Religion Dispatches
…st popular on the Web. It was a Bloggergate. “I get so irritated by the dismissive, uninformed male bloggers dismissing the mommy bloggers who are KICKING THEIR TRASH,” one woman wrote in the comments section of the original RD story. “I’d be willing to bet that [Times and Seasons and By Common Consent] receive exponentially more hits per day than all of the blogs mentioned in this article combined receive in a month,” commented another. “I’ve bee…
Read More…tudents on school grounds during the school day is not constitutionally permitted,” said Fairfield Community Schools attorney Tim Shelly. The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana sued the district in federal court on behalf of a New Paris Elementary School first-grader and his mother. The suit alleged the boy was left unsupervised in the hallway when his mother opted him out of the weekly 20-minute Bible class. He later was sent to the school…
Read More…loyees in 124 organizations “to identify great workplaces with a Christian mission and/or values.” The surveys ostensibly asked about such things as “job satisfaction, organizational commitment, Christian witness, supervisory effectiveness, work satisfaction, personal growth and development, management effectiveness, customer/supporter satisfaction, teamwork, communications and pay and benefits.” The list that came out show organizations with a lo…
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…ere in the temple at the time that that happened. There was no doubt in my mind or in the minds of my associates that what was revealed was the mind and the will of the Lord. Now I am told that racial slurs and denigrating remarks are sometimes heard among us. I remind you that no man who makes disparaging remarks concerning those of another race can consider himself a true disciple of Christ.” But neither Hinckley nor any other Church official us…
Read More…Bermuda: Referendum on Civil Unions, Marriage Equality Set for June 23 Premier Michael Dunkley has set June 23 as the date for a referendum that will ask voters to vote on two questions: do they favor same-sex marriage and do they favor civil unions. According to the Royal Gazette, the group Preserve Marriage says its campaign “will likely encourage voters to answer ‘no’ to both questions.” The group’s chairman said the group will use paid advert…
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…orced to flee his native Peshawar last year in the face of threats and intimidation by Taliban militants who oppose his music. Music (particularly of the Pashtun ethic group) was one of the first casualties of the Taliban’s recent campaign to take over Northwest Pakistan. In December 2008, militants shot and killed the harmonium player Anwar Gul as he was traveling with his colleague, popular Pashto singer Sardar Yousafzai. In January 2009, extrem…
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…live as an expat, returning to visit my family from time to time. I won’t miss much. I won’t miss the horrible cable news, or the sanctimonious preachers, or the respectability blacks who wish we’d all just get out of the streets and stop protesting. I won’t miss the well-meaning white people who try to commiserate, but won’t have a substantive conversation, or commit to fighting for justice and equality for brown and black people. I won’t miss t…
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…grassroots power to bring politicians to task on justice issues from economic inequality to immigration reform. On the other side, stands a male hierarchy that has wielded conventional political influence and spent considerable money on issues from marriage equality to abortion. Uncomfortable conference rooms aside, it is possible to read between the lines of both the official and unofficial messages that slipped out of the LCWR conference: The s…
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…l three “grades” are sacramentally ordained, the deacon is ordained to the ministry and not to the priesthood. The mistake made by those who argue against the restoration of women to the order of deacon is that they think if a woman can be ordained as deacon, then she can be ordained as priest. But that demonstrates a misunderstanding of the diaconate as a permanent vocation and does not make the clear distinction that is well-known in church teac…
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…a Jerusalem city councillor, in charge of security, encouraged a crowd to mimic the Biblical character of Phineas (Pinchas in Hebrew), who murdered a fellow Israelite and his Midianite lover for the “crime” of miscegenation: I am calling out to all the Pinchases that are here … Moses didn’t act, Pinchas acted … every one of us has a mission … The Rebbe, who is here with us, expects us to commit acts of Pinchas. Mere hours after these incidents of…
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