Search for "American Airlines 1800-299-7264 Reservation Phone Number"

New History Finally Recognizes Afro-Creole Spiritualists

By Paul Harvey

…to the popular audience. A recent Harris poll reported that 42 percent of Americans believe in ghosts. Whether one believes in ghosts or not, Americans are fascinated by them. A century and a half before the popularity of ghost-hunter shows on the SyFy Network and NBC’s award-winning show “Medium,” belief in spirit communication was serious and widespread in the United States. New Orleans in particular is known for ghosts and spirits, and this bo…

Obama’s Supposed “Religion Dilemma” and American Exceptionalism

By Sarah Posner

…versus-them package: that Obama doesn’t understand the divine roots of the American founding, probably because he’s not really a Christian and not really an American, and only by electing the likes of Michele Bachmann or Jim DeMint can we ensure that the Christian nation ship can be righted again. By framing the confrontation of this narrative as an “uphill battle,” Democrats make the enormous and unnecessary mistake of placing themselves in the p…

American Jews: From Holocaust to New Age Hasidism?

By Martin Kavka

…aism, on a sociological note. Given the rate of intermarriage among Jewish Americans and the ways in which American culture no longer is content with prescripted roles for varying ethnic groups, Magid infers that American Jews now live in a postethnic culture. The ways in which Jews perform their particularism vary widely. In one way or another, all Jewish Americans today are Jews by choice, defining their identity as opposed to accepting others’…

What’s in a Name? Religious Nones and the American Religious Landscape

By Richard Flory

…tention is that there has been a significant and sustained increase in the number of people who are choosing not to identify with any religion. As reported by the Pew Research Center, in 2007, 16 percent of American adults reported no religious preference or affiliation; by 2014 this statistic had increased to almost 23 percent. And younger adults are more likely to say that they have no religion than their parents or grandparents’ generations. Ma…

Why No American Muslim Response to Torture?

By Hussein Rashid

…f Muslim-American organizations really see themselves as being part of the American landscape, they need to take part in American debates. If they only represent “us” than we will never be part of the community, we’ll be a special interest group that will have no impact on the American landscape. These groups ask for the country to recognize them, but they offer nothing in return. The fact that official policy was to torture people is a matter for…

America, the Mythical: “Mother of Exiles” or Denier of Safe Haven?

By Ed Simon

…c story of America’s foundation. The conservative reads a tale about Anglo-American Protestant hegemony and the opening up of North American resources. But the radical, perhaps even the mystical interpreter, reads a more allegorically profound story about America as “Mother of Exiles,” a universal space that encompases all ethnicities, cultures, and religions precisely because of its universality. Arguments about the significance of the pilgrims b…

American Indians Irate over Bin Laden Code Name “Geronimo”

By Johnny P. Flynn

…braves, warriors, and Geronimo are only part of the rich history of Native Americans. Until that history and its lessons are woven into the fabric of the American consciousness, we will continue to squander precious resources around the world failing to hear the same message over and over again. Steven Newcomb, a Shawnee Indian, said it best in a column in Indian Country Today: What the hell were they thinking… the code name was based on an extens…

An American Muslim Responds to Muslim Orgs Questioning Armenian Genocide

By Haroon Moghul

…ncerned that they might appear to speak in my name. Rather than accept, as American Muslims, what happened to our fellow Americans of Armenian origin, this organization chooses to (1) challenge the historicity of the Armenian genocide; (2) pander to the increasingly authoritarian Turkish government; and (3) tell Armenians that, in effect, we cannot recognize your pain because someone else won’t recognize ours. The statement opens by recognizing ‘t…

Homegoing: Historian Explores the World of African-American Funerals

By Joanna Brooks

…d Motown, to compare the role of music and the role of religion in African-American history: “I tend to see the role of music and the role of religion in African American historical experience as completely intertwined. The earliest slave funerals in the New World were held late at night in the ‘hush harbors’ of the slave quarters. These early burial rituals were largely musical and included African-style drumming, slave spirituals, and chanting….

A New Book By Esteemed Sociologist Robert Wuthnow Struggles to Show ‘Why Religion is Good for American Democracy’

By Peter Laarman

…nds me that someone could write a book about religion and democracy in the American context without addressing faith community responses to the 9/11 attacks and the catastrophic War on Terror that ensued. Unless my memory totally fails me, American religious leaders were mainly supportive of the “dark side” measures Dick Cheney told us were necessary in order to protect us against the alien evildoers. Yes, we did see some sporadic faith-involved p…