Religion Dispatches
…ir if you can’t make it to Dallas, you can watch online starting at 7 p.m. Central. But if your kids really like candy, you can comfort yourself with the approach to Halloween taken by Mars Hill church, the authoritarian megachurch phenomenon associated with hipster homophobe Mark Driscoll that has spawned survivors’ blogs. In an article promoted by the church’s Resurgence ministry, Pastor Justin Holcomb says Halloween’s pagan origins have basical…
Read More…we have the first hint of a serious problem with secular morality. In its central domain, that of love, it is notoriously fickle.” (page 256-7) It turns out D’Souza has lots in common with his hotel roomie Denise Joseph. Wonkette culled from Joseph’s Facebook writings a few Ann Coulter-ish denunciations of feminists and liberals and their rejection of “traditional morality” and “traditional institutions such as marriage.” Even though the WORLD st…
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…ligion is just like everything else. In the 2001 Good News Club v. Milford Central School decision, for example, the Court decided that once a public school has opened up its facilities for use by pretty much any outside group, it cannot exclude services of worship merely because they are religious in nature. In his majority opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas argued that “it is quixotic to attempt a distinction between religious viewpoints and relig…
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…the Episcopal Church prepares for its 77th triennial General Convention in Indianapolis next month, transgender Episcopalians and their allies are preparing to challenge the denomination’s commitment to the full inclusion of all God’s people—without consideration of “race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disabilities or age”—in discernment for lay or ordained ministry…
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…ian and Muslim, with both heavily influenced by their roots in traditional African faith. According to a recent Pew Forum study, Christians even hold a slight majority with 50.8% of the population. Both Muslims and Christians in Nigeria today are prone to varieties of secularism; in particular the rapacious capitalism that finds its base in Nigeria’s petroleum economy. The divide between the rich and the poor can be evidenced in every part of the…
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…arnation. The indigenous Senoi people, who live in the mountain jungles of central Malaysia, believe that by confronting and overcoming dangers in lucid dreams (like fire, floods, and tigers), and by consciously guiding those dreams to good endings, we can master our fears and have a positive impact on the events in waking life. More recently, Australian psychologist Milan Colic developed a method which employs lucid dreaming to help control night…
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…emailed a letter to Anusara teachers regarding the scandals. He wrote: The central issue now is that the wonderful image and reputation of Anusara yoga has been severely stained in the minds of some, since my personal behavior has been perceived to be out of integrity with Anusara ethics… the disharmony between my personal image and the values of our school needs to be reconciled, if Anusara is to properly heal… we are exploring scenarios in which…
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…ing, baby-aborting, and, now, an elderly-killing people, and he used it to promote his own agenda. A false, but oft-heard stereotype of US citizens is that they are all fat. I, willfully, used this stereotype to further my own agenda. Again, I apologize, because I think it is wrong to do so. Someone who is aiming for the highest office in the United States, as Santorum is, should be held to a high moral standard, as the strong historical and curre…
Read More…s of compassion and justice but, for a variety of reasons, find it hard to promote and implement them. What’s the most important take-home message for readers? There’s a lot of a disagreement and uncertainty among evangelicals about the social role of the church. Are churches primarily supposed to strengthen believers and attract converts, or seek to improve and reform society? Do Christians have an obligation to combat the structures of poverty a…
Read More…ization for Marriage’s strategy to drive a wedge between LGBTIQ people and African Americans—and to urge Latinos to avoid being assimilated to corrupt “Anglo” values that include respect for same-sex loving families. In the wake of all this, I read a recent letter from a Maryland-area bishop with new attention. Here’s a head’s up to those working on marriage equality. First, the leaders of the opposition to same-sex marriage in Maryland are not na…
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