Religion Dispatches
…ould stand. This latest mandate to reform the LCWR—indeed to put it out of business—has been in the works for years. In a process that began in 2008, the “doctrinal assessment,” as it is known, was aimed at investigating the “serious doctrinal problems which affect many in Consecrated Life.” In the face of wars in several parts of the world, ecological crises throughout the planet, and severe economic injustice, it is morally embarrassing that the…
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…of these feelings through some curious approaches to painting and a shrewd business distribution system. Critics easily dismissed his paintings as kitsch, poor art, or perhaps not even art at all. While I don’t really like Kinkade’s paintings, I believe it would be naïve to simply dismiss his work, to stop querying the deeper reasons for its mass appeal. Kinkade’s pictures may or may not tell us much about art, but they do tell us about the work o…
Read More…h Catholic teaching than hanging on to the hospitals and not providing any number of services that people need to be free from unnecessary suffering: voluntary sterilization when you have all the children you can afford; assisted reproduction when you long to have a child, the ability to end your life with dignity when the pain has become unmanageable psychologically or physically. Nothing says that other nonprofits could not run those hospitals a…
Read More…ial inequality. They took themselves to task for remaining stuck in middle-class “comfort zones,” and failing to bring “the Kingdom” into the world. This propensity for self-criticism intrigued me because it confirmed how the distance between religious idealism and action can be a touchy issue, one that many people talk about but only a few actually seek to resolve. So I started working with socially engaged evangelicasl: church leaders, activists…
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…story of the Inquisition of Spain, quotes at length from the “passionless, businesslike” report of the recording secretary: One cord was applied to the arms and twisted [….] She was told to tell what she had done contrary to our holy Catholic faith. She said “Take me from here and tell me what I have to say—they hurt me—Oh my arms, my arms!” which she repeated many times and went on “I don’t remember—tell me what I have to say—O wretched me!—I wil…
Read More…he believes “the state government should start to get out of the education business and put it to the local and into the community.” In case it’s not clear that “the community” means parents, not citizens though local government, Gingrich clarified: “I agree with Rick’s point… and I’d urge the local communities the turn most of the power back to the parents.” Ron Paul joked, “Newt’s going in the right direction, but not far enough.” The religious…
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…ry praise of the last three popes, Boteach gets down to his Glenn Beck-ish business: “The American Evangelical community has proven the most stalwart and reliable friend of Israel in the United States.” Christians and Jews are now “brothers” because “together they confront the implacable foe of Islamist terrorism.” Later Boteach writes that “Christian Evangelicals have proven themselves stalwart when it comes to foreign policy, fighting terrorists…
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…ing. The son and grandson of ministers, Alston says religion is his family business: “My life is tied up in that culture.” Alston is the director of Auburn Media, a project of New York’s Auburn Seminary, which will be promoting the documentary this year along with a “Friends and Family Plan” campaign. Alston said he hopes to organize 500 community screenings between now and the film’s official release in the fall. Robinson says he has found that n…
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…ey face a common enemy. Alternate histories are usually insightful for any number of reasons (and fun for those reasons, too), but why the author chooses to write them can be equally illuminating. What pushed you to write this, and when did you start on it? Like a lot of novelists, I started thinking about writing a 9/11 story pretty much from the moment the towers fell. I wanted to write something distinctive, though, not just a minor variation o…
Read More…ed pregnancy from occurring. They are not abortifacients. The FDA does not classify them abortifacients. Here’s how the Mayo Clinic explains the difference (emphasis added): Keep in mind that the morning-after pill isn’t the same as mifepristone (Mifeprex), also known as RU-486 or the abortion pill. The morning-after pill can prevent pregnancy. If you’re already pregnant when you take the morning-after pill, the treatment will be ineffective and w…
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