Religion Dispatches
…ing their children to do the same, they could win the culture wars through numbers alone. What’s the most important take-home message for readers? My main concern about these convictions is not so much the plans for Christian dominion that Quiverfull authors and homeschooling ministries discuss, but rather that in the service of these ideas, many women are subjecting themselves to an often punishing lifestyle. Quiverfull is not just about the…
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…g, then one can see their fruits in Germany today. Last month, following a number of horrid, hateful slogans chanted at Jews (in the context of otherwise legitimate protests against Israel’s attack on Gaza), and a number of violent incidents, there was a large public vigil in Berlin to protest anti-Semitism. Among the attendees were German President Joachim Guack, members of Germany’s parliament, leaders of both of the country’s major churches, an…
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…nature in economics. Most of the rest of my argument builds on data point number 5, focusing on how religious studies (as if that’s a monolithic thing) to date has talked about the natural world. I share the below as someone who is at the core of my training a religionist who’s vested in using education to build a better, more sustainable society. I recognize that understanding the role of religion in society is of import as we work toward this g…
Read More…n-forum/protest called “Fighting for Academic Freedom.” At the meeting, a number of LGBT students made clear that they were profoundly upset by the administration’s decision. One student noted that the college’s actions had “further alienated the LGBT community”; that Lena’s decision implied that LGBT people were not “creatures of value and worth”; and that Providence had “directly defied the pope’s ecumenical redirection to a deeper respect for…
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…countability. Morality requires the ability to discern and decide. We have free will because we can comprehend why biblical principles lead to the flourishing of persons, society, and world. “God’s wisdom and truth are, in principle,” Yoram Hazony writes, “recognizable as such by human beings, according to the standards of the present world.” This is neither the simple call to follow the words of Scripture, as ironically many progressives are now…
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…these days, we must all be “secure,” no matter how minuscule the risk, and freedom—even the freedom to follow our own conscience—be damned. I don’t know if we’ll ever have the chance to meet our Syrian family now, but if we do I hope I will be able to offer the formal greeting one might expect of a man of God: Assalamu Alaikom warahmatu Allahi wa barakatuhu, “Peace be with you, and God’s mercy and blessings,” without having to add under my breath,…
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…ve them, President Obama has been extremely reticent to commit substantial numbers of ground troops to wars that have no clear exit strategy. He can however get away with this because he’s worked hard to build alliances and partnerships with other countries who bear some of the burden, put their own troops into the fight, and help us in the common war against ISIS. Many of these partners are Muslim, if they do not explicitly consider themselves Is…
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…federal controls over food, drugs, and rail rates. He set up the US Forest Service and brought 230,000,000 acres of land under federal protection from corporate development. He intervened in the 1902 coal miners’ strikes, earning the workers higher pay and a shorter work week. He supported an inheritance tax that would increase with the size of the estate. And set out to use federal power to reform the rules for football. All told, the Lincoln-T.R…
Read More…family matters to guide the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics. And speak freely, they have. The result has been the most momentous, and contentious, meeting of bishops in the 50 years since the Second Vatican Council, which brought the church into the modern era. The meeting has exposed deep fault lines between traditionalists focused on shoring up doctrine, and those who want the church to be more open to Catholics who are divorced, gay, single…
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…ce him and maybe even harm him. Last month, Carson claimed he needs Secret Service protection because “I’m in great danger because I challenge the secular progressive movement to the very core.” Carson also appears to see himself as a prophet warning of the subterfuge used by “secular progressives.” As is evident if you watch the exchange with Camerota, or Carson’s hectoring news conference yesterday, questioning him is trying to “change the subje…
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