Religion Dispatches
…God’s name in vain. But, the Bible, while condemning all forms of sex that use or abuse one another, clearly states that anyone who has love, has God (1 John 4:7). The “liberal theology” of welcoming all of God’s children in love into God’s realm cleaves as close to biblical edict as any conservative theology could ever aspire to do. Instead of taking potshots across the bow at one another, though, I often wish liberals and conservatives could joi…
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…world of the jellyfish from very different vantage points, though not because he is a scientist and I am a theorist of things divine. Rather, because he sees the jellyfish as something that drinks from the fountain of youth and I see it as a sign of some kind of magic. But is the gulf between us really so deep? In his book The Constant Fire: Beyond the Religion vs. Science Debate (University of California Press, 2009), the astrophysicist Adam Fra…
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…ngresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote Monday night: “When politicians use faith as an excuse to pass and uphold laws that seize control of people’s bodies but not guarantee them healthcare, feed the poor, shelter the homeless, or welcome the stranger, you have to wonder if it’s really about faith at all.” No, you don’t have to wonder. It’s about their faith, full stop. Millions in this country—white evangelical Protestants and conservative wh…
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…become distorted within the wider culture, like all the cultural restrictions put on us, the ways we’re told to cover up and the way that our bodies are controlled and regulated by patriarchy and the ways we’re told we can and can’t use them. I would hope that this project pushes against that and focuses more on the positive. Like this story? Your tax-deductible $5 or $10 will help us pay writers, coders, interns, and editors. And will earn you o…
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…me journals and mimeographs from the 1960s and 1970s. What’s your next book? 2014 was a year with a lot of controversies surrounding monuments. I’m interested in the way monuments are used to inscribe particular histories and ideas of polity onto the land. I’m also interested in the way rituals are used to construct and change those meanings. The connection between ritual, sacred space, and narrative runs through a lot of my work. In my next book…
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…ntimidation, and censorship, and then argues for censoring the Qur’an. Because ‘Islam’ causes ‘extremism,’ an assumption that’s never proved, nor the terminology even defined. Islam in turn is what the Prophet Muhammad did (as per the claims of extremists, not any other Muslims). The way to stop extremism then is to eliminate or modify the personality of the Prophet Muhammad, either directly (i.e. through the use of force) or, as Hirsi Ali now pro…
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…irm boundaries. If that issue concerns institutional religion, so much the better, because the language of limits and hierarchies is already prominent in that sphere. That, I suspect, is the main reason evangelical Protestants are so eager to support the Catholic bishops even when a majority of the Catholic laity don’t support their bishops. A Conservative Quest for Absolute Truth Every time religion collides with politics and produces controvers…
Read More…s forced anal examinations The UN Committee Against Torture “condemned the use of forced anal examinations as an attempt to find ‘proof’ against people accused of homosexual conduct,” reported Human Rights Watch. The committee evaluates countries’ compliance with the Convention on Torture and Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment. Uganda: New documents released in SMUG lawsuit against Scott Lively Sexual Minorities Uganda is represented by the Ce…
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…ists absolutely use phrases like “have a blessed day.” Some Christians may use the phrase because they’re blissfully ignorant about the privilege they enjoy, but others undoubtedly do so because they’re among those Christians who enjoy throwing their Christianity in everyone else’s face. I’ve also heard evangelicals respond to “Happy holidays” with “Merry Christmas,” through gritted teeth and in a tone that is anything but merry. In fact, every Am…
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…e, this capacity has been buried beneath layers of prejudice and fear. Because all of us are products of the same divine benevolence, and because our divine creator is a real power moving within all of us to nurture what is good, we can enter conflicts in the hope that we can reach and connect with our opponents’ best selves, that fundamental part of who they are that is responsive to the needs of others. This is not to say that evil systems and f…
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