Religion Dispatches
…his sort of protest is to wear the niqab and nothing else. Then, the women will get tickets, not for being nude, but for being clothed. In my opinion, that would show the absolute absurdity of the state trying to control women’s dress. I have written elsewhere that this sort of action, of controlling a woman’s body, is simply male penis worship run amok. These ladies, who call themselves Niqabitches, have done a great service in showing the inhere…
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…other side of the veil.” “My entire adult life I have believed that there will come a time when women will be ordained in the LDS Church,” Pierce continued. “This is the first time I’ve been able to stand up and say so. And as I do stand up, I get many private messages of support from fellow Mormons—including people I don’t expect.” “After spending most of my life following social stigmas that silence Mormon women and compel us to feign that we…
Read More…n ones, as Mormons concerned with the status of LGBT members, or women, or with growing rates of disaffiliation among young people will tell you. Recent surveys of Church members have linked rising rates of youth disaffiliation to increased internet access and information about thorny historical issues—like the polygamy of Joseph Smith, or the historical facticity of LDS scripture. Google is ending the informational isolation of contemporary Mormo…
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…n the Democrats in recent years, and indeed the McCain-Palin ticket cannot win in November without broad support from religious constituencies. Moreover, the Bush administration has been a vocal advocate for local-level, faith-based social service delivery, creating the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives soon after his 2001 inauguration. Whatever the real effect of the policies, one might also view Bush’s emphasis on “comp…
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…itself look good. To my mind, this is a serious danger. Even when I agree with his statements about eradicating poverty, becoming friends with our enemies, and the like, I have scruples about giving the new pope too much praise—as if other people have not said the same things and more for eons. The papacy is the ultimate bully pulpit, but it works both ways—on things that are progressive and things that are conservative. It is risky to embrace pa…
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…ad, Mosul, Basra and Iraq and we are winning and succeeding and our troops will come home with honor and with victory and not in defeat. And that’s what’s happening. And we have — and we face this threat throughout the world. It’s not just in Iraq. It’s not just in Afghanistan. Our intelligence people tell us al Qaeda continues to try to establish cells here in the United States of America. My friends, we must face this challenge. We can face this…
Read More…r both LGBT rights and religious liberty, has penned a letter to Houston’s Mayor Parker and City Attorney David Feldman, opposing the subpoenas. “I will work as hard to defend the freedom of speech from the pulpit for those with whom I disagree, as I will to defend the rights of the LGBT community. As long as a sermon is not inciting violence, the government has no business getting involved in the content of ministers’ sermons,” Gaddy wrote….
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…rnet bulletin boards. And they try to create their own insider vocabulary, with camping areas labeled like a pop culture quiz (Camp Marty McFly, anyone?) and cryptic, confusing names for the performance stages like “Which?” and “What” The festival map reads like a template for combining consciousness-raising with social bonding. Bonnaroo aspires to play, but deep play. But what chance is there for deep experience at an event that counts Microsoft,…
Read More…n-Americans, the number is much higher—in many areas one in two workers is without work. Yet Congress, with a Democratic majority, can’t get it together to extend unemployment benefits. Our solons just flew out of town for a weeklong holiday vacation. Republicans, joined by Democratic deficit hawks, insist that any extension be “deficit neutral” and come out of unspent stimulus money. But it’s worse than that: the price Senate Republicans want t…
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…or, the corner store Michael Brown visited before heading to his encounter with Wilson on Canfield Drive, there were at least six Ferguson police officers with accompanying cruisers guarding the entrance to the liquor store that had become a hotspot for protests in the wake of Brown’s murder. “The story of Ferguson didn’t start on Canfield Drive. The story of Ferguson is a whole lot longer.” Tyler recognized each of them and knew them by name. She…
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