Religion Dispatches
…evangelicals were all too eager to point to that man’s material success as more than enough goodness to overlook his flaws. In fact, as the prosperity gospel teaches us, having material wealth is a sure sign of God’s favor. And losing all of your material wealth in a natural disaster? Well, that’s surely a sign of God’s judgment—so brace yourself for the victim-blaming aftershocks….
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…body of Christ, can’t show that difference is not a bad thing, and it’s a sign of God’s divinity, if we can’t show what it’s like to live in the tension of those differences, and find unity, what hope is there for the rest of the world?” Nevertheless, Oliveto is optimistic about the future of the church that still makes her soul sing. “I really believe there’s a love revolution going on,” she said of the response to her election. Even those who r…
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…he also feels a growing sense of frustration with the Muslim community. “I signed that letter because it’s a step forward,” Aly said. “But the letter just focuses on Muslim issues, and at this point, we don’t need to have 400 people sign one letter. We need 400 letters—you know what I mean? We are not one voice, we are not a monolith.” Given the demographics of American Muslims, the most diverse faith community in the nation, it might seem natural…
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…n’t earn it, you can’t deserve it. You make the point of not making people sign up, or sign in, the way we do if we need government aid. Right. You don’t have to prove anything. The imitation of God’s gesture in feeding us all is frightening, and difficult, and exhilarating. It’s an amazing experience to do that—it changes you. Interesting, too, that the pantry is not run by volunteers from the church, as I had imagined. It’s also true that becaus…
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…el Alito, who questioned the need for such laws and called it an “ominous” sign for religious liberty: There are strong reasons to doubt whether the regulations were adopted for—or that they actually serve—any legitimate purpose. And there is much evidence that the impetus for the adoption of the regulations was hostility to pharmacists whose religious beliefs regarding abortion and contraception are out of step with prevailing opinion in the Stat…
Read More…nd neighborhoods. The turnaround was so astounding that one year, the best sign at Atlanta’s gay pride read: “We can rehab marriage and sell it back to you at twice the price.” Seems that sign was a bit prescient. As more and more states accept same-sex marriage, researchers are showing that gays and lesbians have much to teach their straight counterparts about the institution they have been bogarting for the last few centuries. As Liz Mundy recal…
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…and enlightenment that’s the animus of new age spirituality. There’s also significant overlap with libertarianism, a shared space of socially progressive, fiscally conservative, anti-government politics. Those overlaps would naturally include nudity activism because personal freedom is paramount. The unifying theme that “I can do what I want, so can everyone else” forms a naive (at best) understanding of how harm occurs in society. The peace, lig…
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…re that has no sexual organs and no complex digestive system as our bright sign of the future, while we simultaneously hold it captive to our whims and mercies. And yet I also have a strange sense that Kobuta might be the sort of starry-eyed scientist who won’t allow this to happen. Of course, I can’t know this. I don’t even know Kobuta. But I am moved by his sense of humility. Science’s Little Miracles As hungry as Kobuta is for knowledge about j…
Read More…, with some seeing it as a positive development, and others seeing it as a sign of “sexual deviancy” and commanding religious divorces for women wearing burqas. Husbands are apparently unsupportive, dictating that their wives should dress as men see fit. When I first ran across this story in the summer, via Talk Islam, I said: Jewish women want to wear the burqa for modesty and the religious authorities say to be modest is a sign of sexual devianc…
Read More…sition to mosques around the country, an opposition neatly summarized by a sign held by one protester: “Mosques are monuments to terrorism.” The sign is from a protest in Temecula, California, which is over 2700 miles from the World Trade Center site. Protests have also greeted another proposed mosque in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and it became something of an issue in the recent Republican gubernatorial primary. While campaigning, Lt. Gov. Ron Rams…
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