Religion Dispatches
…ence was later commuted to wearing a double cross on her outer garments to signify her repentance and admission of error. Back in the day, Yahweh probably would have had her stoned (see Leviticus 24), but his medieval viceroys wanted her kept alive to proclaim the falsity of her former opinion. For Beatrice’s blasphemy was not defilement of God’s name as such, but defiance of the earthly authorities who had installed themselves as the custodians o…
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…ning Advantages in Video Games. Zoe’s also on to some key issues in game design with her discussion of generative design. It is in some senses the holy grail of game development. The reliance on formulas to produce essentially similar landscapes in games is an ongoing frustration for players and designers alike. So, whoever is writing these scenes knows enough about game design to be on top of key debates in the field. Of course, this gets us clos…
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…et what they want,” Mother Teresa said, and went on to suggest adoption be promoted as an alternative to abortion. “Please don’t kill the child. I want the child. Please give me the child.” Mother Teresa’s pro-life fans swooned, with many giving the nun a standing ovation. The Clintons remained seated, yet both—particularly the ever-politic Hillary—understood how behind-the-scenes power politics work within the Christian Right, and responded to th…
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…ve some throwaway lines about Uncle Sam Adama’s tattoos, which we are told signal to others in his community who he is and what he has done. His “tats” are a kind of information appliance which has been inked directly onto his body—and indeed, this is often the way tattoos function in contemporary criminal societies—as markers of affiliation, as statements of fidelity, and as records of accomplishments. Is there any parallels to be drawn here betw…
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…ut the burqini is dangerous. It is a germ. It might spread. It is a visual sign of the disease – Islam – that right-wingers wish to eliminate from the bodypolitic. It is not an accepted form of minority religion that keeps its head down and tries to look nonchalant. It is a little too loud-mouthed in its visual message. How, then, may it be tolerated in public spaces? As the local expert on Islam, of course, the local mayor Alain Kelyor sagely rem…
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…first episode here.] See here for the full list of discussions so far, or sign up here for the RSS feed. Diane Winston ___________________________ Comrades, Capricsters, Y’all (or simply Anthea, Henry and Salman): If there had just been the BSG miniseries – Dayeinu If there had been the miniseries and four seasons of BSG – Dayeinu If there had been the miniseries, the four seasons, and the Caprica pilot – Dayeinu But The Caprican? At the very m…
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…to be held accountable for their racism. Too many people are hearing this coded rhetoric and deciding that the real problem with the economy must be folks of color, immigrants, and the Jews.” During the last period of Patriot and militia growth in the mid-1990s, Ward witnessed this coded racist rhetoric being tested in the margins of the right-wing media, though it has since moved into the mainstream. In the past year I’ve interviewed dozens of a…
Read More…Convention’s Richard Land and Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver, in yet another sign of how the broader religious right cravenly seeks an alliance with blacks and Latinos, even as no one says peep about the John Birch Society co-sponsoring the Conservative Political Action Conference. Wendy Wright, the president of Concerned Women for America who cut her teeth working for Operation Rescue, claimed in a statement, “once a pregnant woman walks through th…
Read More…sociation of Michigan, was one of the first social conservative leaders to sign the letter. He believes CPAC’s embrace of GOProud is symptomatic of a broader problem — what he calls the “dumbing down of the pro-family stand in the public policy arena.” If “dumbing down” is something that concerns Glenn, why isn’t he, Falwell and their cohorts protesting against another co-sponsor of next year’s event: The John Birch Society. Calling the Birchers “…
Read More…n called the “Karl Rove of Hispanic evangelical strategy.” Another notable signer is Mercer University professor and author David Gushee, who has refused to sign the Manhattan Declaration. Other names on the statement are no surprise like Rev. Debra Haffner from the Religious Institute, which strongly supports LGBT rights. I’m glad to see other names, including Geoffrey Black, the general minister of my own denomination, the United Church of Chris…
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