Religion Dispatches
…bout the cover? I love the cover. I took that picture myself (with my cell phone), and the press did a great job with the layout. The picture is of a hallway in Dystopia Haunted House, a big haunted attraction in Denmark. I’m doing some scientific consulting for them and have also done two large-scale quantitative research projects on recreational fear in the haunt, so it seemed only appropriate to use an image of one of their sets. It’s atmospher…
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…urch continues to allow cremation, something which has been permitted since 1963, but clarified first that burial of the body is preferred over cremation, and second that in the case of cremation, scattering of the ashes, or keeping the remains in a private or domestic setting is strictly forbidden. “It is not permitted to scatter the ashes of the faithful departed in the air, on land, at sea or in some other way, nor may they be preserved in meme…
Read More…owing acceptance of LGBT people in Catholic Columbia for the Religion News Service, noting, “Colombia has permitted civil unions for heterosexual and homosexual couples since 2007. Since 2013, some municipal judges have granted civil marriages to about 100 same-sex couples.” Herlinger tells the story of a devout Catholic transgender woman who worried about the afterlife, and was told by her priest, “We are all equal in heaven. There is no gender i…
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…to get more upset about these things until I realized a couple of things. Number one, not everyone’s going to like you. Number two, engaging with these people in arguments is often fruitless. Number three, a lot of times they refuse to listen. And number four, a very small percentage of them are actually crazy. There’s a great scene in a movie called The Trouble with Angels from the 1960s. It’s about a Catholic girls’ school outside of Philadelph…
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…black female bodies is having a heightened moment culturally? I’m seeing a number of images come out of the 1991 film Daughters of the Dust. We have to pull everything we’re seeing now, especially Lemonade, back to that filmmaker. Her name was Julie Dash. In some ways, Beyoncé has her finger on the pulse of cultural currency and recognizes that in order for her to stay current, she has to see what’s happening in various communities and integrate t…
Read More…led Tuesday that the policy “infringes the fundamental rights” of military service members and prospective service members and violates their rights to due process and freedom of speech. Her ruling bars the Pentagon from enforcing or applying the policy and orders the military to immediately suspend and discontinue any investigations, discharges or other proceedings related to potential violations of the law. Alexander Nicholson, executive directo…
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…ed a Master of Science degree from the University of Southern California in 1962. He earned a Ph.D. from U.S.C. in 1967 in Child Development and Research Design. Dr. Dobson served for fourteen years as Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, and simultaneously, for seventeen years on the Attending Staff of Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, in the Division of Medical Genetics. He was…
Read More…erts are clerics, which seems strange at a synod on the family. None of the 16 experts is from the United States; 10 are from Europe (including five from Italy), three from Asia, and one each from Mexico, Lebanon and Australia. “There are more laypeople among the 38 auditors, including 14 married couples, of whom two are from the United States. Many of the observers are employees of the Catholic church or heads of Catholic organizations, including…
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…iage equality was Tuesday, November 7. Results will be released on November 15. If the “yes” side is victorious, a parliamentary vote could follow soon, though marriage equality opponents plan a series of amendments granting exemptions based on religious beliefs. A Lonergan Research poll found that 65 percent of Australians support marriage equality and that 49 percent of Australians believe that service providers with religious objections to same…
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…e with Wikileaks’ “Spirit Dinner” tweet alleging that Clinton’s campaign chair, John Podesta was invited to a satanic “Spirit Dinner” where human blood, breast milk and semen would be included in the meal. Wikileaks, and the media response to this accusation, brought forward the conspiratorial link to Hillary Clinton working for Evil, and Donald Trump as the hero for Good. The linking of conspiracies, faith, and radical political views provides a…
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