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Is Christianity Simply About God Entering the Uterus of a Jewish Virgin?

By Eric Reitan

…ics and Programmer of the DNA code decided to enter the uterus of a Jewish virgin, got himself born, then deliberately had himself tortured and executed because he couldn’t think of a better way to forgive the theft of an apple, committed at the instigation of a talking snake. Since I live in Oklahoma (the purported Buckle of the Bible Belt), one might expect that Dawkins was envisioning a neighborhood like mine when he assessed the chances that m…

What’s Wrong With the Virgin Mary Depicted as a Barbie Doll?

By Joseph Laycock

…ial backed by the Italian bishops conference objected to depictions of the Virgin Mary, Joan of Arc, and other Catholic saints and virgins, asking “What is the difference between provocation and bad taste?” Commenting on the Barbie dressed as Kali, Times of India noted a long pattern of the West appropriating Hinduism for commercial purposes. Rajan Zed, a Hindu cleric and interfaith leader remarked, “Barbie-fication of Kali is simply improper, wro…

Spiritual Unplugging, Or What to Do When There is Wifi at the Ashram

By Matt Hamilton

…self-interrogation boiled, my hand extended to the right. I reached for my phone, but I found nothing. At first I laughed at my instinct, my muscle memory. The phone, with its glowing screen, gave me solace and control. But I was tied to my cushion for another hour, and in this ashram for another day, so email would have to wait. I panicked. My heart raced. Would my editor be asking for me? Would a reply from that politician’s secretary sit unansw…

AFA: Native Americans Lost their Land for Not Being Christians

By Daniel Schultz

…ht of conquest.” Fischer went on to blame poverty and alcoholism on Indian reservations on Native Americans themselves, because they “continue to cling to the darkness of indigenous superstition” and refuse to come into “the light of Christianity” and assimilate “into Christian culture.” How Christianity would have helped Native Americans adapt to confinement on reservations is anybody’s guess. Fischer was apparently propelled into his diatribe by…

Should Christians Confess to Plants? A Cranky Meditation

By Greg Carey

…t to participate. If liturgy asks people to pray or sing things that raise reservations, they find themselves in a quandary. It feels wrong to participate, and it feels equally problematic to refrain. Although I very much appreciate innovative worship, I have experienced this situation too many times. To be sure, I feel uncomfortable with worship every week. I’m asked to affirm things I desire to believe when the truth is that I carry doubts and r…

All That Glitters is Monotheism — Ignorance of Paganism Isn’t The Real Problem with David Wolpe’s ‘Atlantic’ Essay

By Chrissy Stroop

…the kinds of people who would undoubtedly be publishing in the “centrist” Atlantic in ours—are littered with the same breezy tropes Wolpe recycles: for example, the notion that if humans believe we’re simply animals, we will inevitably follow “the law of the jungle,” as Wolpe puts it. (For what it’s worth, this argument is as deeply ignorant about non-human animals as it is about human behavior.) During the tense years between World War I and Wor…

Controversial Mary Statue Weeps Because ‘We’re Killing This World’

By Joseph Laycock

…ian seer long before the arrival of the statue. Her first message from the Virgin Mary came about two years ago when, sitting in mass, a cross and the letter ‘M’ appeared in blood on her leg. Since then, the Virgin has inscribed other messages on her body and has even spoken to her directly. Ibrahim’s message from Mary is that people must invigorate their faith and return to church. Catholic tradition has a long history of Marian seers. Typically,…

Denzel’s Profane Preaching: A Religious Movie for the Rest of Us

By Sean S. O'Neil

…d gathering—on his way to a lurching belly-flop in an adjoining field. But Flight, like most of the other religiously-themed scripts to which Washington agrees to lend his star power, is no Kirk Cameron morality play. As in The Book of Eli, in which Washington played a post-apocalyptic loner who creates a trail of gore during a violent spiritual pursuit of the lone remaining copy of the Bible, the celluloid preaching in Flight is rated R. In addit…

The Best-Laid Plans of Mice and Humans

By Amina Wadud

…ill go to Mina, etc. There is still no address for the hotels, but a local phone number. There is also information about processing customs at Jeddah, meeting the tour guide, and information that says “the group” will proceed to Makkah—which means the first will have to wait for the last person, which is the beginning of feeling like you are a group. They even include suggestions to “get to know” your fellow travelers. I still had no idea what wer…

Holy Father, You’re Not Helping: The Problem with the Pope’s Plan to Consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

By Katherine Kelaidis

…and Eastern Orthodox Christians, one of the major feasts focused upon the Virgin Mary. The Vatican has announced that this year on the Feast of the Annunciation the Pope will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. While it would be unfair to assume bad intentions, it’s yet another glaring misstep in the pontiff’s handling of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and a stark, and extremely public reminder, of the West’s entirely…