Religion Dispatches
…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 Sunday meeting in June 2008 and other organizing efforts headed by high-ranking and local Church leaders, contributed the…
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…lected the transitional views of government and religion that characterized 17th and 18th century debates. Thus, while Americans ultimately made religious liberty a constitutional right, American society has granted religious liberty grudgingly, often opposing pluralism in terms of new religious communions or divergent voices. This led to exile and imprisonment of Baptists, hanging Quakers, shooting Mormons in Illinois in 1840s, shooting Catholics…
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…professor in the University of Cambridge. Then, in 1979, he resigned his chair, and trained to become an Anglican priest. In the quarter century since, he has written about two dozen books on the relationship between science and religion. A delightful man to meet, between papers and presentations he talked quite as easily with humble journalists as with distinguished peers. Polkinghorne describes himself as a ‘bottom-up’ theologian. He is concerne…
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…what happens in the sacred space designated for worship, amid the peaceful spirit of a faith that wants to change the world, not bend to society’s lowest standards for resolving problems. Yes, I understand the violent environment in which some worship centers are located. One time in the past, I had a bottle rocket shot at me while I was delivering a sermon in a pulpit. Such an occurrence is frightening. But that is not a reason to replace peace-m…
Read More…to shake the holy hand of fate? —Kansas, “Rainmaker” from the album In The Spirit of Things The first of two episodes that together make up the season finale of Doctor Who is “The Pandorica Opens.” Although it ends with quite a cliffhanger, the fact that Doctor River Song had already passed through these experiences when we encountered her in a previous episode suggests that all will turn out okay for her and her husband. Time travel can make for…
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…atheism, the often-religionist Protscience guerrillas offer to restore the spirit—and the metaphysics—that gave us science in the first place. Then and now, Fuller contends, God the lawgiver/designer/intervener makes a better mascot for good research than any lack thereof that atheism or agnosticism have to offer. In a revealing “Further Reading” section, he cites the accomplishments of his friends at the ID-friendly Discovery Institute unironical…
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…undation, organizer of the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music, paid for my airfare and lodging to attend the festival. They also provided full access to all concerts at no cost. I recently returned from Fes, Morocco, where I attended the 16th Annual Fes Festival of World Sacred Music. Almost a decade ago, I fell in love with a recording of some of the concerts from an earlier festival. The CD, B’ismillah, had performers from various religious trad…
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…or pay our medical bills. And so they get pushed aside in our everyday affairs. The humanities of history and literature and philosophy and religion speak to the human condition—something invaluable. And people take them for granted, until someone else begins to define and delineate for them what it means to be human and free. Only then do people get up in arms. If we are going to conserve our humanities, we must be actively involved in our polit…
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…nce: “The psychedelic drug in magic mushrooms may have lasting medical and spiritual benefits…” Spiritual benefits? You can read the details yourself in Time or this Mother Jones piece, but bottom line is that the drug can induce transcendental, mystical experiences in volunteers who feel better and more fulfilled over time, with relatives and close friends claiming the individual also became “calmer, happier, and kinder.” Yes, it’s a rather limit…
Read More…, told him that they met with Engle and he told them he supported the bill: 1. Both Oyet and Bahati were ecstatic at what they perceived as Engle’s strong support of the bill. They felt his rally and his statements would be a turning point for the bill, reassuring their Ugandan allies that they had support abroad. 2. Both Oyet and Bahati told me that Engle had explicitly expressed his support for the bill, telling them that he had to lie to the We…
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