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Robert Bellah’s Powerful Legacy: A Mixed Blessing for Religious Studies?

By Ivan Strenski

…t flagship campuses of the University of California system at Berkeley and Los Angeles. Granted, we in the University of California system proudly boast three campuses with fine PhD programs in religious studies—Davis, Riverside, and Santa Barbara. Yet, the flagship campuses have yet to ‘nail the colors’ of the study of religion to their masts. This grates for all who care for the national reputation of the study of religion. I am no judge of whet…

Wal-Mart Faces a New Round of Historic Strikes… But Why Now?

By Sarah Jaffe

…has had a ripple effect nationwide. Even workers in union supermarkets in Los Angeles, when Wal-Mart moves in, face the threat of lowered wages and benefits as their employers are forced to compete. OUR Wal-Mart’s work has been different, succeeding in a way that traditional union organizing has failed, in part by replicating an older model of organizing that draws on the support of allies in the community, including faith leaders. They have thou…

“My Scientology Movie” Pokes the Hornet’s Nest

By Gordon Haber

…ntology Movie involve the audition process. As the documentary was shot in Los Angeles, they have no problem finding young actors looking for parts. What’s interesting is that the auditions do indeed provide a glimpse into the cynical overlap between show business and Scientology. “The practices of Scientology are like acting class techniques,” Rathbun says. “You’re learning a new role in life.” Another moving presence is Jeff Hawkins, a former ma…

Rejecting Blood Sacrifice Theology, Again

By Peter Laarman

…arn that the good pastor is relocating himself from square Grand Rapids to Los Angeles, where sheep and goats freely mingle. Trying to get a fix on what “emergent” actually means isn’t easy, and movement leaders say that that is part of the point. Fixed definitions are so very 20th century, and the Emergent Church is nothing if not postmodern and label-evading. The Emergent Church is not a fixed form but a conversation, they say, and if being par…

Unauthorized Catholic Immigrants will Renew a Christian America, Archbishop Says

By Marie Friedmann Marquardt

…recover the Christian Origins of America.” Really? Is the Archbishop of Los Angeles suggesting that immigrants will bring about some sort of Christian Establishment in the United States? Is he proposing that we ditch the First Amendment? In a word: No. But pay close attention, or you’re likely to miss the point. Let me be perfectly clear: Archbishop Gomez’ approach to advocacy on behalf of unauthorized immigrants stands a good distance from…

The ‘Fake Christian’ Deflection and Contrarian Concern Trolling: How Not to Write about Evangelical Authoritarianism

By Chrissy Stroop

…lth measures, which he not only refused to do, but over which he also sued Los Angeles County. “The tragedy of MacArthur and other evangelicals’ pandemic denialism,” Hinch laments, is that “the evangelical prioritization of growth and power that motivated MacArthur has robbed the United States of an important source of social cohesion in a time of crisis.” Never mind that evangelical subculture has been a source of division in America since well b…

Mormon-Born Daya Mata Typifies American Yoga

By Andrea R. Jain

…diately that she wanted to follow him as her spiritual guide. She moved to Los Angeles and joined his Self-Realization Fellowship, took vows of renunciation and became one of the first nuns in its monastic order. Having been renamed Daya Mata (Mother of Compassion), she would be one of Yogananda’s closest disciples until his death in 1952. As the spiritual leader of the Self-Realization Fellowship, Daya Mata provided guidance and training for lay…

Dining with Dawkins in the Humanist Bosom

By Edward J. Larson

…ns’ approach may please secular humanists—it clearly pleased this crowd in Los Angeles—without making much headway in converting creationists. To tell anyone who identifies with an idea that her ideas are stupid is tantamount to calling her stupid no matter what gloss Dawkins wants to put on it. Still, he had this audience eating out of the palm of his hand. I was hoping for a reasoned presentation of his theories and their impact, such as about h…

Religion Reporting as Therapy? Praying for Help with Budget Crisis…

By Michael J. Altman

…igion of soccer, seminarians in Rome are quite happy to put on a pair of cleats. Forget the U.S. tie with England, I’m more interested in the Redemptoris Mater win over the North American Martyrs. Back in Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahoney defends his decision not to tell police about abuse within the Archdiocese. NPR examines the changing role of the Catholic Church in Cuban politics….

Taking the Economy Back From the Elites: Blessed Are the Organized

By Nathan Schneider

…nie and I hit it off during that first visit, and he invited me to come to Los Angeles to lead a two-day seminar on Democracy and Tradition for 50 or so organizers associated with the Industrial Areas Foundation, the confederation of citizens’ groups founded in 1940 by Saul Alinsky. After the seminar, I immediately headed out with some of the organizers into the communities they were working in. That’s where I collected my stories about Los Angele…