Religion Dispatches
…. So when Taylor poses his central question—what does it feel like to live within a secular age?—the erudition and subtlety with which he strives to answer is often betrayed by a conception of religion as overwhelmingly (but not exclusively) cognitive—a one-on-one psychic investment into the question of monotheistic divinity that is recognized, in the act, as a psychic investment. A choice well chosen. In a secular age, Brooks reports, “Religious…
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…the atheist bus adverts, said: ‘You wait for ages for an atheist bus, then 800 come along at once. I hope they will brighten people’s days and make them smile on their way to work.’” So will it be a year of smiles for the faithless—or, perhaps, the faithful? A lot depends on the economy. Religion didn’t fare particularly well during the Great Depression. Despite the seeming need for alternative realities, church attendance didn’t swell in the 193…
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…seeking shelter from Hurricane Harvey. “Joel Osteen” started to trend on Twitter with comments about the hypocrisy of the prominent Prosperity Gospel preacher, who tweeted out that he and his wife were praying for Houston, while appearing not to do anything to address the great needs of his neighbors. Houston’s Joel Osteen has a net worth over $50m and a church that holds 16,800 but this is all he’s offering. pic.twitter.com/rmhdWK6ZAO — Mark E…
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…his invitation, “because he wanted everyone to be filled—not with food and wine, but with compassion.” On a superficial level, the “He Gets Us” spots have high production value, but that’s where their sophistication ends. The prose and delivery of their voiceovers are classic evangelical, managing to be somehow both vague and overwrought, in addition to being just, well, obnoxiously concerned. Meanwhile, the music is straight out of the manipulati…
Read More…er? Well, then we’re evidently back to weighing the innocence of the fetus with the guilt of the father, with nary a consideration for the woman. To be sure, neither rape exceptions nor life-of-the-mother exceptions really make a lot of sense if you truly think that a fertilized embryo is a rights-bearing human being. But a life-of-the-mother exception, without a rape exception, gives a pretty clear picture of where the pregnant woman’s welfare f…
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…rough patch, including shake-ups with its executives, a highly publicized flop with City of Ember, and a reduced output that includes only two films set to open in 2009. Arkansas Adoption Law Challenged: In November, the good folk of Arkansas passed a ballot measure (Act 1) which limits adoption to married couples, effectively eliminating all unmarried couples (gay or heterosexual) living together from adoption. Last week, the American Civil Libe…
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…if this bill included the avoidance of individual discomfort, not just to Florida’s teachers but to Florida’s athletic coaches? Florida, like most Southern states, is obsessed with football. But what kind of football teams would Florida schools produce if players could argue that they were being discriminated against if they were made to feel uncomfortable? When I was younger, I had dreams of playing soccer at the highest levels. I participated i…
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…that, I will be running a four-week Massive Online Open Seminar (MOOS) on the past, present and future considerations of Catholic women deacons. The seminar will be online and free, and will include video presentations by myself, by William T. Ditewig, Ph.D. and by Gary Macy, Ph.D. This book and an earlier book featured on RD, Women Deacons: Past, Present, Future (Paulist Press) will be the seminar texts. Registration for the June 9-July 8 MOOS c…
Read More…crisis after another, communicating little confidence that they know what they are doing or understand where this new tidal wave of cash will actually go. So, flow the money will, anywhere between 600 and 800 billion dollars worth… but where will it go?…
Read More…the 16th century building of its Islamic imagery and festooned it instead with banners proclaiming, “Love the Party, Love the Country.” The destruction and desecration of the mosques is part of a larger Chinese governmental effort to expunge Islam from China. It’s directed against the Uighurs, a largely Muslim Turkic group spread throughout Central and East Asia. More than 11 million Uighurs live in Xianjiang District of Western China, where offi…
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