Religion Dispatches
…that ignorance of US religious history underpins some of the most serious problems the country currently faces. So I tuned in with considerable enthusiasm when WNET broadcast the series here in New York last week. I did okay with the opening sequence, in which the Pueblo Indians throw off religious oppression by Franciscan priests in Spanish California. I should perhaps admit upfront that I am a “practicing Catholic” of a distinct sort: my grandp…
Read More…r his affection for Ayn Rand, criticizing him because she was an atheist—a wrongheaded move that demonized atheism rather than the cruelty of Randian economics. (A year later, Ryan decided he didn’t like Rand’s atheism after all.) Although House Republicans of course were not eager to advertise this, the USCCB did write letters to Congressional committees, citing concerns that Ryan’s budget failed to meet “moral criteria” because it was based on “…
Read More…etting along with others’ crap. We have conflict to uphold. We have discord to sow. We have the infringement of religious liberties to fabricate.’” The Associated Press interviewed chaplains of a variety of faiths and found “virtually no serious problems” for chaplains’ freedom or rights of conscience associated with the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Col. Wagoner defended his own freedom by leaving the Southern Baptist Convention and joining th…
Read More…mentation of the Affordable Care Act will soon begin to address Medicare’s problems—many of which relate to fraudulent billing by piratical health care providers. But Peterson and his henchmen don’t want fine-grained practical solutions: they want to repeal the New Deal. I could cite the practical and historical reasons why demonizing public debt is demonstrably loony in current circumstances – and I could point to a national economy that has oft…
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…ter acceptance of pluralism during the 20th century. Today, even a growing number of evangelicals treat those positions as mainstream—but ecumenical institutions have struggled. During 1960s-era social transformations, conservative laity withdrew money and support from organized ecumenism. Meanwhile young liberal Christians often left it behind to do social justice work within a secular environment that offered quicker, bolder action. Others compr…
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…ne: the artificial loudness of their voice makes people overestimate their number. It’s Barack v. the Bible, Says Barton PAUL HARVEY • Mar 9, 2012 David Barton summarizes it succinctly: “Many of these actions are literally unprecedented—this is the first time they have happened in four centuries of American history. The hostility of President Obama toward biblical faith and values is without equal from any previous American president.” Roll over,…
Read More…explains the origin of the term. Reitter argues that many historians have wrongly assumed that the term has always been censorious, but careful study reveals that Jewish self-hatred was first put forward for a salutary, even messianic purpose. According to Reitter, the confusion comes about when historians don’t distinguish between Jewish self-hatred “and the similar-sounding labels that preceded it.” One such label was “Jewish anti-Semitism,” wh…
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…Scripture, are to them also unacceptably particularistic. It is therefore wrong to prefer these parts of Scripture, and specifically to neglect universalistic themes about God’s love for all humanity. In constructing a dichotomy between particularism and universalism, however, they also privilege some biblical themes over others. They support their opposition to Israel by unfavorably contrasting texts that speak of God’s promises to the Jews with…
Read More…n criticizing Margaret Farley’s book Just Love, under the heading “General Problems,” the reader is warned that: The author does not present a correct understanding of the role of the Church’s Magisterium as the teaching authority of the Bishops united with the Successor of Peter, which guides the Church’s ever deeper understanding of the Word of God as found in Holy Scripture and handed on faithfully in the Church’s living tradition. In addressin…
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…w on contraceptive insurance, but also to assert without scrutiny that any number of health services violate its religious beliefs. In her interview with Kaiser Health News, Sr. Keehan acknowledged that the CHA still has “some very real concerns in the Church that even if you get rid of the coverage of contraceptives, [there may be] problems in the future.” Up to now, the administration has followed a strategy that is political, but respectful of…
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