Religion Dispatches
…toric. When Iowa did it in 2009, it was a shocker. Iowa? Really? But, when New York did it this past weekend – I predict it will be remembered as the tipping point. “The more that other states recognize the fairness and the importance of passing equal marriage rights, the more likely it is to pass here,” said Patrick Wojahn, the chairman of the board of the Equality Maryland Foundation, which fought this year’s marriage battle in Annapolis. “It’s…
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…is about freedom. That’s what that was all about. It was about individual freedom, it was about economic freedom, it was about individual rights. This is, of course, the very “States’ Rights” rhetoric that sparked outrage in the first place. And the follow-up to every claim that the Civil War was about “individual rights” and “economic freedom” has to be followed up with the questions: “individual rights to what? economic freedom to do what exact…
Read More…y claim. I was ready to be proud once again, but about 30 seconds into the new ad, I was appalled and disappointed. The ad, set to some rockin’ acoustic guitar music, is bouncing along wonderfully, highlighting the diversity of the UCC. Then, a man and a woman share a prolonged kiss. The next scene is a pastor pronouncing two women married – the women turn to one another and … cut to the next scene. Wait! What? I get to see two hot young heterosex…
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…ware and civically engaged? Malcolm Gladwell recently wrote a piece in The New Yorker, “Small Change: Why the revolution will not be tweeted,” comparing the effectiveness of social media activism with the protests and activism of the civil rights movement. The conclusion Gladwell draws from his analysis, as is evident in the title, is to dismiss the effectiveness of new social media by arguing that it operates off of weak ties, rather than the str…
Read More…tion for the journey. According to legend, Phoenician explorers called the new land they discovered “Barr Ilu,” “The Continent of God.” The pilgrims coming from England via Leiden, were indeed that—religious pilgrims who longed for a new world in which they could imagine a society without religious persecution. The discovery of water on Mars is a moment in which we can imagine afresh the origins of life. On the one hand, exploration is one of the…
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…abella of Spain forbade Columbus and his crew from enslaving people in the New World, unless those people were cannibals. If they were cannibals, the Queen announced, Columbus could take them, put them in chains, and sell them wherever he pleased, inside or outside Isabella’s many realms. Reports of cannibalism in the New World spiked. In general, cannibalism is widely reported but difficult to confirm. Subjects will often tell ethnographers about…
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…entic” religion and popular, secular practice. In Sweat Equity: Inside the New Economy of Mind and Body, journalist Jason Kelly traces the connections between money and fitness culture. He recently spoke with The Cubit about running highs, meditation apps, and the inherent difficulty of selling authenticity. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You argue that Millennials treat fitness—and especially group fitness classes—as an al…
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…trates how a different context for a work of art creates new meaning for a new audience. Today, the civil rights battle over marriage equality becomes the new backdrop for a protest musical peppered with religious imagery at every turn—lesbian and gay folks are left hoping that we may finally be experiencing the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. Hair, Circa 1968 The original production of Hair was a departure for the Broadway stage because of its ra…
Read More…eligious right wing, there have been low grumblings of protest against the new law, but for a nation where a woman’s hemline or her seat on a public bus can set off a firestorm, the response has been surprisingly muted. Dr. Eli Schussheim, chairman of the pro-life group Efrat, likened the decision to theft, saying that by allocating funding for non-medically necessary abortions, the committee “is stealing… from sick people… and giving the money in…
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…list elites who have planned and prepared for this opportunity to impose a new world order: a new global government with a new economic system. In the spiritual context he will be enacting a Satanic plot to usurp the role and identity of the Messiah and gain the adulation of the world. Wielding great military power this self-aggrandizing human savior will force an end to war and impose a secular humanist paradigm and religious pluralism as a remed…
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