Religion Dispatches
…d by troubling implication, the judgment is now to be directed against the United States, not against the Iranians. The bizarre implication of the way Warren reads his scriptures places the United States in the surreal position of being like the Amorites, the Amalekites, or worset—which is precisely what the so-called Enemies of Freedom are claiming that we have become. Behind all of these scriptural and theological confusions lies a still deeper…
Read More
…s to the far corners of the globe: Canada, South Africa, Australia and the United States. Thus Orthodoxy emerged in the United States as an immigrant church, the church of Southern and Eastern European immigrants, as well as Arabs—all of whom occupied the lower rungs of America’s all-important racial pecking order. Consequently, respectability and assimilation quickly became important goals of these communities. This longing for assimilation, if n…
Read More
…argely untouched by two trends that have long marked religious life in the United States: a decades-long decline in the share of Americans who identify as Christian, and a corresponding increase in the percentage who say they have no religious affiliation.” Specifically, the new Congress’s membership is over 87% Christian, while Christians currently make up only 63% of the population. Not only are Protestants overrepresented at 56.7% of the Congre…
Read More
…ophetic community. And a populist movement is going to be raised up in the United States that is going to become the Great Awakening.” “It’s the spirit of God that has been on you your whole life,” he declares, “preparing you for this moment in history.” Walnau is just one of many who foresee violence. Last year, Prophet Amanda Grace, for example, blew a shofar to open a ReAwaken event, explaining, “When the shofar was blown, the walls of Jericho…
Read More
…of a federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage. A decision by the United States Supreme Court recognizing same-sex marriage would certainly have led to efforts to amend the Constitution so as to overturn that result, and it is by no means clear that such an effort could have been blocked. Even if a proposed amendment had been prevented, the result would have been renewed public support for right-wing politicians who would work with renewe…
Read More
…government. Studies of late twentieth-century legislative decisions in the United States did show—unsurprisingly—that they favored the interests of the wealthy. The studies did not demonstrate, however, that these decisions threatened democracy, just that they went against public opinion on certain issues such as estate taxes and support for a minimum wage. Again: Hunh?? And not a word here about Citizens United or about the rivers of dark money t…
Read More
…ashington” (AP)~Evangelist Billy Graham told a crowd from the steps of the United States Capitol yesterday: “If I would run for President of the United States today, on a platform of calling the people back to God, back to Christ, back to the Bible, I’d be elected. ‘”There is a hunger for God today.” The 33-year-old, blonde, wavy haired preacher gave two sermons during the course of an hour-long meeting carried coast-to-coast by a radio network. I…
Read More…olitical nonentity, a person who possesses no rights as articulated by the United States or the United Nations. The US Constitution does not apply directly to such nonentities, and neither does the Geneva Convention, nor the UN Declaration on Human Rights [whose 60th anniversary is tomorrow, December 10th. Look for RD’s feature for the occasion—ed.]. And so these evil people sit, many of them, in an equally amorphous political zone at Guantanamo B…
Read More…ring to debate health care reform legislation. The Catholic bishops of the United States strongly support genuine health care reform that protects the life and dignity of all, from the moment of conception until natural death. However, all current bills are seriously deficient on abortion and conscience rights, and do not yet provide adequate access to health care for immigrants and the poor. In your pews/bulletins today, you’ll find a special fli…
Read More…ciation bankrolled the event, sent an email to registrants introducing the United in Purpose voter registration project Champion the Vote. Wildmon wrote, “research has shown that it takes only 5 million voters to influence the outcome of an election. This is a do-able goal, and Champion the Vote is seeking Champions – an army of volunteers — to help with the effort. A Champion is simply a Christian talking to other Christians about registering and…
Read More