Religion Dispatches
…ly,” said John Green, of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. “Even among the most conservative religious groups, the economy is playing a much larger role than in 2004. And while they are still thinking in moral terms and they have not deserted their values, it is just about different issues.” It’s certainly true that some “values voters” will remain one-issue voters—especially if that issue happens to be abortion—but trends are showing the…
Read More…eeney that dug into sensitive community issues like the shunning of former Mormons and esoteric elements of LDS temple ceremonies. Sweeney even managed to put high-ranking LDS Church leaders on the defensive on camera. Last weekend, at the worldwide LDS Semi-Annual General Conference, it was Church leaders’ turn to broadcast their own messages about Mormonism, preaching the importance of Christian service, forgiveness, and obedience, and offering…
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…ight to express themselves. Just as a woman’s face or hair pose no objective threat to public order, fleeting glimpses of fellow citizens underwear cause no demonstrable harm to society and no more warrant government meddling in people’s daily lives….
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…erved the massive development of YouTube and Google, the ubiquity of smart phones and mobile devices, and the rise of Facebook and Twitter, which boast nearly a billion and half a billion respectively. For good and for ill, we are available 24/7 for communications via multiple lines of digital contact. Amidst this chaotic stew of interactive entertainment Benedict has worked to figure out, with increasing urgency and frustration, just what the Chu…
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…ericho Marches rose to prominence recently. Supporters have been marching around the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa for around 20 days. They are, for Americans, a gothic reminder of what had been brewing in the lead up to the J6 sacking and looting of the US Capitol. The same toxic brew Jericho March, the group, is one of the religious groups, movements and ideologies at play in the insurrection. The Uncivil Religion project has uncovered a bevy of…
Read More…s, released a video in which he said: It is astounding to have to say that most Houston citizens – including most Christians and pastors – are still unaware of the radical nature of Mayor Annise Parker’s commitment to imposing the full “San Francisco Style” Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered, etc. agenda. … We have a sin-sick city and we need the power of God through Jesus Christ changing lives and changing City Hall! Conservatives have jumped…
Read More…evelopers of approved projects the sales tax paid by visitors on admission tickets, food, gift sales and lodging costs. Developers have 10 years to reach the 25 percent threshold. Rob Boston, a spokesman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, says there are concerns over the project, but it’s too early to tell whether the proposed business incentives would be unconstitutional in that it would involve excessive entanglement with r…
Read More…half. There were still probably 80 empty seats, and it was clear that some number of attendees had free tickets. The largest financial supporter of the event was a local news/talk radio station and its representatives were the only media allowed in. As I arrived with my Religion Dispatches press badge they stopped me before I even got to the door. I chatted with an AP reporter and he said AP had been trying for weeks to gain media access—but that…
Read More…“ex-gay” ministry, People Can Change, whose practices, writes Warren Throckmorton, are even marginalized among the “ex-gay” industry. By omitting this deeply relevant fact, the NPR story glosses over the true story here: those who become “ex-gay” are usually those who are making a living off of their new status as “cured” homosexuals. They are professional “ex-gays” who have their entire livelihoods bound up in maintaining their “ex-gay” status. O…
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…ively inquiring suburbanite; “Wrestling With God” documented three hipster Mormons debating viewpoints about faith. The movies mirrored their Sundance counterparts in monocular emphasis: one Tongan sister threaded the piece; one doubting Thomas ordered “Blind Faith”; and one camera steadied the conversational drama of the dialogic believers. The shorts format inspires self-conscious brevity and overstated simplicity, asking viewers to marvel at th…
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