Religion Dispatches
…plugged-in lifestyle doesn’t really get at the heart of the issue. I think the Amish, of all people, have it right. It’s not so much about what you as an individual are doing or not doing, as the effect technology has on the community: Why not make life easier and just put [a phone] in the house? “What would that lead to?” another Amish man asked me. “We don’t want to be the kind of people who will interrupt a conversation at home to answer a tel…
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…ability of cell phones to be used for impure activities, some Jewish cell-phone users have requested so-called “kosher” phones. The idea is to offer conservative Jews a phone that is free of “corrupting influences” of the sort that are already avoided by ultra-orthodox Jews through a ban on television and some radio. Reuters reported in February 2008 that Bezeq Israel Telecom launched a new “kosher” landline phone service, which will block calls…
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…e a video of the performance, despite a Secret Service prohibition on cell phones, because Makana’s guitar is tuned with a smartphone app. Or, reporters are interested in how Obama, his guests, and security detail responded—or didn’t, as it turned out. But this misses the heart of the story, as Makana’s set at the APEC dinner was less dissenting performance than performative utterance—the songs he played, the protest t-shirt hidden beneath the com…
Read More…slogans about immigration reform. On line I heard that parishes with large numbers of undocumented immigrants had received many tickets. No outside food or water, statues, gifts or selfie sticks were permitted. Despite 10,000 folding chairs, most of us would have no choice but to stand. Once in my appointed place behind the last row of seats, I found myself in a community of fellow pilgrims, lottery winners from local parishes, nearby colleges, an…
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…ualism is bad. Also, he notes but offers no explanation for the decreasing number of marriages in many countries. I am glad to see that in Section 34 he understands this basic fact of contemporary western culture: The ideal of marriage, marked by a commitment to exclusivity and stability, is swept aside whenever it proves inconvenient or tiresome. The fear of loneliness and the desire for stability and fidelity exist side by side with a growing fe…
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…age. His 2012 book, The Buddha Walks into a Bar, has sold widely. Over the phone, I asked Rinzler why he and Burrows had chosen to establish the studio as a for-profit company. “We really wanted to make sure we had all the resources we need for supporting people who are trying meditation for the first time,” Rinzler explained. Because they’re a business, there’s more professionalism. The teachers they’ve hired show up on time, and, as Rinzler put…
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…i (an island in Hawaii). The patron saint of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu and Hawaii, Damien was a Belgian priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, known for his missionary work with lepers beginning in 1873. He himself eventually died from Hansen’s disease, known then as leprosy. During his lifetime, some vilified Damien for his association with persons who suffered from a disease seen as the result of undue se…
Read More…e. Hawaiians who favored the TMT project staged anemic counter protests in Honolulu, but were loathe to voice their opposition for fear it would tear families (ohana) apart. Aloha and ohana are the bedrock cultural values of the Hawaiian population. After a tense nine days, during which the governor issued an emergency decree and the elders (kapuna) at the site were arrested, the government stood down, and the international consortium of scientist…
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…and, Maine, and Minnesota. But it’s likely that a pragmatic regard for the numbers also had something to do with it. Mormons make up less than 1% of the population of the states of Maryland, Maine, and Minnesota. In California, home to Proposition 8, LDS people constitute 2 – 3% of the state’s population. In Hawaii, 70,000 Mormons comprise 5% of the state’s population. Mormon-majority communities have been in existence on Oahu’s North Shore since…
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…ans would be attracted to, appreciate and consider careers in science (the number is decreasing annually). I bet we’d have more productive conversation among students and leaders of science and religion around the many profound issues in our nation that engage both: abortion, medical care, stem cells, homosexuality, and genomic research. The battle rhetoric would fade and, more than likely, movies like Expelled wouldn’t be made in the first place….
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