Religion Dispatches
…onversation. I’m very glad. Now that you say that, you’re right. Given how central religion is in American life, it is true that it doesn’t get dealt with a lot [in mainstream film]—from either side of the aisle. You were convinced that a movie would be more powerful in representing atheists than any number of books and speakers. You were at the national convention in Iowa. Some of the atheist speakers were pretty good, but you can’t compare any o…
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…ious right to coalesce around a Perry candidacy. But since his spectacular free-fall, some of the most visible promoters of The Response have abandoned him for other candidates: Don Wildmon, the founder of the virulently anti-gay American Family Association, which bankrolled the event, endorsed Newt Gingrich just before the Iowa caucuses. Jim Garlow, the California megachurch pastor who campaigned vigorously for the anti-gay marriage Proposition 8…
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…cience. But that’s the kind of year the GOP’s having. This year’s field of Republican presidential candidates has distinguished itself as possibly the least science-friendly in history. Rick Santorum’s over-the-top infatuation with creationism aside, Michele Bachmann has been especially vocal about her dislike of evolution. “I support intelligent design,” Bachmann told reporters earlier this year. “There is reasonable doubt on both sides.” As if t…
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Central Florida’s Tri-County Tea Party organized a rally for Governor Scott’s signing of a controversial state budget today in the massive retirement community known as The Villages. It seemed like a nice day for a drive so I thought I’d head south to attend the rally, talk to some tea partiers and listen to the speeches. Scott, whose public approval ratings are sinking in the polls, had chosen to move the signing from Tallahassee to the tea part…
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…in numbers and influence so did his financial worth. In 1972 the Satya Sai Central Trust was set up. Today the trust is estimated to be worth at least $8.9 billion. It has funded water supply projects in poor areas of southern India as well as ashrams, hospitals, universities, and several schools across India and globally. Sai Baba was most famous for his miracles—mainly materializations of valuable objects. He is believed to have had the power to…
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…eligion as the prime influence on their abortion views, compared to 40% of Republicans. 3. Republicans and anti-choice activists are unabashed about lying about Planned Parenthood. While defunding Planned Parenthood isn’t about abortion funding—the Hyde Amendment has prohibited federal funds from paying for abortions for three decades—the anti-Planned Parenthood crusaders falsely portray Planned Parenthood’s main mission as abortion, and frequentl…
Read More…ne the Sanctuary of God.” The church gave shelter to thousands fleeing the Central American death squads. In 1986, Fife was one of eight activists convicted on alien-smuggling charges and served five years’ probation. His fellow defendant, Sister Darlene Nicgorski, argued for her First Amendment right to practice her religion, saying, “If I am guilty of anything, I am guilty of the gospel.” Still, some politicians don’t think SB 1070, which is und…
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…order that the rights of all members of the society may be maintained and promoted, we support innovative bargaining procedures that include representatives of the public interest in negotiation and settlement of labor-management contracts, including some that may lead to forms of judicial resolution of issues. We reject the use of violence by either party during collective bargaining or any labor/management disagreement. We likewise reject the p…
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…e credited Merton with returning him and his fellow monks’ thoughts to the central values of mysticism and of solitude. It is only in such a manner that the monk can find the divine love in which celibacy makes sense. Delightfully, the image of such God-infused love came to Father Matthew on his first experience with a motorcycle. “One day everything fell together and I was mounted,” he says somewhat playfully and naughtily. “Is this a good way to…
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…t the Karmapa’s makeshift headquarters near Dharamsala in North India. The Central Government of India, following weeks of investigation, finally cleared Karmapa of any wrongdoing (the money they found had indeed been an accumulation of donations). Speculations abound on what really triggered the raid last month, and there are various conspiracy theories, though it now appears that local politics played a key role. After the money was seized, all…
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