Religion Dispatches
This morning, as we celebrate Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year here in the United States, the Vatican held a press conference that may have you adding one more item to your Christmas wish list. The press conference announced the release of a new album recorded by Placido Domingo, one of the famous Three Tenors. The songs on the album—titled Amore Infinito (Infinite Love)—were inspired by the poetry of Karol Wojtyla, better known…
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Unless you have been completely unplugged from all forms of media for the last week, you’ve probably seen—or at least have heard or read about—the interview that religion scholar, Reza Aslan, gave on the FoxNews.com webcast, “Spirited Debate”—or as Buzzfeed put it, “The Most Embarrassing Interview Fox News Has Ever Done.” If you haven’t had the chance to see it, or if you aren’t able to watch it now (below, right), here’s what happened, briefly….
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Earlier this month, the Jesuit magazine La Civilta Cattolica published an article on the political alliance between conservative evangelicals and Catholics in the U.S., calling it an “ecumenism of hate.” From the Jesuit-run America magazine: U.S. politics have become increasingly colored by an apocalyptic world view, promoted by certain fundamentalist Christians, that fosters hatred, fear and intolerance, said an influential Jesuit magazine. In f…
Read MoreMy favorite new website is All Dead Mormons Are Now Gay. It’s a simple game: enter the name of a dead Mormon, or the site will choose one for you, and with the click of a mouse, the deceased LDS member is instantly converted to homosexuality. Of course, this makes no sense, and is somewhat offensive. But then, so are the views of some (though not all) Mormons that the dead can be posthumously baptized – or at least given the offer of baptism (whi…
Read MoreIn Mexico, public school officials rejected a Catholic bishop’s deeply confusing claim that the country’s sex education program makes it more difficult for priests to remain celibate or respect children. One health group said the statement “borders on the pathetic.” A blasphemy law that protects the six official religious traditions in Indonesia from being “distorted” was upheld by the constitutional court Monday on the grounds that it is “vital…
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…! This is a danger to children. RT! #PullTeenVogue pic.twitter.com/f4VMZnGCbD — The Activist Mommy (@activistmommy1) July 13, 2017 While I do have moral doubts about Teen Vogue, they don’t focus on these particular pages. (If I were going to throw pages into the fire, I’d start with the advertising.) Still, before anyone burns anything else, could we try to sort out a few theological confusions? Let’s start with “sodomy.” It’s a Christian word, wi…
Read MoreAt Vox.com, Dylan Matthews argues (with charts) that the retention rate among people raised with no religion is much lower than among people raised with religion — in other words, that people raised with no religion as children are more likely than people raised with religion to change their religion as adults, in this case, to become religious. “Do kids raised without religion actively seek it out and convert all that often,” as has been popular…
Read More… Stephen Colbert barely clings to his persona in criticizing Supreme Court Justice Scalia’s arguments in favor of the cross in the Buono v. Salazar case. Watch the clip: The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c The Word – Symbol-Minded www.colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Michael Moore Go here if you have any problem watching the video above….
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When it comes to abortion politics—and now contraceptive politics—each side has its favorite demon. Whether it’s the Planned Parenthood Federation of America or the Catholic hierarchy—and increasingly the Catholic health care system—advocates do their best to make the other look as bad as possible, interpreting all events through a glass darkly. (In both cases, curiously, the two ‘demons’ are actually very popular; Planned Parenthood admired as a…
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N.B.: While ‘spoilers’ might be a misnomer in regard to a Terence Malick film, nevertheless a number of details of Tree of Life are revealed in the following essay. —eds. Since watching Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life a few days ago, I’ve been trailing my daughters: slowly, deliberately, unsure if I’m a cinematographer or a parent. In spite of my lifelong love of cinema (and teaching and publishing on the topic for the past decade plus), I ra…
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