Search for "CNN International cleantalkorg2.ru Headlines Videos Stories and Videos on News breaking newstoday bbc news news word BBC News World"

American Jews: From Holocaust to New Age Hasidism?

By Martin Kavka

…ond, he shows that there are resources for harmonizing Jewish identity and worldly identity—for truly returning Jews as Jews to history—in American Jewish thought. Felix Adler, the founder of the Society for Ethical Culture (which, as Magid rightly points out, did not seek to displace religious observance), as well as the Reconstructionist Mordecai Kaplan, sought to do this almost a century ago. Magid is not nostalgic for these figures. Yet he doe…

Boy Gets Boy, Saves Earth: A Gay Christian Writer’s Plan to Change the World

By Nick Street

…oore did when he began his coming-out process two decades ago, Thom must struggle to honor both his distinctive way of being the world and his deep connection to a damaged but loving father. “Hal Creed is just a heartbreaking figure,” Moore said. “He’s angry and confused about what’s happening with his son, but the truth is Thom has a ton in common with his father.” Father and son have a tough time finding those commonalities, but their path to re…

My Childhood Hobby Was Satanic, Or So They Told Me

By Joseph Laycock

…anced conspiracy theories involving witches and Satanists—effectively constructed a fantasy world for themselves in which they could embark on heroic adventures. Is there a book out there you wish you had written? This book is obviously indebted to Johan Huizinga’s Homo Ludens in which he outlines his theory that all aspects of culture are developed from play. I also built on the work of Gary Alan Fine whose 1983 work Shared Fantasy: Role-Playing…

From Confusion to Kardashian: Misreading the Middle East

By Haroon Moghul

…who does it matter to? Who feels moved by this picture? What political ends will it be put to? This isn’t always about us, a point those concerned with Israel’s longterm security and America’s regional role should never lose sight of. The Arab Spring is about the Arab world, and while we can affect its struggles, we cannot determine them as cleanly as perhaps once we (thought) we could. Sometimes a Kim Kardashian comes along and accidentally gets…

A Superhuman Spirituality: Ang Lee’s Life of Pi

By Beatrice Marovich

…tions, here, about why he might not.) The animal that the viewer, in other words, most likely wants to believe in is Richard Parker himself. A world where Richard Parker exists seems, from most angles, a richer and more wonderful world. But Richard Parker, that great big creature, also serves a moral purpose. In a simple way, he “saves” Pi from becoming a more beastly and animalistic version of himself. Richard Parker gives Pi, formerly a vegetari…

Can the “Spiritual Left” Make the Change They Wish to See?

By Arielle Levites

…ey. Spiritual Americans aren’t blind or uncaring about the problems in the world. But they believe that an important way, and perhaps even the most effective way, to contribute to a better world is through their own spiritual development. Spiritual Americans believe their personal, seemingly highly constrained actions (for example, how grateful they feel) have wide-reaching ramifications, impacting their personal relationships, communities, and in…

7 Women Scholars On the Gender Divide in Religious Studies, the Power of Mentors, and Leading While Female

By Rebecca Barrett-Fox

…omen in a women’s group. My book on trauma Trauma and Grace: Theology in a Ruptured World has sexual violence at its center, primarily as it impacts women’s lives. And my day-to-day work at Union has included, among other things, empowering women’s voices in interfaith work, which has been so dominated by men. Elaine Howard Ecklund: At the beginning of my career, I did not much feel that my gender was that influential. I am at a different period n…

Burning Down the Temple: Religion and Irony in Black Rock City

By Sarah M. Pike

…an into a consumer event could add this sale to a long list of complaints: rules and more rules, opaque finances, increasing law enforcement presence, and more “spectators” in RV comfort palaces running noisy generators. Burners are a suspicious lot and many of them believe the Borg has caved in to the very values of corporate America that it seeks to challenge. Before entering the city I was reminded about why there is so much criticism of the or…

Prominent Russian Orthodox Church Rejects Pro-Putin Patriarch Kirill, Raising Tensions Within Orthodox World

By Katherine Kelaidis

…me allied with the Russian state which has, in turn, deployed it as an instrument of Russian soft power around the world. Particularly under the circumstances, we would be remiss to forget that one of the reasons the Ukrainian government petitioned the Ecumenical Patriarch with such diligence for an independent Ukrainian church is because of suspicions that Moscow Patriarchate churches were being used by the Russian state for espionage. Furthermor…

Untethering Conscience From Religion: An Interview with Louisa Thomas

By Jeremy Kessler

…people said socialism replaced Christianity for him. I don’t think that’s true, and he certainly said it was not true. But I do think he, more than Evan, had a lingering desire for spirituality. What about him makes you think that? He was still really attached to Christian culture. He would sometimes still go to services and sing really loudly. He would occasionally write about how hard it was for him not to believe, and he would write with such l…