…shrouded in secrecy, came into the spotlight after Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code hit the New York Times bestseller list. The novel suggested that the women in Opus Dei are “forced to clean the men’s residence halls for no pay,” and remarked upon the broad subjugation of women in the order. And while the novel is fictional, the alleged “misconceptions” that arose in the fallout of the media attention surrounding The DaVinci Code provided much of the…
…mad said, is charity. But Gaffney et al. portray shari’ah as a fixed legal code that a fifth column of “adherents” seek to implement in place of the Constitution (somehow, they don’t explain how one Muslim in Congress or the less than one percent of the U.S. adult population that is Muslim would accomplish this). Gaffney told the audience for his talk, which was directed at Congressional staffers: [I]n fact we are looking at a mortal threat to the…
…ed faith.) Still, West is correct. Discovery Institute folks had long been promoting critical analysis – when they weren’t busy also promoting intelligent design. As is their modus operandi, they switch between intelligent design and coded phrases like “teach the controversy” when it serves their purposes. For an example of their promotion of intelligent design in public school science class, see their 1999 booklet Intelligent Design in Public Sch…
By Randall Balmer, Anthea Butler, Evan Derkacz, Jeff Sharlet, and Diane Winston
…But the center is an assertion, not a fact; an etiquette, not a place. Its code, its theology, is most fully embodied in Americanized Arminianism—a Protestant tradition of good works and propriety, “distinguished liberals” and polite realpolitik. “Arminian moralism,” notes historian Charles Sellers in his study of Finney’s age, The Market Revolution, “sanctioned competitive individualism and the market’s rewards of wealth and status.” It did not e…
…o gambling, to extramarital sexual relations. The province’s 2014 Criminal Code bars both male and female same-sex behavior. Under its Sharia ordinances, Aceh imposed cane lashing against 339 people in 2016; a punishment recognized under international law as torture. To make matters worse, local government officials have aggressively stoked homophobia. … Knight writes that Indonesia “has historically been a unique beacon of tolerance for LGBT peop…
…Priests. A 2012 survey commissioned by the group found that 61 percent of Irish Catholics disagreed with the church’s teaching that “any sexual expression of love between a gay couple is immoral” – only 18 percent agreed. Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin broke the silence Feb. 27 during a meeting at Holy Cross College, the major seminary in Dublin. Catholic teaching on birth control, cohabitation, same-sex relationships and divorce is “disconnec…
…and demonstrated. Self-awareness and serious repentance don’t need to be disempowering; quite the opposite. If you wish, you can say that I’m just excessively enchanted by Dom Crossan’s ready wit and his lovely Irish brogue. But for the first time in a long time I am once again feeling some confidence in the theological enterprise. Maybe good theology does matter in a hurting world. Who woulda thunk it?…
…amilies, a situation that only worsened with the arrival of 650,000 Famine Irish between 1845 and 1852. The establishment of a Catholic school system primarily served the emerging Catholic middle class. Furthermore, in order to secure near-free labor for his schools, the archbishop forced the Sisters of Charity to shift the majority of their members into staffing them instead of engaging in more direct service to the poor, their historic mission….
…ders to maintain a connection with “the transcendent,” urged businesses to promote an “interconnective perspective” and “planetary awareness,” and guaranteed that such practices would foster “organizational interventions that manifest spiritual awareness.” I learned about the role of workplace chaplains and heard from caretakers like Diya LeDuc, Director of Clinical Services at Arkansas’ Circle of Life Hospice, whose innovative policies had enrich…
…happened. Theresa was born Margaret Kane in 1936 into a large family with Irish immigrant parents. She entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1955, studied at Manhattanville College, and went on to a career in Mercy ministries focusing on health care. She was the CEO of a hospital well before she was 30. In the 1970s, she became president of the community as well as President of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious which encompasses leaders from…
