Religion Dispatches
Feisal Abdul-Rauf is in the news again for statements on Park51. Again, he is muddying the waters, and setting back the cause he is supposedly working towards. When asked if he would move the project, this past week’s answer was yes, when previously he’d suggested it would upset some people overseas, so he wouldn’t. It highlights the persistent leadership failure of Abdul-Rauf. The Park51 team most recently issued a press release in early Januar…
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This summer I wrote about “the only good Christians are ex-Muslims” as an industry amongst evangelical communities. But that’s just one segment of the industry. It seems there is a new rising star amongst the ex-Muslims and, like his antecedents, his story is highly dubious. I.Q. Al-Rassooli is being touted as the newest ex-Muslim speaker. A short look at his brief bio reveals many of the same problems that earlier professional converts have had….
Read MoreA new poll by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life suggests that Americans continue to view the GOP as friendlier toward religion than the Democratic Party. Forty-eight percent of persons polled regard Republicans as friendly versus twenty-nine percent of those who regard the Democrats in such a way. But clearly President Obama’s outreach efforts to evangelical communities during the campaign and since his election have paid off. His administr…
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A new poll from the Pew Research Center tells us, predictably enough, that Americans generally like their presidents to be “religious,” and that about half (more Republicans than Democrats) want someone who shares their religious beliefs. Indeed, people who rated a candidate as “religious” were also likely to say that person would be a good president. Sounds clear enough—but is it? The poll also confirmed that not believing in God is the single b…
Read More…announced the Duck Dynasty appearances in an email today, and its website promotes the evening, called “Inexpressible Joy,” as light-hearted entertainment: Spend a fun filled evening with the Duck Commander himself, Phil Robertson, and other stars from the mega hit show, A&E’s Duck Dynasty. They’ll share heartwarming and hysterical stories about filming the show, what goes on behind the scenes, their lives, their faith, their family, and ducks. T…
Read MoreIn an interview yesterday with Breitbart “News” Daily, Dr. Ben Carson told host Stephen Bannon that American Muslims who tried to embrace an American value like democracy while practicing Islam would have to be “schizophrenic.” Because the two, as he Islamsplained, were in no way compatible. I know, I know. I had the same reaction: Ben Carson is still running for President?! I’m not sure if he’s knocking Muslims because it draws headlines and mig…
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Just days after a new Massachusetts law took effect this month ensuring trans people have equal access to spaces of public accommodation, right-wing legal powerhouse Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a lawsuit challenging the law on “religious freedom” grounds. According to the suit, filed on behalf of “four diverse Massachusetts churches,” the new statewide law requiring all places of public accommodation to make facilities available to the…
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…the LGBT rights movement, particularly the “self-destructive behaviors” it promotes and “the lifestyle it assumes.” For them, the gay rights movement has saddled monotheists with the imperative to make space for loud and proud homosexuals, but this is equivalent in principle to an adulterers’ rights movement demanding space for loud and proud cheaters. Apparently, pursuing a consensual gay relationship is no different than breaking one’s marriage…
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In April of 2010, Eddie Glaude wrote “The Black Church is Dead,” an essay that incited conversation and debate about contemporary black Protestantism. [Read RD’s numerous responses, including Glaude’s own response to the responders.] In opposition to entrenched assumptions about the black church, Glaude argued three points: the black church has never been a coherent entity with a unified progressive vision; it is no longer the center of the black…
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Revelations abound. Hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires crowd the news, alongside genocide, terrorism, and rogue state tests of intercontinental missiles and the nuclear warheads with which to arm them. Headlines offer either a string of senseless horrors or an array of signs and warnings. As catastrophe births desire for dramatic change, so, too, the chaos of existence prompts in the human mind a search for patterns, a rage for order. Thus, d…
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