Religion Dispatches
…ion. Perhaps in the wake of the tragedy in Ferguson there will be a renewed vigor from progressive churches that will help repair old coalitions, build new ones, and tell a new story about who gets to speak “for religious people.”…
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…better way to think about these doctrines. He does that by defining seven new deadly sins and seven new graces, all seen through the lens of the life and teachings of a queer Christ. Cheng took time recently to talk with Religion Dispatches’ Candace Chellew-Hodge about his new book, and his ancient model. LGBT Christians love to talk about grace, but the topic of sin can be painful for us. Why do we need to talk about sin now? In some ways I fe…
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…shrine saw an unprecedented number of people. Visitors from as far away as New Mexico wandered onto the grounds, with several walking into the Tipps’ home assuming it was a visitor center. The shrine rented a port-a-john in order to have enough bathroom space, but it was quickly blown over by winter winds. Asked if she is happy about the developments, Tipps laughs. “We’re kind of being a little bit selfish because we’re like oh, gosh, we don’t rea…
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…ginia and a proponent of a robust reading of RFRA, said via email that the new sex discrimination rules under the Executive Order are “about regulating the religious charity’s employment practices as a condition of eligibility for government contracts,” and could present a RFRA claim. But Daniel Mach, director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, said RFRA “should not be invoked to discriminate or…
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…om God’s initiative to remake the system. Brueggemann says that Talk about newness in exile comes not from a happy piety or from a hatred of Babylon but from the enduring jealousy of Yahweh for his people. (The Prophetic Imagination, p. 67) Proposals to make our economic system fairer or “more Christian” ultimately miss the point. To call for more fairness or more generosity or more concern for the poor without fundamentally altering the way the s…
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…ngelical, as someone who received a review copy, I highly recommend Gloria Beth Amodeo’s new book God’s Ex-Girlfriend: A Memoir about Loving and Leaving the Evangelical Jesus.) One other aspect of the PRRI report that struck me is the extent to which Christian nationalism adherents and sympathizers have now embraced the term, while skeptics and especially rejecters are largely repelled by it. More than a third (36%) of adherents have a very favora…
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…itness that is equally insipid. Can either of these push-out factors be “fixed” without also fixing the other? What is your own reading of the relative importance of the different repellents? Kaya Oakes: I would argue that these things have to be “fixed” on a continuum. Even the most beautiful liturgy is going to be hollow without a central message that is life-giving and inspiring. And even the most enlightened and progressive message at the hear…
Read More…e should remember to (re)turn to the Arts as we continue to try to imagine new and creative ways out of the current impasse, new ways to engage the Sciences and the Humanities in common enterprises—whether they be political, ethical, or aesthetic. I eagerly anticipate Philip Clayton’s subsequent columns on specific case studies of the current state of the Religion-and-Science divide, and would welcome further the Aesthetic realm in these debates….
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…a societal change not limited to any one creed, age, or race. Everyone is experiencing disaffiliation, albeit at different rates. That point cannot be separated from how we understand Christian nationalism and the MAGA base. The next part of the equation is trickier to describe. As RD recently reported, Republican churchgoers are more likely than other members of the GOP to be Christian nationalism adherents or sympathizers. It might appear, then,…
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…e than women priests. The whole Roman house of cards is collapsing as the extent of sexual abuses becomes clear, with fingers pointing upward to the top officials who were complicit. There is another movie to be made here in which the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) will play a starring role. Ministry as Community Challenge It is important to see women priests in the company of these many colleagues who love the Catholic commun…
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