Religion Dispatches
…s become an important community for them. “It has now become more acceptable for people to state that they are questioning or no longer religious” says Hashman. “We are dedicated to free inquiry and freedom of expression, and that can come off as abrasive, but we believe it necessary for a free and democratic society.”…
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…found my “people” and my sense of belonging. It was the most thrilling and freeing experience of my high school life. The dancing, the moving, the drums, the parking lot scene where along with veggie burritos, beautiful beaded jewelry, and other crafts, I found a real sense of community. If music can be an intoxicant, then American Beauty was my gateway drug. It introduced me to other Dead albums and I devoured each one. Eventually I found my fell…
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…om’ — concepts he neither understands nor values.” Fascinating, then, that freedom should also play a central role in the Dayspring case – arguably serving as a “verbal fig leaf” of another variety. As CT reports, Dayspring and its allies are “accusing the state board of overstepping the First Amendment and infringing on their rights to free religious exercise and free speech.” Among the colleges and seminaries that spurn regional accreditation, m…
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…of evangelicalism in Colorado Springs. The panel discussion focused on the centrality of recruiting leaders of the religious right to the city as part of an economic revitalization program in the early 1990s; part of the story which rarely receives due attention elsewhere. The next segment gave an opportunity for a cub reporter, who visited a local mosque here in the Springs. Then the show featured a religion dispatch from the little town of Crest…
Read More…tional values under the guise of cultural pluralism, critical inquiry, and free speech. The National Catholic Register called the black mass “a Faustian bargain between Satan worship and academic freedom.” Oklahoma house member Rebecca Hamilton argued that it demonstrated why, “Harvard and its little troupe of elite schools are not healthy for this country.” She suggests that government research grants should be removed from Harvard and given to “…
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…comfortable digital new world for an institutional LDS Church built around centralized hierarchy, a strong chain-of-command, and highly-disciplined top-down messaging. We’re a people for whom insider-outsider message control (and double-speak) has served as a form of cultural survival since the 19th century US crusade against polygamy, as the anthropologist Daymon Smith has observed. During the mid 20th century, Mormon leaders initiated an admini…
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…, because I know that their social policies are more tied to morphological freedom and funding science. Some of the Republicans have a history of using their religious ideas to stifle funding for science. Pick the candidate that’s going to be the most pro-science, and I mean pro-science in a philosophical way. [The candidate should be] ready to allow robots into our homes, to allow CRISPR technology that’s going to give our children ten more IQ po…
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…mental health challenge as part of one’s life. I wanted to emphasize that freedom is often hard-won. The final chapter is now named “Free.” How do you feel about the cover? Initially, I resisted having my face on the cover of the book. When the publishers presented the idea to me, I gave them a list of all the memoirs without the author’s face on the cover. They gave me a comparable list of memoirs that have the author’s face on the cover. Betwee…
Read More…as opposed to the attack on Planned Parenthood, even though he considers himself pro-life. But the anti-poverty Christian groups like Sojourners and Faith in Public Life have been silent about the Republican assault on reproductive freedom, particularly of poor women. When you wave a Bible in someone’s face, just remember that someone can wave one in yours, too….
Read More…the shop he could have a free sub. Now the place hosts (and I mean hosts: free wings and sausage and their locally-famous sweet tea) a monthly tea party meeting. I’ll admit to being put off when a few weeks back the character of the sign changed: it said “a red-neck, Bible thumping (something or other) owns this joint,” making me feel generally unwelcome. Last night there were over 100 people there. When one speaker asked how many were “new” near…
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