Religion Dispatches
…feces smeared all over their floors and carpets, although I’m sure a great number of non-Muslims appreciate these artifacts from guests’ shoes. As mentioned previously, shoes are also used to discipline people. Belt-whuppins are difficult when men’s traditional garb does not include belts. Shoes/slippers/etc. are far more common. They are used to help “enlighten” insouciant, arrogant, oblivious, destructive, or otherwise socially maladjusted indiv…
Read More…ite, one could even say too Yale-like— and comical facial gestures. More importantly, he is heavily criticized for his policies, whether they be economic, foreign, or faith-based. The reality is that he has contributed greatly to the one area that American public life has been sorely lacking: religion. I don’t mean the practice of religion; Americans represent one of the most ritualistically observant countries of developed nations. Nor do I mean…
Read More…were more mundane and predictable: Section Two redefined how we distribute numbers of representatives state-by-state, by “counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed”; and Section Three excluded from future service any member of the government who had previously sworn an oath of office to the State and then joined the Confederacy in open rebellion. Predictable stuff, really. After winning the War, Washington int…
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…dependent researchers from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The report shows that abuse allegations have been steadily declining since the 1980s. Even so, the most recent diocesan audits found just seven credible allegations of abuse in 2010. In 1975, according to the John Jay report, there were more than 300 incidents of abuse. Still, over the past several months, dangerous weaknesses in the Charter have become painfully clear. In Febru…
Read More…to become better organized as a political force, even as they increase in number. The major impediment to that kind of organization is the fact that it is very difficult for secularists to conceive of themselves in tribal terms. Most tribes, whether of nations or ethnicities or sports fandom, can easily demarcate their membership—it’s the people who look like us, or talk like us, or dress like us. Tribes organized around religious belief have rit…
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…not just an exercise in community building and tribal identity, but more importantly, it is an opportunity for personal transformation and spiritual growth. Perhaps no song better represents the role of pilgrimage in the Grateful Dead experience than “Truckin’” from their classic 1970 album American Beauty. The song’s lyrics offer a framework for a road trip adventure by transforming the American concert landscape into sacred geography for Deadhea…
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…harlottesville: this is a resurgence of white nationalism that is being supported by our current administration. And as much as we are trying to address the needs of the community here, I also want to acknowledge that people were holding vigils all over the country for Charlottesville, and responding to this crisis. And that also, people are protesting white supremacy across the country. So I don’t want to Balkanize this moment. What happened on S…
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…en more specifically, seeking signs of religious life among the increasing number of those who self-identify with no religion. In order to pursue that path, we have to do away with one of the most obfuscating, irritating, and limiting words bandied about by too many in public discourse: faith and faith communities. In the land of no religion, faith, as a domesticated catchword for Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus of every stripe and…
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