Religion Dispatches
…her action means that we are simply automatons. There would be no need for free will if God is simply manipulating us in each moment. The free will exercised that day by the hijackers didn’t come out of the blue. The attacks were in response to what they saw as American arrogance in the world and failed foreign policies in the Middle East. The attacks came because of a large man-made mess that had been years in the making. Detroit prays for a mira…
Read More…s it getting too expensive to be Jewish? Well, Tablet Magazine is offering free Yiddish lessons every Friday. A group of conservatives have launched a pro-Israel, anti-Obama organization called The Emergency Committee for Israel. Meanwhile, J Street, a pro-Israel group that favors a two state solution, is calling on Treasury Secretary Timothy Geitner to investigate American groups sponsoring Israeli settlements. But have no fear, the Presbyterians…
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…well as their bodies and their polities, are shackled; they will never be free unless or until they embrace freedom as an absolute, unqualified good. In light of this genealogy, one must recognize the beguiling simplicity of the blame game—that ‘rage’ is entirely the problem of those enraged. They are not like us. They take religion to be a sacred cow, while we know that freedom of expression is the first, fundamental, basis of democracy, and tha…
Read More…us jobs at the same time. This seemed so counter to the spirit of academic freedom—and to the very issues of religious liberty that the conference was promoting—that in conscience I felt that I had to take a stand. I had looked forward to the conference. The issue was important, the international roster of scholars participating was impressive, and my old friend and colleague, David Little, was to receive an award for his work on issues of religio…
Read More…not ceded and will never cede the Bible to those who devoutly want God’s Word and God’s will to align with their own prejudice. NPR should be embarrassed to broadcast an ostensibly analytic piece that concludes by giving a free pass to the literalists and by reinforcing the notion that those of us who read the Bible for its core message are really not reading it at all. Eagerly awaiting the next pledge drive, (Rev.) Peter Laarman Los Angeles…
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…orms of speech. While Miller’s attorneys based their arguments on both the Free Speech and Free Exercise clauses of the Constitution, Judge Lampe declined to comment on the latter “because the case is sufficiently resolved upon Free Speech grounds.” But his ruling made clear that Miller denied service to the lesbian couple because she “is a practicing Christian and considers herself a woman of deep faith.” Not long after Judge Lampe exempted Mille…
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…ading obviously inflammatory passages is inexcusable. I am not looking for free speech to be revoked; far from it. I don’t want Varadarajan to stop writing. I would like him to change his mind, of course, but see no virtue in show trials, thought control or other instruments of conformity. I’m a writer, and have received numerous harsh comments for some of my opinions in the past. Some of my most vocal critics have been Muslims. But to defend free…
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…m the right concerns same-sex marriage. How did they settle on a religious freedom frame? Even prior to Obergefell v. Hodges, religious freedom arguments were being advanced by conservative Christians who disapproved of same-sex marriage. For example, several state-level Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRA) were put into motion in 2014 and early 2015 in part to try and protect religious objectors. Immediately after the Obergefell decision, th…
Read More…ining sustainable freedom is righteousness — the same virtue that produced freedom — what is the greatest threat to freedom? Unrighteousness. America has left God.” Lane also aims to persuade 1,000 pastors to run for political office. Lane has already taken Rand Paul to Israel, after which the Kentucky Republican said, “Absolutely we stand with Israel. What I think we should do is announce to the world — and I think it is pretty well known — that…
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…saw these three things as the great accomplishments of his life: political freedom, religious freedom, and educational freedom and opportunity. Of the three, he thought religious freedom was the foundation because without freedom to think and believe, you could not have the other two. A republic could not work if government and church officials (what Jefferson referred to as an alliance of “kings, nobles, and priests”) were trying to control what…
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