Religion Dispatches
…lived partially as Jews, and had some status in the Jewish community. But today’s non-Jewish Jews aren’t identifying as such because they live in Jewish enclaves, but because identifying as “Jewish” has become an asset and fashionable; it’s no longer a liability. The impact this community will have on the Jewish community remains to be seen. *Read more from “Pew and the Jews: ‘So What?’”, an RD special feature on the Pew survey. Like this story?…
Read More…rotect this most fundamental institution—marriage. “There is no doubt that today’s ruling will add to the marriage debate in this country, and we urge people on all sides of this issue to act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility toward those with a different opinion.” As we’ve reported here at RD, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, responding to a letter from the Church’s First Presidency read over the pulpits during…
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…an ancient biblical story about a cataclysmic flood to life for audiences today. Was it biblical? Was it the least biblical Bible movie ever made? These questions flare up in what is frankly a flat and over-rehearsed debate about the Bible in American life. Honestly, does it matter whether a movie is biblical? Do the spiritual-but-not-religious care? Do those evangelicals who grow tired of the stereotype made of them in the media care? Do secular…
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…who profited from putting up pilgrims and selling food and wares. Then as today, approval by the Vatican involved both strict alignment with doctrine and a spotless personal record for anyone involved. Trends in official sainthood have changed over time based on who best represents the political and theological interests of the Vatican. Still, the Catholic Church tends not to uphold stringent regulations on folk devotion. Most apparitions, miracl…
Read More…and a more equitable role for women in LDS Church leadership and service. Today, the global operations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are governed and directed by an all-male organizational chain of command. Mormon women may participate in some decision-making at the congregational level. But at all levels most forms of institutional power—from the power to shape the church’s global policies and finances to the power to bles…
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…developed a dynamic culture and practice of musical theater that persists today, which importantly set the stage for Broadway’s satirical, full-circle swing back to Mormons in 2011—over 180 years and several iterations later, Mormonism was back in New York where it had started. Mormons were something of an easy target in 2011, what with the Mormon Church’s opposition to marriage equality and Mitt Romney’s seemingly picture perfect life running pe…
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…se 50 years. We are still in the struggle, but we have lost ground. We see today the commodification of nearly every aspect of our lives: commodification in health care, in education, and even commodification within democracy itself, with the Supreme Court ruling that money is speech and that corporations are especially privileged people. As Harvard’s Michael Sandel frames it, we are transitioning from having a capitalist economy to being a capita…
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…taining a prohibition on public funding of abortions justifies support for today’s Republican Party. But bishops should be wary of such a judgment. Today’s Republican Party is not an appropriate or reliable vehicle for the advancement of Catholic teaching in the medium and long run because of the simple but profound fact that no American political party ever is such a vehicle or ever will be. But the association with Trump leaves a particularly da…
Read MoreToday Gallup announced the results of a survey in which 77 percent of Americans “say religion is losing its influence on American life,” which represents “the most negative evaluation” of religion’s impact since 1970. Writing today in Religion Dispatches, I have to wonder about the future of any publication with “religion” in its name. Is it time for a mission overhaul or simply rebranding? It’s not that RD has been oblivious to the trend. An int…
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…Saiving and are surprised to discover her work. Witness the blogosphere of today. Theological Nostalgia “I am a student of theology; I am also a woman,” wrote Saiving in the first two sentences of “The Human Situation.” She was recognized in that issue of Time alongside reports of the Nixon/Kennedy rivalry, of unrest at Vanderbilt over the expulsion of “Negro Divinity Student James M. Lawson Jr. for promoting sit in demonstrations,” and of various…
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