Religion Dispatches
…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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…ew of the place of religion in America is simply NOT what Barton typically promotes. Going all the way back to that first book cited in the Times, Barton wrote: “Currently this nation has no religious preference. It permits diversified religious freedom and extends no special recognition to any particular faith. This nation was not founded as it now exists. It was from its inception outspokenly Christian.” [italics in original] … While there w…
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…assionate, the god of mercy). Marketers have exploited this dualism, and a promotional website for the film carries the title: twowaysthroughlife.com. Comments on the film (by critics and in the comment sections of major media outlets) typically ape this dualistic proclamation. But as I watch my daughters play, in amiability and animosity alike, I realize The Tree of Life is not merely about parental spouses acting out nature and grace in diverg…
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…hing. And as Pearson’s biography clearly demonstrates, if you give up that central idea that there is a hell (and hence a Satan), you’ll be banished from not only friendships, but the lucrative ministries that Pearson himself helped to create. All that said, there are different ways that people experience this, or faith healings, or other performances you find in these environments. Not everyone is in lockstep, when you sit down and talk with them…
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…over 30,000 evangelicals attended, and Bachmann, who has made her faith a central part of her campaign. The distinction offered by Waldron is that Perry looks the part of a Old Testament leader but Bachmann has God’s approval, as did King David. In the Old Testament, Saul was the first King of Israel and but had a bad end because he fell out of God’s favor. To replace Saul, God placed His blessing on King David. Here is the Waldron comment in ful…
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…ew there was a richer, more complicated story that needed to be told. The central figure in Conscience is Norman Thomas, my great-grandfather. He is known to posterity—very slightly—as a man who ran for president six times on the socialist ticket between 1928 and 1948, and who inspired a lot of people. But it’s also about his three brothers, Evan Thomas, the conscientious objector my father wrote about, and Ralph and Arthur, who were soldiers. Th…
Read More…women can better avoid unwanted pregnancies and space their pregnancies to promote optimal birth outcomes.” This recommendation did not go uncriticized. Second, HR 2678, The Communities of Color Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Act, was introduced in Congress on July 28 by Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) and Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA). As Rebecca Medina and Sally Schaeffer explain at RH Reality Check, this bill addresses both sexual violence in in…
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…triggered no small amount of protest, including from the atheist/agnostic Freedom from Religion Foundation, which is suing to stop it. Religious groups like the Houston Clergy Council are also concerned about the event, arguing that “…the governor has made it clear that only Christians of a particular kind are welcome to pray in a certain way. We feel that such an exclusive event does not reflect the rich tapestry of our city.” Jewish state repre…
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…(NGO) had registered 8,000 gays, lesbians and bisexuals in the Western and Central regions of the country which, if accurate, would represent a significant increase over past estimates. Within days, religious groups united to call on the Ghanaian government for action against sexual minorities. Both Christian and Muslim coalitions have declared that they will not support a politician who favors relaxing the laws covering homosexuality. Then, on Ju…
Read More…ites positions of acceptability.” Is Breivik a Christian terrorist? is the central question of Juergensmeyer’s piece. As he notes, Breivik was “much more concerned about politics, race and history than about scripture and religious belief.” Chip Berlet succinctly frames Breivik’s “core thesis” as “white Christian nationalism vs. multiculturalism.” Indeed Breivik sought to reconstitute a former crusades military force, one that would rescue a “pure…
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