Religion Dispatches
…or who strikes it rich through oil and blood, but about the rebirth of the United States as a world force at the start of the twentieth century. And his first great film, Boogie Nights, is about a porn star, but also a cultural history moving from the 1970s to the Reaganite ’80s, and shifting attitudes toward sex, drugs, and rock and roll. He’s a great filmmaker, with a brilliant grasp of imagery (even the choice to shoot much of the film in 65mm…
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…with their beliefs” routinely demonized by the soon-to-be President of the United States. Although he doesn’t mention specific legislation, it’s not hard to read between the lines and infer that Perkins is referring to the so-called First Amendment Defense Act, a sweeping federal bill that could allow any individual, health care provider, business or corporation to refuse to serve or treat LGBT people or unmarried mothers, so long as they cite a “…
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…k the federal courts with Christian nationalist ideologues, is pushing the United States backwards on civil rights. Seidel also addressed the history and significance of drag as an art form, noting that Shakespeare can’t be performed without crossdressing as it’s central to the plots of many of his comedies. As he made these points, Seidel changed into drag himself, concluding his talk in a long black skirt, pantyhose, robin egg blue heels, and a…
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…the real journey is one of self-discovery. The religious landscape of the United States has profoundly changed since the genesis of the Grateful Dead 50 years ago, especially in terms of the dramatic rise of the number of Americans who are no longer affiliated with traditional religious institutions or denominations. In the absence of traditional religious affiliation, people are increasingly turning to popular culture to explore and interrogate…
Read More…ty, believes there could be a biblical basis for a death penalty, that the United Nations has promoted the “homosexual agenda” to Uganda’s detriment, and he lauded the bill’s promoters’ efforts to take a “principled stand” against that. It’s no wonder, then, that Bahati and Oyet interpreted his statements as supportive of their ambitions. Engle claimed to not specifically remember meeting with Bahati and Oyet while in Kampala, telling me: I don’t…
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…p from 26 in 2007]… accounting for just under 50% of all executions in the United States” in 2008. “Seven of those executed had been convicted in Dallas County.” The number of executions nationwide dropped to 37 in 2008, a 14-year low. According to USA Today, “The Death Penalty Information Center, which opposes capital punishment and compiles annual statistics, reports that for the most part only Southern states resumed executions. Ohio, which car…
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…el), a heroic Christian general lies to the president and secedes from the United States with several nuclear bases. The moral: Robertson may never again be a major politician, and when he sold out to Rupert Murdoch he gave up some of his power to shape the news. But he still helps form the imaginations of the students at his university and the viewers of his show. In this role he often channels their hopes and fears into imagining holy wars—scena…
Read More…the world of liberal American religion. An interfaith group called Faiths United To Prevent Gun Violence held a Gun Violence Prevention Sabbath this weekend, in conjunction with the National Cathedral (hardly an obscure institution) and 1,000 houses of worship around the country. If there is any issue that should compel people (religious or not) to action, the daily, senseless deaths of Americans to gun violence should certainly be one. But despi…
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…to be held accountable for their racism. Too many people are hearing this coded rhetoric and deciding that the real problem with the economy must be folks of color, immigrants, and the Jews.” During the last period of Patriot and militia growth in the mid-1990s, Ward witnessed this coded racist rhetoric being tested in the margins of the right-wing media, though it has since moved into the mainstream. In the past year I’ve interviewed dozens of a…
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…Hinduism, Buddhism, and many others. But as more immigrants arrived to the United States after the 1965 immigration act, that situation began to shift. By the 1990s, two key trends emerged: there were many communities who preferred that they teach about their own traditions, and not leave it only to university professors who did not experience the tradition themselves. Second, several communities, including Sikhs, had been in the U.S. long enough…
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