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Ainslie Embree’s Gift to Religious Studies

By Mark Juergensmeyer

…a PhD in history at Columbia University. It remained his academic home for most of the rest of his rich career as a professor, dean, department chair, and member of the US diplomatic service in Delhi. Columbia had created a Western Civilization requirement and Embree, along with the China expert Theodore deBary, were determined to make it a global civilization requirement. Embree created the textbook, Sources of Indian Tradition, that became stand…

On Pi Day, Puzzling Over the Most Famous Transcendental Number

By Ilana E. Strauss

…of digits, reciting them like mantras. In medieval times, the philosopher Moses Maimonides wrote that pi’s reality has not been found, only approximated. “The ratio between a diameter of a circle and its distance around is not known,” writes Maimonides, who goes on to recommend 22/7 as an approximation. More recently, Pi, the main character in 2001 novel Life of Pi, calls pi an “elusive, irrational number with which scientists try to understand t…

The March for Life: Grassroots Movement or Agitprop?

By Patricia Miller

…Mike Pence. With only about 100 buses permitted for the city, compared to 1,800 for the Women’s March, organizers are suddenly claiming it’s not about the numbers after all. March for Life President Jeanne Mancini told the Times: I don’t think that these numbers are the most important. The number most important for us is 58 million, which is the number of Americans that have been lost to abortion. But either they have the numbers or they don’t. A…

From Shofars to Hammers: The Spiritual Warriors of MAGA are ‘ReAwakening’ to Political Violence

By Mark Clatterbuck

…ie Green, widely regarded as a modern-day prophet within NAR circles, was among the most highly anticipated speakers at the rally. She claims to channel God’s voice, often while on stage. I watched audience members literally move to the edge of their seats to better catch her every word. She also serves as a spiritual advisor to Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano who has well-documented ties to the apocalyptic gun-churc…

Argue-by-Number: A Suggestion for the Church

By Mark D. Jordan

…do, and they share only that one joke-book. But what explains the constant number-calling around homosexuality in so many American churches? Why do we rehearse arguments most anyone active in church has already heard dozens of time? Why do we behave like prisoners? I don’t think that long-term veterans of church debates have much hope that undecided people will be persuaded by the repetition. Most of us know that persuasion happens in other, more…

The Sacred and the Dead: Operator, Can You Help Me?

By Maren Haynes

…chnology actually keep us? My generation—the dreaded millennials —seems to move more than any previous generation. Like many of my peers, I left my hometown at age 18. Though I guess I always intended to return, I’ve moved ever farther away from my source, spending years in Washington, California, Arizona. I also spent weeks or months back home in Montana, or abroad, or on the road. This mobile life, especially when linked to that naive adolescent…

In the Aftermath of the “Himalayan Tsunami”

By Luke Whitmore

…e officially involved with the rebuilding of Kedarnath. Modi is one of the most famous faces of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the main national rival of the Congress party. At the same time, Uttarakhand has announced that the rebuilding of Kedarnath will take place in partnership with the Archaeological Survey of India, a national organization connected to the central government. The temple is going to be rebuilt, better than ever, with safeguards i…

“Giving Godhead”: A Bloody Vision of Religion’s Deepest Influence

By Spencer Dew

…us moments at a revival, goes slack sometimes, and this book has its limp, cheap moments, cellophane grass and gassy puns that might only elicit an “organ yawn” from readers. It may not be the best poetry collection in English published this year—that may, in fact, like rivers of milk and honey or peace and goodwill between all humans on earth, simply not be a thing—but Giving Godhead is a worthwhile example of art using the so-called sacrilegious…

Swiss Priest Sacked for Blessing Lesbian Couple; Mormon Equality Advocate Excommunicated; Pope-Backed Anti-Gay Referendum Fails; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…ws this week by calling couples who choose not to have children “selfish.” Mormon Church: Pro-LGBT Advocate Excommunicated John Dehlin, a supporter of marriage equality and the host of the “Mormon Stories” podcast was excommunicated following a disciplinary hearing on Sunday. The conflict between Dehlin and church leadership has been brewing for some months; Dehlin wrote in July that he thought he was “being considered for disciplinary action” bec…

Yes, It’s Worse To Be Gay in Russia

By Chrissy Stroop

…this sort of false equivalence from socially liberal Russians. I reside in Moscow these days, and most of the Russians I know to any degree of depth have no problem with same-sex relationships—and this includes at least one intellectual who supports the Putin regime and United Russia in general. These Russians can sometimes be surprised by the results of public opinion polls such as the one described above. Loving their country without being natio…