Religion Dispatches
…milies or else (like Samuel Rodriguez) well known for their active participation in efforts to consign gay people to a separate and unequal ghetto. That these leaders have been given a blanket welcome as social progressives is actually quite astonishing. Enablers: you know who you are. Don’t you have even a tiny twinge of remorse at a time like this?…
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…the words of Mr. Roger, whose daughter Jill was only 24 years old when she died in the 9/11 attack, “I hope that the Memorial will have deep meaning, and will promote peace and welcome.” These days, whether religious or not, we must all share that hope….
Read More…ith Abraham, three strangers come to Abraham and Sarah’s home and they are welcomed in with a lavish meal. The strangers turn out to be angels from God who bless them with news that they are to have a son at their advanced age. When Jesus is asked in Matthew 25 who will get into heaven, Jesus offers these criteria, “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you took me in.” That’s a far cry from t…
Read More…for some time now. (You must read Sarah Posner’s invaluable exploration, “Welcome to the Shari’ah Conspiracy Industry”.) But Fear, Inc. gives us a still-more exhaustive insight into the Islamophobia network’s leaders, strategies, and intentions. With good timing. We’re coming up on an election-year, in which major questions about the United States must be answered, or at least recognized. We need national conversations that represent people’s i…
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…eligious events at which his own gay and lesbian constituents would not be welcome. Most recently he spoke before the Family Research Council’s Watchmen on the Wall conference for pastors where he asserted that “if Christians ‘had provided for people in our community,’ then we ‘wouldn’t have needed a debate on health care.’” Asheville, the center of the 11th district, is a fairly liberal place known for its arts scene. Recently, Bothwell and a maj…
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…fully vaccinated, leading to what the Wall Street Journal calls “a hero’s welcome” upon returning from his ordeal Down Under. Not only was he celebrated by the country’s anti-vaxx community and a government ostensibly struggling to vaccinate a reluctant nation, but Djokovic also enjoyed the support of the Serbian Patriarch, the highest-ranking religious official in the country. For those familiar with Orthodox Christianity’s brewing internal conf…
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…ld Trump wants to ban Muslims, but in 1776, the founding fathers wanted to welcome them. Muslims, though a minority, have been present in the United States from the very beginning. Historians of slavery estimate that as much as a third of slaves may have been Muslim and some even fought in the revolutionary war like Yusuf ben Ali. Thomas Jefferson kept a Qur’an near his bedside and the other framers were adamant that the United States would be a l…
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…a new year at Hogwarts, with Dumbledore in the middle of his heartwarming welcome to students. In this situation, Chuck Bass would light a cigar, take out a flask, tell Dumbledore to get a life, and try to get at least two first-year girls into bed by night’s end—preferably at the same time. Alas, it is not difficult to imagine Quentin, “[the] slacker Park Slope Harry Potter,” and his fellow magician friends (the perpetually bored and drunk) Elio…
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…, he promised his audience of die-hard fans “a baby boom,” including “baby bonuses”—inserting his very own brand of crudeness, announcing “you men out there are so lucky. You are so lucky, men”—presumably with all the sex they will be having to get those sweet baby bonuses. From a European perspective, one of the more chilling moments of the speech was when he fantasized about Russia destroying the NATO headquarters (“one clear shot from a tank!”)…
Read More…to worship, regardless of sexual orientation. To be clear, the ad did not “promote” homosexuality, advocate for churches to perform weddings for gay couples, or endorse any activity that church might find objectionable. The ad, in my reading, says that anyone who believes in God is welcome in a house of worship. As Muslims living in America, we too will be faced with a similar issue: how welcoming will we be? Like the ad, I am not advocating for a…
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