Religion Dispatches
…d has given up America—remember the first chapter of Romans? About how God deals with idolaters who worship material things? And then there’s Matthew 5:3-11: those who are blessed are poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, those who are merciful, those who are pure in heart, those who are peacemakers and those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. Just to remind the “God Bless Ame…
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…influence continues to spread as she expands her platform to include book deals and a podcast. Apparently “censorship” now comes with perks. While reproductive rights continue to be Rose’s focus today, with her sights set on a national abortion ban with no exceptions, she has, in the past, branched out to other right-wing causes. In 2012 she appeared in Birth Control: How Did We Get Here?, a film that argues birth control is sinful and should be…
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…he House of Representatives have witnessed the making and breaking of many deals—some might even say that that’s where the real deal-making goes on. While similar wheeling and dealing can be found in parliaments throughout the world, Israeli political scientist Yoram Peri has noted that this is particularly true in the cafeteria of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, which has: the atmosphere of a social club. Knesset members, journalists, senior of…
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…Baptist(R) I was particularly interested in the section of your book that deals with the Depression era and portrayals of Jesus. Thinking about the current U.S. economic situation, I wonder if the different portrayals of a radicalized Jesus also have a class component to them as well? And as an aside, If Jesus was portrayed by President Obama and Governor Romney respectively, what do each of you think their artistic version of Jesus would look li…
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…en we are crossing the line into something else. How do you feel Hollywood deals with diversity—is it getting better, or is it getting worse? We are definitely seeing more diversity today, in television and in movies. Probably more than we ever have. There are certainly more Asians, more South Asians, more people from the Middle East, portrayed on television today, as compared to when I started out. But in Hollywood, Caucasian is still the norm. Y…
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…ded meditation, and a debrief Q&A with one of MNDFL’s 27 teachers. Special deals are available for your first month of visits. “In this branded form, it offers both health benefits and pleasure, and it can be delivered in the context of a straightforward consumer transaction.” Not counting the orgasmic meditation chain OneTaste, MNDFL is the East Coast’s first for-profit meditation studio. As a cynic might point out, it looks an awful lot like a p…
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…at the end of each chapter also really made the abstract problems the book deals with come alive. Could you say a little bit about why you structured the book the way you did? Bernie: We believe that story-telling is an essential part of social change and that, without it, neither effective disruption nor meaningful connection can happen. We felt, therefore, that we shouldn’t hesitate to share some of our own stories. We certainly didn’t want to h…
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…olicism that freed up Catholics to affiliate with whatever political party best met their priorities: social justice issues for left-leaning Catholics and sexual restraint, law-and-order, and a muscular national defense for right-leaning Catholics. And, as Jack Jenkins notes at Think Progress: …if this sort of dissenting spirit was unique among modern American Catholics, one could plausibly argue that the United States has created an environment t…
Read More…doors she wanted – to modeling, to beauty pageants, and now to TV and book deals. For once, though, in that brief, shining moment at the Miss USA Pageant, her beauty was not what people saw — it was the ugliness of her words, the cognitive dissonance between a beautiful body and ugly bigotry that caused people to criticize her and that is what shocked Prejean. I’m sure, before this moment, no one had ever criticized her. They were too busy fawning…
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…m, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest everyone deals falsely. They have treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying ‘Peace, peace’ when there is no peace. They have acted shamefully, they have committed abomination; yet they were not ashamed. Oh, and you may remember what Jeremiah also said about what happens to nations that completely lose their moral compass: poof, they are laid waste, they become a desolation….
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