Religion Dispatches
…dwarfing the protests against Israel’s operation. With the mainstream American Jewish leadership firmly in support of the current military operation there is little pressure for the Israeli government to end the carnage—or for the U.S. government to pressure it to do so….
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…y, called it “experiencing the other side.” Among Jewish Americans, this approach is put into practice most often in dialogue groups and listening circles, where Jews and Palestinians begin for the first time to hear each other. That first step—really listening to the other—is hard. The second step—acknowledging that one’s own narrative, the narrative cherished by one’s family and community, is not merely mistaken but a source of injustice—is hard…
Read More…lation related to human sexuality for possible consideration using the new process.The proposal became known as Rule 44 simply because it was the last of 44 rules the commission proposed for conference business. General Conference delegates approved the first 43 rules, after their own ups and downs, late on May 10. Thus, an arcane procedural debate became, for many United Methodists, mainly about long-simmering differences regarding ministry with…
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…to us.” Media studies professor Christopher R. Smit highlights how, “God’s proprietorship would have been theologically paramount in the young girl’s imagination… Always she was someone else’s, rarely her own person.” From Spears’ 2007 album Blackout. Like many evangelical children, Spears rebelled as she grew older—and often against religion. The artwork for her 2007 album Blackout, for example, includes images of Spears posing suggestively in a…
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…en renunciation of racist theologies by LDS Church leaders, Professor Randy Bott (who on his personal blog apologetically prevaricates on facts of Mormon history) and others have continued to espouse and communicate them to a new generation of Mormons. As progressive BYU students prepare to protest Bott’s remarks, others await formal statements by Brigham Young University or the LDS Church, hoping—perhaps, this time, in the scrutiny of this electi…
Read More…of 1964? Not since President Obama has reaffirmed support for such hiring practices for non-profit charities. Unfortunately, these outfits can continue to discriminate on the basis of faith. What troubles me is the complete hijacking of the word “Christian” in this context. Some of the best places I’ve worked as a Christian were in the newsrooms of radio and television stations. There I encountered the ills of the world and honed my compassion fo…
Read More…cales sent an e-mail to all local principals on Tuesday, saying the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled prayer before football games and graduation ceremonies to be unconstitutional and that the practices should be stopped. “But things are handled a little differently in different areas of the country,” Scales said. “This does not need to be something that divides our community. None of the school cases that have been litigated are designed to keep anyon…
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…o, an online portal that aggregates blogs in the Bloggernacle, but she now prefers to write primarily for her own site, where she can be herself. “I felt when I blogged for the Bloggernacle that there were guidelines, you had to be a bit edgy, a bit sacrilegious,” she said. If Shipps’ theory that blogging is the new Mormon gathering is correct, Kendrick is disheartened by the fact that bloggers aren’t more connected across thematic lines. “What I…
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…n the project derived from a March 23, 2021 event in which both of them, representing their respective organizations, presented information on the connections between Christian nationalism and January 6 to the Congressional Freethought Caucus. Impressed by Tyler’s deep commitment, as a Christian, to the separation of church and state, Seidel, an outspoken atheist, suggested that they work to bring critics of Christian nationalism together in a con…
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…shed tones, Philando and Alton’s relatives will cry bitter tears (and be approached by predatory lawyers hoping to catch a civil case) and children will have nightmares and call out for their fathers. Preachers will ignore, or call on people to pray, but not to act. The rest of us will drink, fornicate and forget. I’m done saving you, good white folks. You want Black people like me, who like you, to say the prophetic thing, and bail your ass out f…
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