Religion Dispatches
…ives. After the section on the Fed, amid a jumble of claims that veer from World War II to Vietnam to the Patriot Act to an indictment of Fox News, including superimposing Howard Beale’s rant from Network over an image of Rupert Murdoch, the film also links the Bush family to support of Hitler — a claim also made and documented by non-rightwingers. Fixated on “one world” conspiracy theories, the film glorifies Lou Dobbs for reporting on the North…
Read More…s sitting and says, “They hang me this way.” Flynn describes what happens next: [Amir] raises his arms out to his side as if crucified in the air. Something about him standing, about his body suddenly rising up, completely unhinges me, something that makes his words real in a way they hadn’t been before. At this moment I get it: these words are about his body, it was his body this story happened to, the body that is right here beside me, in this r…
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…se draconian and inhuman interpretations of Islamic law (so, keep in mind, Rumi was an Islamic lawyer, and furthermore he was much more qualified than the Taliban could ever claim to be). Given that impression, 30% of Oklahohamans still voted “no.” These Oklahomans didn’t want to ban international or Shari’ah law from their state courts. Because they see through the feint, the misdirection, the pointing to supposed threats in place of the actual c…
Read More…ings. So I was thrilled to receive news that the Church has partnered with International Medical Corps, International Relief and Development, and Saba Aslam Welfare and Trust to purchase supplies within Pakistan for redistribution to flood-impacted areas, with additional shipments from the Humanitarian Relief Center in Salt Lake City forthcoming. And I was especially heartened to see the Church teaming with Islamic charities to provide relief, as…
Read More…n and Treatment,” tackles this question and others on the eve of the XVIII International AIDS conference in Vienna. Faith-based organizations receive a significant amount of public funding, and while acknowledging that these organizations have been at the forefront of AIDS and HIV health care, the report also raises the question of the effectiveness of these groups in light of preventative care (think condoms and abstinence education). The documen…
Read More…he Rev. Canon Albert Ogle, Integrity USA’s Vice President for National and International Affairs noted, the hoax is a call to LGBT advocates around the world to redouble their efforts to foster full acceptance of LGBT people everywhere in the world – and most especially where they face the prospect of violence and death on a daily basis. ”This story is a wakeup call for all of us to ensure that something like it will never actually happen. The cli…
Read More…liberal Episcopalians and other U.S. religionists are often indifferent to international religious persecution, even when churches around the world are under attack. For them, seemingly sexual freedom is more important than religious freedom.” No, the freedom for all people to be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of race, color, religion, gender, or sexual orientation is what should be most important to everyone. That’s just the human t…
Read More…to how mainstream the Duggars’ lifestyle is in the right-wing evangelical world. That is the same world which has portrayed global reproductive health organizations as promoting a “culture of death,” abortion, promiscuity, and the decline of the “traditional family.” Frequently cited is “secular” Europe where the religious right claims that the decline of Christianity has caused a population crisis and a looming “demographic winter.” This is a wo…
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…ne finds a hijab, a niqab, a kippa, a dastar (Sikh turban), and a ‘large’ crucifix; lined up on the other side are several items of jewelry—a small crucifix, a ring bearing a Star of David, and a crescent moon-shaped earring. What is going on here? First, let us note how the infographic performs the work of comparative religion through the generation of equivalences. A rather disparate collection of bodily disciplines, habits, aesthetic sensibil…
Read More…ups delivered medical, educational and welfare development programs to the rural poor in predominantly Buddhist areas that they saw as targeted by proselytism. Similar competitive philanthropic impulses could be said to be shaping the Hindu American Foundation’s worldwide humanitarian appeal to aid Nepalese victims. I don’t mean to suggest that the impulse to do good here is purely self-serving. Still, this example of competitive philanthropy high…
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