Religion Dispatches
…religious complex will get more interesting .It is not the religious complex that is complex, rather, the existence of Zoe and Tamara offer more interesting questions about what composes one’s personal “essence” In other words, what is it that makes you, you? And if a dog, in this case, Zoe’s dog, can recognize Zoe, what is it then that makes her dog be able to see her, even through all of the metal her essence is encased in? I know Dog is GOD spe…
Read More…ing positions in LDS institutional life. They don’t make doctrine or policy. Very, very few women in Mormonism actually do. But they speak for an increasing number of everyday Mormons who know that gay people are our relatives. Family. Saints. Us. Are views on homosexuality evolving in Mormonism? You bet, and like so many changes in the history of religion, that change may be coming from the people in the back pew or at the bottom of the hierarchy…
Read More…tion is currency and anonymity is easy to come by. A version of this paradox exists in the realm of mass shootings, too. Acts of random violence often seem, in part, to function as dramatic plays for attention or celebrity status. The Orlando nightclub shooter reportedly checked his phone for news about the shooting during the actual event; the man who murdered hostages at the Hyper Cacher kosher grocery store in Paris last year filmed the attack…
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…ion of evangelicals was more moderate than its forebears, less likely to fixate on gay marriage as a wedge issue, and more interested in reaching “common ground” with liberals than wage battle in the culture wars. One of the prime examples of this “new” kind of evangelical was the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, who has since gone on to compare health care reform to King Herod, give the benediction a…
Read More…so sponsored another bill, which was recently signed into law. As Argento explains: He pushed a law through the Legislature that codifies something called “The Castle Doctrine” which, in essence, makes it easier to legally shoot people, the reasoning apparently being that it should be easier to legally shoot people. Actually, he explained that the bill would remove your legal obligation to retreat in the event of an attack so you wouldn’t have to…
Read More…ision Forum and Christian Reconstruction: biblical patriarchy, eliminating public education, and any public assistance for the poor, etc. In any case I’ll bet that Monumental will be a contender for the Phillips’ Jubilee Award next year. …
Read More…ious institutions such that they aren’t aware of the alternatives that are better aligned with their values. Whatever the reasons, it’s now evident that churches get one chance to get their message on LGBT treatment correct and that they get the message wrong at their own peril. While some celebrate the decline of religious affiliation in America, I think it would be deeply sad for those who wanted a church that delivered on its promises of inclus…
Read More…ns them the place better than others who make different choices. So, it is better for not better than. I mean, do what makes you better for yourself, but do not confuse it with something that makes you better than another self; which is istikbar. The story of Satan goes like this: when the prototype (or first) human, Adam, was created out of an atom of dust (tin, pronounced “teen”) the unseen creatures were ordered to bow to him. There was a reaso…
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…storians can’t show art to students, I thought, why does art history even exist? (Back in my day it was “Piss Christ” that offended my Christian sensibilities, but—although there are significant differences between that situation and the current one—it would never have occurred to me to question a professor.) But the more I mulled it over, the more uncomfortable I became with my own instincts. A main reason for that discomfort is that, it seems cl…
Read More…ing? Will he use this twenty-first century means of communication to express obsolete ideology? Or would blogging help the pope realize that some of his teachings are a wee bit outdated? What next, Pope Benedict on Facebook? If so, you can bet your mortgage that plenty of “good” Catholics will be editing their profiles before they ”friend His Holiness.”…
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