Religion Dispatches
…sus summer; like in the US or Europe right now. Sunrise to sunset was about 12 hours and therefore fasting was about 14 all year round. So I learned that it wasn’t an “Islamic thing” to party all night in Ramadan; or to be useless all during the day. It was a cultural thing — and fortunately I do not have to imbibe every other culture in order to be Muslim. So I stick to my schedule, up for suhur, pray, read Qur’an and take a nap before sunrise if…
Read More…— they want to go see Allah, I’m all in favor of giving them a first class ticket if — if they don’t respect human life and dignity. What Jesus is getting at, Mr. Hannity, is that those who truly have respect for human life and dignity understand that it is better to love an enemy than it is to hate them and wish for (or facilitate) their destruction. Hannity is no better than the fanatics he condemns since has no respect for their lives or their…
Read More…e National Association of Evangelicals,” arguing that “it’s time” for “the Spirit-filled community to stand up and take the lead.” In his Cruz endorsement, Strang posits that non-charismatic evangelicals have been “most involved in the political process,” but they “tend to split their votes among several conservative candidates in the primaries,” which leads to a “moderate” Republican nominee who loses. “Those in the mushy middle like Bob Dole, Jo…
Read More…ce in “judicial tyranny.” Now, they’ve set their sights on the Romney-Ryan ticket, which released the statement that “a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape.” “Personhood USA does not endorse political candidates, but we had hoped that Congressman Ryan would be a good influence on Governor Romney, considering Romney’s liberal abortion record,” Jennifer Mason, the group’s communication director, said in a statem…
Read More…t, help the least of these all you want, but nothing you do will buy you a ticket to heaven. You can do all these things and be ever so nice, but if you don’t believe Jesus died for your sins, you’re going to hell.” To those who feel that way I say this: Call those pursuing social justice in this world heretics and deface billboards if it makes you feel better about neglecting the poor and suffering. But I think that Jesus could give two flips abo…
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…exists, and it can be argued that it is not only intellectually, but also spiritually edifying to tap into this greater form of being. As national borders recede, the spiritual self can expand. The confusion, despair, and exultation of life abroad makes the twinkle of the stars seem more mysterious and awe-inspiring at home. Something is out there, and you have to see it to believe it. Luckily, with planet Earth, unlike other sources of spiritual…
Read More…of protest is to wear the niqab and nothing else. Then, the women will get tickets, not for being nude, but for being clothed. In my opinion, that would show the absolute absurdity of the state trying to control women’s dress. I have written elsewhere that this sort of action, of controlling a woman’s body, is simply male penis worship run amok. These ladies, who call themselves Niqabitches, have done a great service in showing the inherent contra…
Read More…inding us of that shared connection. Disclosure: Eboo Patel and I have been friends for several years, and IFYC supplied my ticket to this event….
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…still resonate and matter today.” This story of divine providence, linking 1776 and 1948, is core to the Christian Zionist imaginary of the United States and Israel as twin ‘shining cities on a hill’ (to paraphrase Reagan, who borrowed it from Puritan John Winthrop), charged with a crusade to save the West. Hegseth summed it up in a March 2019 speech at the annual gala of the National Council of Young Israel, an Orthodox Jewish organization—“Zion…
Read More…at living into their natural, God-given sexuality will earn them a one way ticket to Satanland. That fear is real, that fear is palpable, and these people are willing to do anything to avoid that fate—even if it means marrying someone from the opposite gender as proof positive of their “change.” That being said, I am a firm believer in the Kinsey scale. I do believe that sexuality runs a continuum and that there are people who are genuinely bisexu…
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