Religion Dispatches
…n mind, that this is personal wealth, and not commodities of one’s ongoing business. For example, a car salesperson that deals in thousands of car sales annually might have no less than 100 cars at any one time, but that is not taxed. They say the rationale here is that Islam encourages investment. It is also about avoiding hoarding. Sorry, Mr. McDuck, you’d have to pay hefty just because you like to sit on your gold. The Qur’an describes those wh…
Read More…f the agenda, others will not. And of course there is plenty of unfinished business along the lines of racial reconciliation between blacks and whites in this nation. I have to admit, I have no idea how all of that will play out in the coming years. In any event, if you want to hear more about all this, or about Changing the Script, stop by the Facebook page starting at noon Eastern time on Thursday. We’ll be holding an all-day discussion about th…
Read More…right base, Romney was at a disadvantage. He was boring, technocratic, and business-like, and the audience wasn’t buying his claim to be on their side on abortion and gay marriage. In contrast, Huckabee knew how to play the big-bad government card, claiming that the crisis we face is not “fiscal,” but “moral” — in other words, if everyone was just good and “Judeo-Christian” we wouldn’t need financial regulation. (Good luck with that!) See, for Huc…
Read More…tting pregnant by the master didn’t give her any either. Then there is the business of the sacrifice. Abraham was ordered to take his son, his only son and show he had more faith in God than love for his child. Fortunately, it was only a test, and God gave him a ram to sacrifice instead, with the lovely reminder in the Qur’an that it is not the blood that reaches Allah, but the piety of the one doing the sacrifice. Phew, good thing, huh? Of course…
Read More…tension and conduct into our barracks will be a distraction from the very business of the military, and that is protecting us from our enemies. The Uniform Code of Military Justice also prohibits things like adultery, so as we look at this slippery slope we’re on, what is the next step? Will we see a move to strike down that prohibition as well? Jackson and others speaking at the press conference also repeated the charge that repeal of DADT will…
Read More…ter, study law or physic, or become good bookkeepers and be able to do the business in any counting house, and all this to enlarge their sphere of usefulness for the benefit of society at large. In following these things they but answer the design of their creation. Like every world religion, Mormonism has a mixed record on gender. Over the years, we’ve lived through periods of expansiveness and retrenchment, including in the 1990s the excommunica…
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…et of Christian teachings among homeschoolers . . . a $63-million per year business that enumerates a series of “nonoptional” spiritual laws calling for strict authoritarian child training, including a fundamentalist condemnation of worldly modern music and toys and an ethos of unswerving obedience to one’s proper authorities in all jurisdictions of life. Gothard’s teachings are not just to homeschoolers, though. As I reported in a 2008 article fo…
Read More…ged by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and critics say it has no business on a government run base. Last Sunday, a group of pastors around the country decided to bait the IRS by endorsing political candidates from the pulpit during morning services. The IRS prohibits tax exempt religious institutions from engaging in partisan political activity. Now, Americans United is asking the IRS to investigate. I’m not sure why anyone would toy wit…
Read More…“There’s a belief here that Wall Street is a fixed casino and it’s back in business, and we’re left holding the bag,” said Mr. Cordray, whose office overlooks East Broad. “It’s important for us to show we’ll go after a company that does wrong.” Mr. Cordray in two years in office has demonstrated a willingness to sue early and often, filing lawsuits against global financial houses, rating agencies, subprime lenders and foreclosure scammers. He has…
Read More…ecause of its alleged socialist tendencies, has a company that is making a business decision. There is an underserved market that Campbell’s can capitalize on and make a lot of money. For Spencer et al., this is a sign that US civil liberties are at risk, even though we are not supposed to look at the actions of foreign companies/countries in deciding what is actually happening in America, unless it’s for the purposes of bad analogies or to deny C…
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