Religion Dispatches
…ou’ll read an excerpt below—has surprised me, too. I wish I could find my airline companion and give him this book, to surprise him, too—in a good way. (I would accept Lakers tickets in lieu of apologies, but I think that particular era is done.) This whole book is a result of a profound evolution, and needs to be seen as such. American Muslims have gone through a lot over the last few decades. We were never the caricature Islamophobes made us ou…
Read More…ghlighted that if the Court ruled for Hobby Lobby, it would mark the first time a court granted an exemption that “extinguishe[d] the statutorily guaranteed benefits” of someone else: Hobby Lobby’s employees. As Kagan noted, “Congress has made a judgement to provide an entitlement,” in other words, the birth control coverage, “and that entitlement is to women” who are “harmed” if they are denied it. Justice Anthony Kennedy, thought to be the swing…
Read More…t outlines, in that case “the Town Board select[ed], month after month and year after year, prayergivers who will reliably speak in the voice of Christianity” and thereby “infuse[d] a participatory government body with one (and only one) faith, so that month in and month out, the citizens appearing before it become partly defined by their creed—as those who share, and those who do not, the community’s majority religious belief.” Nevertheless, the…
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…entually died from Hansen’s disease, known then as leprosy. During his lifetime, some vilified Damien for his association with persons who suffered from a disease seen as the result of undue sexual licentiousness on the part of Hawaiians. (He was defended by Robert Louis Stevenson from claims of his unworthiness in 1890.) We have, of course, come to understand Hansen’s disease, and colonial attitudes towards indigenous peoples such as Hawaiians, (…
Read More…esident’s place of birth — the Governor believes the President was born in Hawaii. The Governor would however like to know more about where President Obama’s liberal policies come from and what else the President plans to do to this country — as do most Americans.” Dave Weigel, I think, is too kind in his assessment of Huckabee. To sum up Huckabee: Obama certainly was born in the United States, but has lived someplace other than the Arkansas of di…
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…ed: they couldn’t facilitate bribery. We would have to buy new, full-price tickets to Iran. On the phone with JetBlue’s customer service line that night, my righteous fury dissipated quickly. Could JetBlue really be to blame for bad weather, or a mechanical problem, or whatever system error had made our flight impossible? Don’t I benefit regularly from this massive travel infrastructure that, like Lady Justice, doles its punishments out blindly? I…
Read More…ation of legal discrimination and street homophobia seen over the past few years in Kazakhstan’s northern neighbor is now brewing as well in the Central Asian giant. Last year, the Bolashok (“Future”) nationalist movement not only called for legislation to outlaw so-called LGBT “propaganda” but also for LGBT Kazakhstanis to be banned from serving in either the military or public office. In calling for anti-LGBT legislation, Bolashok’s leader, Daur…
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…ime in our lives where everything is a mile a minute and kids are on their phone all the time and there’s just this constant stream of information, there is nothing like going to a ball park and just everything slowing down a little bit, and the rhythm of the game gives you a sense of appreciation about all the blessings we have. It’s still a family game in a way that is really hard to match. And to those who found his presence at an exhibition ga…
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…s watched the priesthood session as it streamed online. This was the first time the priesthood session was broadcast publicly. Previously, anyone who wanted to watch the session had to attend a private broadcast at an LDS meetinghouse. The decision to make the telecast of the session public was announced after Ordain Women requested and was denied tickets in September. Although some media outlets referred to the action as a protest, Kelly, an inte…
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…t in our part—we went to the airport, we paid for our ticket, we spent our time, we stood in line—and then the flight was cancelled. So there’s a discrepancy between the inputs and the outputs, there’s a sense of injustice and unfairness—that’s why compensation is so important. That’s also why dissatisfied customers at restaurants want to get their dish for free, or get a free glass of wine, or a free dessert, because that balances out the input-o…
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