Religion Dispatches
…tern Europe has increased dramatically. For example, Carter reports that in 1992 “only 7 percent of Russian women smoked,” whereas that number “has more than tripled” (to 22%) since then. Further, according to Matthew Meyers of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, “Russia is facing a true public health crisis… [Big Tobacco’s impact on Russia] is directly correlated with skyrocketing smoking rates among young people…The impact is direct and potentia…
Read More
…mented my Easter experience. However, as a Black teenager growing up in the 1990s my relationship to The Ten Commandments changed. In an era influenced by Afrocentricity and politically conscious hip hop, this straightforward morality tale about slavery and freedom became complicated. The Egyptians were Africans, as my deep dive into Afrocentric literature revealed. And weren’t the Hebrews just foreign invaders who sought to form alliances with th…
Read More…st Alexander Hinton, Brazil’s indigenous groups decreased by up to 80% from 1900 to 1957 due to “disease.” In fact, advocacy organizations such as Survival International and the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs formed during the 1960s in response to this drastic depopulation and widespread violence against native groups in the Amazon. These organizations, along with FUNAI (founded in 1967), continue to advocate against over-extracti…
Read More…fined 7,000 Turkish lira (£1,830). Being gay has been legal in Turkey since 1858, but the country is still largely conservative on the issue, will no legal rights or protections for LGBT people. Many people – including a 13 year old boy – have faced legal trouble for insulting President Erdogan. Sweden: Gender neutral pronoun officially joines Swedish language The Swedish language now official contains a gender-neutral pronoun – “hen” – in additio…
Read More
…ly those under 40 who may not remember the anti-Mormon cult crusades of the 1980s) are increasingly willing to set aside their reservations about Mormons when it suits their pragmatic and political interests. Glenn Beck marks an unprecedented national mainstreaming of a peculiar strand of religious political conservatism rooted in, and once isolated to, the Mormon culture regions of the American West. That Mormons are capable of leveraging disprop…
Read More…demand more. Here’s how it begins. Go to Salon to see where it ends: Sept. 14, 2009 | It was discouraging to hear Barack Obama, the man I supported for president, announce so resolutely during his speech to Congress last week that “under our [health care] plan no federal dollars will be used to fund abortion.” It was infuriating, however, that before the morning cock could crow following the speech Jim Wallis of the antiabortion organization Sojo…
Read More
…an alert and is petitioning ABC to drop the show: Disney-owned ABC has no reservations about creating hate speech against Christians, but you can be sure they would never consider a show called “Good Muslim B-tches” or “Good Jewish B-tches.” With a title like “Good Christian B-tches,” you can imagine what kind of show it will be. Even if they change the title, the content will still mock people of faith. Okay, this is fantastic. I mean, how lovel…
Read More
…America, a country on the Eastern Seaboard that had nothing to do with the 11/9 attacks. America is swiftly defeated, and the Arabs set up a Green Zone in Washington DC to oversee what they hope will be a brief occupation. Six years later, when the main story begins, the troops are still there. Putting Israel in northern Europe was, I have to admit, quite surprising. And Israel’s alliance with an Arab superpower actually reflects how much of Jewi…
Read More…ects on the hurt dished out to Mormon girls at her high school and her own reservations about LDS people. “I’m starting to wonder what I’ve been so afraid of,” Weiseth writes. The post has gone viral among Mormon readers. It certainly touched me. Perhaps it can help bring about greater dialogue between evangelical Christians and Mormons. No one should underestimate the strength and longevity of anti-Mormon sentiment in the south. (On Monday, I’ll…
Read More
…ark, and exactly one day before the election.] Back in May 2008, I made my reservations for the AAR and decided I would stay over for election day. It was the best decision of my life. From the Chicago Hilton Bar and the streets of Chicago, I saw history being made. I shouted and cried not only for the burden that is beginning to lift from our country, but from the burden of teaching the history of African-American religion with a heavy heart seme…
Read More