Religion Dispatches
…probably conjure up images of a dark and smoggy sky when they think about air pollution, in fact indoor air pollution may be nearly as dangerous as outdoor pollution, particularly in developing countries where people routinely burn coal and biomass fuel for cooking and heating their homes. Indoor air pollution also provides the context for one of the most bizarre examples of a religious practice that has created environmental problems in the Unit…
Read More…that discriminatory remarks on the basis of sexual orientation are against Air Force Policy. He should also have known, while Air Force members do have the right to speech and religion, that right does not mean airmen can say whatever they want, whenever they want.” Ouch. However, the military determined neither Monk nor his commander would be punished, which is kind given Monk’s very public, very willful attempt to tarnish their reputation. Perh…
Read More
…and don’t know to whom we can direct our displeasure. That’s why you have customer service institutions, so people know to whom to send their email or letter of complaint. (Well, you don’t even know who receives this stuff.) All of this, to me, again, is a result of the difficulties of dealing with amorphous institutions that don’t have clear boundaries. And then, of course, you have that same difficulty with blaming (or praising, for that matter…
Read More
…cognate, “textualism”) peppers the Federalist Society website, with nearly 1,000 references associated with Federalist Society events, videos, and publications. What one might be more surprised to discover, however, is that a search for “natural law” and related substantive matters such as “religious freedom” outpaces “originalism” with more than 1,000 mentions. Recent law school lectures sponsored by the Federalist Society include University of…
Read More…own mission of preparing Academy cadets to be the very best United States Air Force ocers possible, these very same Air Force Academy cadets and staff will still be consigned to hell unless they accept former Lt. McClary’s own version of Christianity. Such statements are not only antithetical to the clear mission of the United States Air Force Academy, they are totally anathema to the purportedly globally inclusive purpose of this National Praye…
Read More…identity from action, although it’s an imperfect one given the social and spiritual and legal significant of a marriage. But still, it’s a worthwhile foil for thinking through the argument. So does the fact that I find the prayer service purpose hateful or objectionable, or in conflict with my own principles, change its legal implications? One argument might be that the baker’s rejection of the cake is not about religion, it’s about a secular val…
Read More
…d have to buy new, full-price tickets to Iran. On the phone with JetBlue’s customer service line that night, my righteous fury dissipated quickly. Could JetBlue really be to blame for bad weather, or a mechanical problem, or whatever system error had made our flight impossible? Don’t I benefit regularly from this massive travel infrastructure that, like Lady Justice, doles its punishments out blindly? I accepted $100 in travel vouchers from a frie…
Read More…he publicly insisted he had been “essentially fired” for his beliefs (Parts 1 and 2 are here.) When the Air Force released the investigation into Monk’s case, which stated what was then obvious (Monk had lied) but did not punish him, I figured Monk’s defenders would just stop caring, since the story no longer fit their worldview. I was very, very wrong. The Liberty Institute, which represents Monk legally, is doubling down. After the release of th…
Read More
…as a Master’s student at Fuller working the switchboard part-time, and the number one phone call that came through went something like this: “Can you connect me to C. Peter Wagner’s Church Growth Institute? I’d like to buy some materials.” No one was happier than I was when he retired from Fuller and moved to Colorado Springs! I felt like I worked at a catalog call-in center. Seriously. I would never have expected to be talking about Wagner in con…
Read More
…s a willingness to frame spiritual practice or ethical action as a kind of service. This service can be purchased.” There are key differences, though, between MNDFL and Unplug. Rinzler was born into the Shambhala world and taught meditation for 15 years; Yalof Schwartz decided to open Unplug before she began studying meditation at all. And MNDFL is more open about its spiritual dimensions, even if it describes itself as non-religious. Rinzler, unl…
Read More