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Disaster Theology: Blame and Powerlessness in Japan

By Clark Strand

…al deflation on the value of human life. Given that Japan has always been particularly vulnerable to volcanic eruptions and other seismic events, not to mention pestilence and war, it must have seemed to such true believers that the Buddhist teachings on Mappo were more often right than wrong. Today few of these attitudes prevail. Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara’s attempt last week to evoke the specter of tenbatsu, or “divine punishment,” against…

Big MoPublican Primary 2012: Dignity Watch

By Joanna Brooks

…Gap—an anecdote meant to telegraph regular-guy likeability and connubial charm, but that instead carries the undeniable scent of humiliation, as in, your wife bought you skinny jeans? It’s all about as convincing as those photos of John Kerry in hunting camouflage that circulated back in 2004. Meanwhile, the fledgling Jon Huntsman Jr. campaign (which some observers believe has staked out a netfoothold at this intriguing little site) has tried to e…

The Man Who Hoarded 17,000 Bottles of Sanitizer Did Nothing Wrong ― And That’s the Problem

By Daniel Schultz

…and sanitizer are set inefficiently when it’s sold through the local supermarket or Target; the market will bear higher prices, and Colvin is willing to do the leg work to collect the premium. Colvin says that it costs him more to deliver the goods than might be apparent: “Just because it cost me $2 in the store doesn’t mean it’s not going to cost me $16 to get it to your door.” He might be downplaying to defend his profit, but he’s probably not f…

Sexist, Homophobic Representatives of “The Black Church” Just Want to Make Black America Great Again

By Anita Little

…hort. When it comes to the black underclass America’s two major political parties appear to have achieved a rare unity in their record of bipartisan indifference. It is for this reason we, clergy and intellectuals who serve the poor, Democrats and independents, appeal to you. Alright, alright, sounds pretty on the level so far. The letter then moves to its first bullet point, addressing the lack of education and employment opportunities for black…

Facebook Doesn’t Kill Churches, Churches Kill Churches

By Elizabeth Drescher

…t and social entrepreneur Rosa Lee Harden’s riff on a quote attributed to Karl Barth—“We must hold the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.” It also shares a distributed, de-centered practice of ministry that values the contributions of others. It expresses a practice of social and spiritual interactivity that is woefully absent from most of the Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, and other online locales established by religious instituti…

Why Can’t We Take Death Seriously? The Obama Administration’s Latest Retreat

By Peter Laarman

…wing older not to make sure that we have our affairs in order by way of clear health care directives. I realize that religion’s cultured despisers—militant atheists and others—like to say that believers are actually the main perpetrators of delusion and denial when it comes to dying. They love throwing St. Paul’s words about resurrection into our faces: “Death has been swallowed up in victory: Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is yo…

Meditation is Very Relaxing, Says New York Times

By Jay Michaelson

…t. Like Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love, what Atlas describes is not particularly unusual; he goes on retreat and is able to have some moments of quiet, and some other moments of calm reflection. Many people have these experiences, which is precisely the point. Atlas isn’t a dharma hero, he’s a kind of everyman. Forget the National Book Award nomination; in this context, he’s just a smart, respectable guy who makes meditation seem almost reas…

Gun Ownership as Sin—A Strategic, Secular Proposal for Gun Reform

By Ira Chernus

…should be guaranteed the right to bear (not “buy and own” but “keep and bear”) arms. Guns are “necessary to the security of a free State,” the Amendment tell us. Indeed we first won our national freedom and security with guns. Our Revolution began, Emerson’s myth-making poem tells us, when “embattled farmers” collectively fired a single “shot heard round the world.” We had no need of professional soldiers; just ordinary folks like you and me who…

Heaven On Earth: A Non-Hysterical History of Shari’ah

By Haroon Moghul

…tently. That means the legal fluidity comes with a risk—the possibility of arbitrary enforcement. Anyone concerned with the operation of Islamically-inspired judicial systems consequently bears a heavy responsibility, because flexibility can easily facilitate manipulation and unfairness. You also point out how this expansive and fluid Islamic jurisprudence has been challenged and even undermined in several Muslim majority countries, often in the n…

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Blames Gays For ISIS; ‘Christian Nationalist’ Sworn In As Guatemala’s President; Vatican Resists Civil Unions in Italy; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…ty.” The Catholic News Agency reported last week that Honduran Cardinal Oscar Maradiaga “has acknowledged the presence of a ‘gay lobby’ in the Vatican” and that “Pope Francis has adopted a gradual approach to address it.” The Honduran newspaper El Heraldo asked the cardinal whether there actually was an attempted or successful “infiltration of the gay community in the Vatican.” Cardinal Maradiaga responded: “Not only that, also the Pope said: ther…