Religion Dispatches
…they were white born again Christian or evangelical. The exit poll has Romney winning among white Protestants, who make up 41% of voters, 75-25%, among white Catholics (11%), 64-33%, but Obama is winning 89% of non-whites (33% of the electorate). Bonus point of interest in the Virginia exit poll: Obama is winning among voters who attend religious services weekly (44% of voters), 51-49%, among those who attend occasionally (36%), 53-47%, and among…
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…et the new book or books are still just whispering at the back of my head. Bonus: Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know about your book? If you’re considering teaching all or part of the book, you might be interested to know that the Sisters have houses (non-residential chapters) in many large cities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Australia. They are often happy to visit classrooms, and they will come in habit to discuss their ow…
Read More…et the new book or books are still just whispering at the back of my head. Bonus: Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know about your book? If you’re considering teaching all or part of the book, you might be interested to know that the Sisters have houses (non-residential chapters) in many large cities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Australia. They are often happy to visit classrooms, and they will come in habit to discuss their ow…
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…ies: All Souls’ Day on November 1, and All Saints’ Day on November 2. As a bonus, October 31 marks the kickoff of the Reformation, when Luther posted his theses on the door of the Castle Church of Wittenberg, in large part to protest the Church’s sale of indulgences. Halloween is a little troublesome to me as well—mostly because it’s just gotten so commercial. I like it as more of a handcrafted, neighborhoody children’s frolic, rather than an excu…
Read More…ure. The media and academia are “the enemy” and the Marxism he claims they promote is at the root of an impending social collapse of Western Christendom. And he is vitriolic in his Islamophobia. Breivik apparently was baptized a Protestant, and he does use the Bible, though he does not do so in the way fundamentalists do. In fact, he is explicit that sola scriptura leads to “incipient subjectivism:” The Protestant doctrine of Sola Scriptura (by sc…
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…said. I’m just starting to read around in that literature. It’s great fun. Bonus Question: With a diversity of religion in the United States, what common ground is there for a common or universal ethic? This is an enduring dilemma for ethicists. Habits of the Heart suggests that our culture has a deeply rooted “expressive individualism” that can be an alternative to the utilitarian individualism which they find both widespread and destructive. I t…
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…nd or vacation themed. In any case, I like to take note. And, as a special bonus, today my friend, the Pittsburgh poet Ellen McGrath Smith, posted a really wonderful little poem as her status (On the peonies/ants are running errands/Petal by petal they fall off the globe). I burned maybe thirty minutes on all this digital sociality before I saw that the venerable scholar of ancient church history, Rebecca Lyman, had posted a characteristically wis…
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…ry of how they got to America is really awesome. 10. Remember, the hymn says: “Let us oft speak kind words to each other,” not “let us oft call people we disagree with Hitler.” And finally, one bonus reason: 11. We’ve got the soothing tones of Elder Richard G. Scott. If that doesn’t lower your blood pressure, nothing will. Safe travels, and happy voting….
Read More…ally? Really? No no, I can top that: “Brother Fire.” Best of all: “Sister Bodily Death.” Who comes up with this crap? Oh, wait. A major Christian saint came up with that crap (Hint: He died in Assisi). As a bonus, he talked about “Mother Earth.” You may find that it’s helpful to know something about a subject before you start talking about it. Just a suggestion. Hugs and kisses, Pastor Dan …
Read More…partners of government employees?” with “oppose,” and added the additional bonus of, “I oppose co-habitation of all sorts.” He supports an amendment to the U.S. Constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman. He supports requiring teachers “to present the evidences both supportive of and contradictory to the theory of evolution.” And in response to the question on abortion, he said it should never be allowed, adding, “Life comes f…
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