Religion Dispatches
…tically rather than intuitively. David Bentley Hart would disagree. In his latest book, The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss, the Eastern Orthodox theologian argues, instead, that that “the absolutely convinced atheist” is not an uncompromising intellectual, but rather “someone who has failed to notice something very obvious.” And while Zuckerman’s study is rigorously researched, it actually demonstrates Hart’s point: the study gets…
Read More…ousness of coming out is highlighted in yet another great article from the latest issue of Rolling Stone, in which Alex Morris explores “The Hidden War Against Gay Teens,” chronicling the challenges faced by teenagers at private Christian schools (especially in the South) who can be kicked out for merely admitting they are gay or lesbian. Those interviewed for the piece recount the horror of being outed against their will and the terrible afterma…
Read MoreIt’s official: Muslims are cool. The latest Muslim superhero in town, Kamala Khan, promises to get people talking about Islam—and not in a bad way. Khan, aka ‘Ms. Marvel,’ isn’t faster than a speeding bullet, but she’s got some pretty nifty powers, including shape shifting, which is something I wish I could do on almost a daily basis. Like all superheroes (and all Muslims these days), Kamala has her share of problems. But instead of a villain or…
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…cuss the state of Black-Jewish relations and tried to make it through this latest episode of the Who’s-the-true-chosen-people-Olympics unscathed. So if you detect cynicism dripping from my words, it’s intentional. However, it was a direct message from a close friend who posed the following query that changed my mind: “I need to run this by you, and I know I can’t ask this in public because of how it might be misconstrued. Is it inherently antisemi…
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…arn how to be consistent and determine how the enlightenment principles it promotes can also apply to religious and secular viewpoints it does not share. But after reading such provocative lines of argumentation, the reader is left wondering what Marsden’s motivations are. The theological justification is clear: Marsden embraces an Augustinian theological outlook in which all humans—regardless of their faith or sexuality—are creatures of God who s…
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…ial dishes for offering to deities,” while modern varieties, the only kind promoted by the government, “are considered ‘impure’ for socio-cultural and religious ceremonies.” Faced with a soaring rate of Diabetes caused by the abandonment of traditional foods for “white” food products, the Tohono O’odham of the Sonora Desert have organized through communal institutions to support a return to their nearly extinct thousand-year-old former diet, write…
Read More…tholics themselves? I’ll get back to this question below, but first: the latest news from the fight against contraception. A federal appeals court has ruled that Notre Dame, one of the most recognizably “Catholic” of Catholic universities, must provide free contraception under its health plan. Apparently requiring the Fighting Irish to provide birth control doesn’t have the same resonance as asking cute elderly nuns in habits to do so. That’s…
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…ch unearthed examples where Driscoll used material from Peter Jones in his latest book A Call to Resurgence (Tyndale, November 2013) without crediting Jones. Later, she produced evidence that material from Driscoll’s study guide Trial: 8 Witnesses From 1 & 2 Peter (Mars Hill Church, 2009, out of print) contained material from the New Bible Commentary (InterVarsity Press, 1994) that was also used without proper citation. After Mefferd accused Drisc…
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…t after James Holmes wounded 58 and killed 12 people at the opening of the latest Batman film at an Aurora, Colorado movie theater, The Telegraph published a “history of mass shootings in the U.S. since Columbine”—a list of nearly 30 shooting sprees with lethal results. Ne’er-do-wells who merely wounded didn’t make the cut. Thus, not included on the list was a shooting spree in an Alabama bar with a multiple arson warm-up just two days earlier. Th…
Read More…ligious freedom. In the terms of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, these corporations are called “churches,” their “integrated auxiliaries,” and “conventions or associations of churches,” where churches are defined as a “subset of IRC 501(c)(3) organizations organized and operated for religious purposes.” Necessarily, such entities are artificial or fictive persons under the law, subjects capable of claiming rights and bearing respon…
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