Religion Dispatches
…ourselves. This is quite a different ars poetica than the “First thought, best thought,” that Allen Ginsberg espoused (via his teacher Chogyam Trungpa). It is, rather, the intuition, mentioned earlier, wherein we can confront such vital questions as “Who am I?” and “How can I deal with my pain?” It’s precisely here we can awaken to our inner teacher. To that aim, Stephen Levine’s exemplary poetry inspires us to trust our own vision, hold it, make…
Read More…towards Islam and the upcoming Peter King hearings, ran some more specific numbers for me, and reports: “Evangelicals are significantly more likely than the general population and than other religious groups to say they most trust Fox News. More than 4-in-10 (41%) Evangelicals say they most trust Fox News, compared to 20% of Mainline Protestants, 21% of minority Christians, 29% of white Catholics, and 22% of the unaffiliated. The [general populat…
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…Two guys often criticized as enemies of religion in fact depict it at its idealized best, prompting us to think about how valuable it can be. The story follows two missionaries, Elders Cunningham and Price, as they attempt to spread the word in a village in Uganda. If there is an uncomfortable stereotype in the show, it’s of Ugandans, who appear hyperbolically poor, backward, violent, and ignorant. The audience’s first view of Uganda is dominated…
Read More…believe we live this life according to our own will and trust in the Lord. I just don’t get the idea that unless I get a specific, personal, one-on-one message, then I cannot do the best I can with what God has given me. But then, as all the great Muslim thinkers conclude at the end of their writings: Allah knows best….
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…outhat is reminded of Islam? Strange, yes. I could use stronger words. The best historical analogy Douthat can find to the factionalism rending apart an American political party is a conflict between two great Middle Eastern superpowers, divided by religion, each intent on physically eliminating the other? But it’s not a bad analogy, you see. It’s a Freudian slip of an analogy, revealing what Douthat is really thinking—and offering a surprising in…
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…The show opens with shots of goatee-sporting blonde Kody Brown wearing his best pin-striped suit and sitting at the wheel of his white Lexus convertible, then cuts to shots of Kody Brown bopping around under a big white tent at a wedding reception, encircled by a passel of blonde wives and blonde kids, as Brown’s voice-over intones: “My name is Kody Brown, and you’ve gotta meet my family. I like marriage. . . . And I’m a repeat offender.” What fol…
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…o regroup the protesters who’ve been scattered by the police. Is money the best thing you have to leave your grandchildren? Is a killing in the market your best incentive for not killing yourself? Yes, some of your colleagues would laugh at you if you went out to protest. Marie Antoinette laughed too, until she found herself smiling up from the bottom of a wicker basket. The image will seem over-the-top only to the slow learners. I mean tho…
Read More…off last year after my accident.) You know what they say about saving the best for last?! So it is appropriate, I think, that in my reading I came across several discussions about the ummah which gave me additional food for thought. The word ummah comes from the same root as the word for mother, umm, in Arabic. So, with such a root, you should get the picture already. It’s about intimate connections. But it is never used for family nor even for e…
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…has been the nearest that we have had in recent years, though he is at his best as a charismatic orator rather than as a public intellectual in the ordinary sense. In print, West’s Christianity can seem superficial, but performed to an audience, West displays a powerful charisma. At his best, West avoids giving white audiences what they want; he takes risks and makes sacrifices because of his convictions; and he welds ideology critique alongside s…
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…ral European occult practices, and freemasonry. Although Matthew tried his best to hide this religious bricolage, his papers offer a rare opportunity to see how new religions are made. Is there anything you had to leave out? Tons. I came to see Black Israelites as being very closely related to Black Muslims. Not only was there overlap between the groups’ memberships, but it was not uncommon for groups to blend elements of both Judaism and Islam in…
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