Religion Dispatches
…until you explode. As I contemplated the commonplace nature of obesity in South Central PA, and its prevalence among Christians and non-Christians alike, I remembered something about gluttony being one of the seven deadly sins. And then it hit me like a T-bone steak through my TV screen—that’s right up there with lust on the list of deadly sins. Here we were, slothfully chowing away in the richest nation in the world, in a mall a few doors down f…
Read More…gement.” Speaking of poor judgment, a non-denominational Florida church plans to host “International Burn a Qur’an Day” on the anniversary of 9/11. The same Gainesville church made news in the past with its “No Homo Mayor” signs opposing an openly gay mayor. Lt. Governor of South Carolina André Bauer discusses how he uses shoes to save souls. New York Governor David Paterson denied reports that he had swapped Judaism for his Catholic faith. Howeve…
Read More…e more likely to feel a sense of stigma, highest among those living in the south. For instance, 57 percent of U.S. respondents said they felt they would suffer at least minor social repercussions in the workplace if they came out as an atheist, compared to only 35 percent of respondents in Canada, 24 percent of Australians, 15 percent of residents of United Kingdom, and 12 percent of Western Europeans. The post sparked a great discussion in the co…
Read More…and American Law. Botham counterposes the legal structure in the American South, based in Protestantism, with the legal structure of the West, based in Catholicism, by looking at two court cases challenging interracial marriage laws: the more familiar Loving v. Virginia and Perez v. Lippold. What I loved about this book is how Botham looks at the way biblical interpretation, legal history, and the institution of slavery interact to create ever-ev…
Read More
…t political candidates, has chosen to endorse Gordon Howie for Governor of South Dakota from the pulpit. Howie has asked for pastoral support and in return has promised to assist those pastors in taking their inevitable IRS trials to the Supreme Court in an effort to end separation of church and state in America. Pastor, I recognize your frustration, and I see how things have come to this. For years America has only shrugged at religion, and recen…
Read More…prayercast included FRC’s Tony Perkins, Republican Senators Jim DeMint of South Carolina and Sam Brownback of Kansas, Reps. Todd Akin (R-MO), Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Trent Franks (R-AZ), Randy Forbes (R-VA), and Mike McIntyre (D-NC); as well as Shirley and James Dobson; Bishop Harry Jackson, who recently led an unsuccessful crusade against gay marriage in the District of Columbia; and Pastor Jim Garlow, a leading proponent of California’s Propos…
Read MoreThis week Neo-Pagans celebrated the summer solstice at Stonehenge. In South Carolina, Nikki Haley is celebrating her win in the GOP primary for governor and her triumph over questions of whether she is “really a Christian.” However, there are still those who don’t buy her conversion to Methodism. Are social media changing religion? Maybe. But could religion be changing our media, as well? Again, maybe. Apple’s Steve Jobs, a guru for techies, h…
Read More…ouse homosexuality, I can see the Bible being banned in the military.” The Southern Baptist Convention has also turned its attention to the gulf oil spill. The SBC is urging churches to get involved in the clean up and to hold both government authorities and big oil responsible. Questions of Christianity and feminism continue to haunt the Tea Party and the Republicans this week. Is South Carolina’s Nikkie Haley Christian enough for the evangelical…
Read More…e groups, DeMar also has a companion organization that can raise money and promote candidates for elected office: Vision to America. Yesterday, Vision to America sent a fundraising appeal in support of Nevada’s Republican nominee to the U.S. Senate, Sharron Angle, from South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint’s political action committee, the Senate Conservatives Fund. Like Rand Paul in Kentucky, DeMint is bucking the Republican establishment by endorsin…
Read More…sionaries—two American, three Peruvian—were killed by leftist guerillas in South America in 1989, 1990, and 1991.) The globalization of the Church brings new pressures to our concept of who we Mormons are and what constitutes moral and humane behavior in the contemporary world. We are now a religious tradition that is home not only to Russell Pearce, the author of Arizona’s immigration law SB 1070, but also to Anglo and Latino Mormon activists…
Read More