Religion Dispatches
…eresting is that the man who leading the campaign is invoking the name of John Scopes, the science teacher convicted in 1925 for teaching evolution: [T]oday’s evolutionary scientists have become the modern-day equivalents of those who tried to silence Rhea County schoolteacher John Scopes for teaching evolution in 1925, by limiting even an objective discussion of the scientific strengths and weaknesses of evolutionary theory,” David Fowler, head o…
Read More…Conor Friedersdorf, for one, is unimpressed. Noting Pawlenty’s distinctly uncourageous life story, he writes: “a more accurate biography theme would be, ‘Well Adjusted Man From Loving Family Is Hardworking, Unlikely To Do Anything Terribly Objectionable, And Possessed Of More Wisdom Than Average.’” Some anti-choice activists, though, are hailing Pawlenty as an ahead-of-the-curve, shall we say courageous advocate for their increasingly radical agen…
Read More…cards, and which employs a radio host who compares gay people to Nazis and advocates for the deportation of Muslims. Indeed several Democratic governors have offered the excuse that they have hosted or are planning their own days of prayer (Minnesota’s Mark Dayton, New Hampshire’s John Lynch, and Washington’s Christin Gregoire), because official praying events now appear to be a prerequisite for high office. Still, though, Perry’s very short gube…
Read More…t deliberately misled them about the long-term damage caused by repeated concussions. Increasingly, players and commentators alike are asking whether the sport of football is ethical at all in light of the early death and major brain disorders linked to it. But football, as you know, is really not very far removed from Catholic culture. Students at Catholic colleges, high schools and even grade schools across the country play football. Ten of the…
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…the 1920s? Well, yes, if you agree with H.L. Menken’s characterization of Dayton, Ohio’s religious populace as “yokels,” “morons,” or “hillbillies.” Or if you’re fine with the anti-Semitic undertones in the coverage of the Leo Frank trial and the anti-Hindu coverage that ran through Western newspapers in the 1910s and 1920s. Reporters were no more open-minded, judicious, or incisive in the 19th century. Newspapers went all out to cover religious…
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…articulated by social scientist Lyman Kellstedt and his colleagues (these include support for the “truth or inerrancy of Scripture”), Searching for Sunday is saturated with biblical content, the fruits of a childhood spent in scripture memorization. Truth she can affirm. Inerrancy, notsomuch. Evans clearly has no problem meeting a less scientific test of religious identity. According to the historian George Marsden, an evangelical is “anyone who l…
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…out people who tested positive for the HIV virus, the Dallas Morning News included 23-year-old Charles, a gay intravenous drug user. Since learning his status, Charles stopped taking drugs and started helping people with AIDS. Although he did not belong to a religious group, he saw his work as a spiritual mission, telling the paper that “he was ‘standing in the way of the hand of God’ until he dedicated himself to helping people with AIDS.” The Mo…
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…ther turn of the spiral. Facing Pharaoh in the White House and in the Corporate Carbon Pharaohs intent on burning our Earth to pile still higher pyramids of profit, I realize that never again can the Seder freeze. Now, again, we need a new Freedom Seder. “In every generation …” Indeed. What makes time and life into a spiral, instead of a straight line or an endless circle, is setting aside time for reflection, rest, renewal. That renewal-time—Shab…
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…alize even more powerfully the skills that Coach Wooden had, and tried to incorporate his ideas into my pedagogy. He was also a man of deep faith, though he didn’t wear his religion on his sleeve. None of the fifteen blocks of the Pyramid of Success, for example, are about religion; the mortar was patience and faith (“through prayer,” as he wrote). Family, faith, and friends were the three most important things to him. He never imposed his Christi…
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…zation with the financial and editorial muscle of the Globe behind it. It incorporated in-depth reporting on the American church from Michael O’Loughlin, columns from Margery Eagan, and Rome reporting from Allen and Ines San Martin. The Boston Globe’s reputation for fierce honesty in its church coverage helped bolster the site, and Allen’s decades of experience, coupled with the skill of its writing staff, made the site an important voice. In the…
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