Religion Dispatches
…aving acknowledged conservative religious gender norms, yet answering “the call.” Palin also told Van Susteren that she has a “prayer shield,” meaning, in Pentecostal/charismatic parlance, that prayer will shield the believer from all attacks from the devil or satanic forces, based on Ephesians 6:16. Using the term “prayer shield” is a signal to her followers to continue to pray for her, and much like Mike Huckabee’s prayer request, serves to rall…
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…t an occasion to celebrate; it’s a time to pray. The referendum on Abyei’s self-determination was postponed due to a dispute over whether a nomadic tribe allied with the North is eligible to vote. The Dinka Ngok (African Abyei residents loyal to the SPLM) want independence for Southern Sudan. The Misseriya, an Arab nomadic tribe that is armed by Khartoum to fight by proxy, will not give up its prime cattle-grazing territory near Abyei. Misseriya l…
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…ing book. BEM: Let’s start simple. The book you’re currently working on is called Cloud of the Impossible: Theological Entanglements. Perhaps the first question I should ask is: What is a “cloud of the impossible”? CK: Well, it’s a metaphor that just engulfed me and wouldn’t let me go. I tried to work with other names. But it wouldn’t go away, this little cloud. It comes from Nicholas of Cusa, who’s a theologian of the 15th century. It’s a phrase…
Read More…n to the lies being told by the religious right. Gay and lesbian people don’t want to “redefine” marriage—they want the same kind of marriage everyone else has, complete with kids, a dog, and a nice neighborhood. Weird, right?…
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…ose “Burners” who are true converts, it is a religious event on a massive scale. Casseopeia, a 28-year-old adjunct professor at a large state university told me that Burning Man is her only “religious holiday.” For true believers, mundane life pales in comparison to this annual Labor Day gathering in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. Often tagged as a countercultural festival, it is not really that at all. Burners are the culture, and among its most pri…
Read More…f support for the federal DREAM Act by a coalition of conservative evangelical and Catholic leaders. This is one issue on which evangelicals are apparently helpless to move the GOP. What Santorum said demonstrates why: they know they need Latino votes to win elections, but they think of them as “illegal.” Perry gets this, I am sure, and gets that religious leaders want to see immigration reform, even though he falls into line with his party on opp…
Read More…ildren to attend public universities paying in-state tuition. It’s not radical policy, but Romney’s criticism is yet another point—like Social Security—he’s using to draw a strong contrast with Perry. But doing so puts him to the right of the LDS Church-sponsored Utah Compact on Immigration Reform, underscoring a long-standing perception of Romney as an conservative opportunist and destroying the notion that Romney is actually a moderate at heart….
Read More…this week. But something new and unprecedented is in the works in Greece itself: for the first time, the Orthodox Church has been identified as the corporation it is, and the suggestion is that it should pay its fair share as well. The Greek Orthodox Church pays very low taxes on its vast real estate holdings and its clerics are paid by the state. That hand-in-glove relationship may be about to change. In an amazing development, the Greek Prime Mi…
Read More…the police may have hastily qualified the attack as aggravated robbery. We call on Ugandan President Museveni to send an unequivocal signal to Ugandans and to the world, condemning and demanding an impartial investigation into the murder, and taking steps to ensure the security of LGBTI activists and individuals,” said Paul LeGendre, HRF’s Fighting Discrimination Program Director. David Kato worked as an advocate and litigation officer for Sexual…
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…pation? Do religious leaders quite seem to get the extent to which all ethical questions and all justice issues now hinge on avoiding worst possible climate outcomes? McKibben: Well, it depends on part on what we mean by religious leaders. Individual pastors, rabbis, and imams are often taking part in things. But it is much harder to get “leaders” involved. In the liberal church, the bulk of the bureaucracy is still focused on hunger and on peace—…
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