Religion Dispatches
…“boring!” Or consider the words of another megapastor, Joel Osteen, in his bestselling Your Best Life Now: “If you are struggling financially, say something such as, ‘Father, I thank You that You’re causing me to be at the right place at the right time. You are bringing wonderful financial opportunities my way.’ If you will live with an attitude of faith, then, like the saints of old, before long God’s favor is going to show up, and that situation…
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…lic sphere, moreover, this division is often issue-based. Being on the opposite or “wrong” side of an issue—whether it’s abortion, LGBTQ rights, gun control, all of which put Clinton at odds with conservative evangelicals—isn’t merely an expression of disagreement but, rather, indicative of one’s identity and, ultimately, one’s sin. That in and of itself doesn’t disqualify Clinton. What does, however, is her embrace of that difference. Sin is ulti…
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…t goals, the successor to the Millennium Development Goals. The group’s website declared victory with the adoption of a resolution on the protection of the family at the 26th session of the Human Rights Council. During the debate, a representative of the Caucus sparred with a representative of Amnesty International over the inclusion of ‘various forms of the family’ in the language. The amendment was defeated by a “no action” procedural rule late…
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…a key reason Democrats display such a lack of imagination in this area. At best, they give a nod to other religions while leaving Christianity front and center. The Christian privilege that permeates American society and politics needs to be dismantled just as much as White privilege, male privilege, and cis-het privilege in the pursuit of a genuinely democratic future. If Democrats hope to be the more inclusive party they can do so precisely by d…
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…w the Bible is not “pro-life” or “pro babies.” Other appeals are stronger: Numbers 5 offers a biblical sanction or even “recipe” for abortion. Numbers 5 does seem to offer the clearest description of an abortion in the Hebrew Bible. As interpreters often point out, this abortion is not condemned by God, but rather condoned. And, in a detail that resonates with our present abortion reality, the abortion in Numbers 5 is caused by administering abort…
Read More…ited for Israel and other Christian Zionist groups “the Jews’ and Israel’s best friends in the world,” also tried to blame liberals, not Messianic Jews, for challenges to Judaism. “For 40 years I have argued that Jews for Jesus pose little or no danger to Jewish survival,” Prager wrote. “We Jews should be preoccupied with all the Jews for Nothing, the Jews for anti-Zionism, the Jews for radical Leftism.” I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again h…
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…e to refer to as accommodationism, the idea among some scientists that the best way to encourage the acceptance of evolution specifically and science in general is to accommodate the beliefs of those of non-fundamentalist religious faith. Many of the prominent voices embracing this idea are non-believers themselves, but they stress that one can hold both a belief in God and acceptance of science. John Wilkins, a science blogger, pointed out the ne…
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…ism is a point of pride for Occupy participants—or at least, by sufficient numbers of them to scotch anything that might look like an agenda. I doubt this will change. A Deeper Form of Protest Which leads me to the third and final #Occupy circular-ism, which can best be defined as spiritual. There’s an intuitive, cultural, emotive sense that another checklist of items would just perpetuate the wrong way of thinking, the wrong way of being. We don’…
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…Seders at their partners’ churches, many find the practice complicated at best and alienating at worst. While the power differential between Christianity and Judaism makes Jewish celebrations far less problematic, within families aspects of the holiday table can also be alienating for Christian family members. A Passover seder is a (potentially) long, ritualized meal, some (or all) of which may take place in Hebrew. There are songs that are often…
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…s yes, he’s got a pretty good shot of it. According to PRRI, he has decent numbers among the white suburbanites who will make up the swing vote of the election (to the extent that the “swing vote” is a meaningful category). That’s far from a guarantee, however, especially with a candidate this volatile. Democrats also have a realistic opening to deny Trump re-election. Let’s play faith outreach director in the six states PRRI mentions as toss-ups,…
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