Religion Dispatches
…on with Muslim leaders like Abdul Ghaffar Khan—a man whose legacy as a nonviolent activist and peacemaker would serve as a powerful response to young South Asians seeking a model of a peaceful jihad for freedom and justice….
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…anarchists, hate war protestors, hate government, hate the North, hate the South, hate the gays…. Aside from the raw political value of hate, think of the potential for media exposure when you are a religious hater. When the Dalai Lama comes to town (to start with a counter-example) with monks, cultural activities, and lectures, the fundamental core of his teaching—compassion—is a media buzzkill. Even with Richard Gere in tow, his visits are mostl…
Read More…was, to be sure, a risky strategy for a Democratic Senate candidate in the South: run a sorta-psychedelic television ad depicting your Tea-Party anointed opponent as a groovy turtleneck and corduroy jacket-wearing, idol-worshipping, bondage-indulging svengali. Jack Conway and his strategists hoped the now infamous Aqua Buddha ad would incur doubts among social conservatives about Rand Paul and change the game in Kentucky, where Paul now leads Conw…
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…rticipants—a total of 25,000 every October—on a 90-minute walk through the South Georgia woods. We observed intensely violent renditions of standard end-times scenarios: the rapture of believers; an ensuing period of torture and tribulation for the faithless “left behind”; a climactic battle between Jesus and Satan; and a final judgment in which Jesus orders a teenage church-girl to be dragged by demons into hell for “knowing me only in your head,…
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…from the steamy plains of the Punjab but raised in gelid New England. And South Asia’s a part of the world we never stop hearing about. Of course, most of this attention is directed to Pakistan, so let’s start there. In Silent Waters, we follow a young man from a small village impressed by the Islamist message coming from more urban types. But his falling for the forces of extremism doesn’t come without a price, not least for the secrets buried…
Read More…the money, youth (at least the white youth) and positivity have all moved south, away from the Cathedral and right into the heart of Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church territory. Nor has there been a successful transition from Schueller to a next generation of Cathedral leadership. In the last year, church revenues have dropped 30%, 140 employees have been laid off, and its opulent Easter pageant (which once drew hundreds of thousands) was cancelled…
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…magic popcorn in the aisles. Traveling and singing throughout the Jim Crow South that refused to serve traveling black musicians like Walker and Burke, he sold pork chop sandwiches to other musicians on tour. His prodigious family of 21 children, 90 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren testifies to his love of both scripture and women. Joking about his love of women, he said: “I just got stuck on that bible verse that said be fruitful and mul…
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…global diversity,” deserving about the same amount of resources as Ancient South Asia or Chinese Religion in the Twelfth Century? Far from being embarrassed that Religious Studies is a good place to study how the history and current practice of Christianity shapes everyday American life, I maintain that this is a major reason the discipline has thrived—both in the past and present. In fact, the relatively “esoteric” parts of religious studies are…
Read More…le Swedes and Finns became the early denizens on the Delaware River to the South. Early reports filtering back to Amsterdam told of Huguenots, Mennonites, Brownists, Presbyterians, Quakers, Catholics, even “many atheists and various other servants of Baal.” In 1654 the Sainte Catherine pulled into port, carrying twenty-three Sephardic Jews, refugees from Recifé. Why did they choose New Amsterdam? The Netherlands was the most tolerant society in Eu…
Read More…u) with health and peace.” I think in the United States, we take ours from South Asia and just say ‘Id Mubarak, “blessed ‘Id,” with the response, ‘Id Karim, “noble or generous ‘Id.” And everywhere there is food. So much food you can see why such a rigorous fast does not produce the world’s thinnest people: they’d eat it all back during the three-day celebration. And that’s what is should be: three days of celebration. The part that puts the ‘holy’…
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