/Israeli Future: A Review of The Invention of the Jewish People
The reactions to the English-language publication of a book deemed “a scandal” reveal as much about the politics of contemporary Israel (and of its relation to the American Jewish community) as they do about the history the book describes. It’s not that Shlomo Sand believes that the Jews are not the chosen people—he argues that they might not be a people at all.
Moses on the Mayflower: Was the Prophet a Founding Father?
Author Bruce Feiler is back from “walking the Bible” and is roaming the country, tracing Moses’ footsteps. But in his eagerness to make the prophet into a unifying symbol, he misses the true complexity of the relationship between religion and the secular in America.
A commenter from a recent review of Karen Armstrong’s new book writes that a central claim of hers is “utterly false.” Our blogger examines that claim.
A Secret History of Satan
The Devil created by American culture is made in the image of American culture; our beliefs about Satan are part of a theological narrative that has shaped religion, pop culture, and even, in some cases public policy.
Revisiting Hagar, The Woman Who Named God
An interview with the author of a new book that takes a critical look at the biblical tale of Abraham, Sarah, Hagar and sons, claiming that this story at the core of anxiety between religions isn’t exactly as it seems.
American Nuns Under the Vatican Microscope
The Vatican is investigating US Women religious, concerned that nuns are not in line on issues like same-sex love, women’s priestly ministry, and interreligious dialogue. But this time they’ve gone too far.
In the Church of Lincoln
We’ve made Abraham Lincoln into a secular saint, as a visit to the Lincoln Museum in Springfield, Illinois—complete with relics and incense—easily confirms. But what of his cutthroat skill in the political arena? Contemporary politicians can’t compete.
God Grows Up: Robert Wright’s Evolution of God
In his newest book Robert Wright charts a path between atheism and belief, busting religion myths as he goes: Jesus did not preach universal love; Jews didn't start out as monotheists; and the origin of religion had nothing to do with morality.
Why I Am Still a Christian
A friend once asked Diana Butler Bass why she was still a Christian. The answer lies in the question of spiritual memory, and of a community that exists through time.
Christianity v. Christ: An Excerpt From A People’s History of Christianity
Most people know only the Big-C Christianity—Christ, Constantine, Christendom, Calvin, and Christian America—but there is another one, linked to a biblical parable of a wounded man’s rescue by a stranger.
MLK SPECIAL: Awake From Dreaming—King to Obama
In a series of short essays, special to Religion Dispatches, religious historians, philosophers, and ethicists celebrate Obama’s place in American history while heeding Dr. King’s continued prophetic challenge for our nation.
Sarah Vowell’s The Wordy Shipmates: The Problem with Popularization
While the history of popularization is a history of regular folk learning about other regular revolutionizing folk and imitating them, comic book histories like The Wordy Shipmates do their part in ensuring that the next generation knows more about Beyoncé than Byzantium.
History in Real Time: Teaching Obama
A professor of African-American religious history talks about teaching with a heavy heart, year after year, about the truths of racism. With the election of Barack Obama, this year will be different, but the journey of healing has only just begun.
The tragicomic Napoleonic Era reveals eerie similarities to the Bush Doctrine...