Religion Dispatches
…ict and hostility based on passionate dislike for the other—are staples in news media. Additionally and beyond the news, so much of popular culture is fueled by depictions of hate and difference overcome by cruel violence. Whether it’s the cowboys killing the savage Indians, the space hero destroying the ruthless aliens, or the soldier slicing the enemy’s throat, hate is elemental in the entertainment industry. Do we even need to bring up shooter…
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…e to American civil society. In 1991, he published a book that popularized New World Order conspiracy theories among evangelicals, and his influence is reflected in our current post-truth political landscape, in which white evangelicals regularly collaborate with street-brawling fascists and are more likely than any other demographic to embrace anti-vax disinformation and the pernicious QAnon conspiracy theory. Over the course of his long career u…
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…pro-life dissident.” Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), a well-known anti-abortion crusader with a longstanding interest in China and this case in particular, has been in contact with Chen. Smith claims that U.S. officials refused to let him talk to the dissident while he was at the embassy. Chen made his dramatic appeal to Congress at an emergency hearing of a commission chaired by Smith. Smith has been trying to cut funding to the UNFPA for decades. Rom…
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…that an upside down American flag had been flown at Sam Alito’s house. The New York Times writes: While the flag was up, the court was still contending with whether to hear a 2020 election case, with Justice Alito on the losing end of that decision. The upside down US flag has been used since the nation’s founding as a sign for extreme distress and was, for example, used by sailors to signal danger and fear for life (and property). In recent years…
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…th a high degree of certainty then that, outside of the perversions of Fox News, we will never hear the word “religion” uttered in connection with the Boston Marathon attacks. Instead, what Fox would refer to as “liberal” media (mainstream media to the rest of us) will have a good deal to say about “ethnic” violence because of the Chechen background of the young suspects. Mind-Purge Second, because the non-Fox media presume that religion, in the a…
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…ter and Facebook, which has drastically limited the reach of his poisonous words. And while Trump continues to support his wealthy and connected accomplices, such as Bannon (whom he pardoned on unrelated charges) and Meadows, he hasn’t stood up for his supporters who face prison and/or financial penalties because of his words. The consequences of the violence on Jan 6 have been meted out unequally. Those facing prison and financial penalties are t…
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…stimate the shape of tomorrow. Central to Åzone is the role of “Hot Tips”— news articles that must be shared or cited with any trade. This turns users into invested news readers. When I read of a scientific discovery about drought resistant plants, I shared this tip and purchased a share of Post-Scarcity Farming. If your Hot Tip is cited by others when they make a trade, you receive dividends. This incentivizes a unique form of social media partic…
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…ld those 15 to 20 people who protested, 15 to 20 people compared to the thousands on top of thousands coming out to worship Jesus and to hear the gospel of music. The promoters had the greatest integrity and fought very hard for this to continue on, but the mayor office systematically and continuously shut it down…. This is unfortunate, this is intolerant, these are bully tactics simply because of stances I took; never ever demeaning, never ever d…
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…edom Day, which this year have been introduced in Michigan, Washington and New York, and passed both houses in Kentucky and Tennessee. Generally speaking, the measures in Category 1, “Legislation Regarding Our Country’s Religious Heritage,” seek to recognize “Christian principles” in American history, including what they term “Judeo-Christian dimensions.” Although less controversial, they say that the main objections that such bills have encounter…
Read More…former students, Brandon Woodward, had been gunned down on the streets of New York City. I ended the week with even more unbelievable news: that 20 children, six teachers, and their shooter were dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Between those deaths, another shooter killed two people at an Oregon shopping mall. There are no words for the horror parents must have felt yesterday, especially parents in Newtown. To bury a…
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