Religion Dispatches
…Islam; it is surprisingly difficult to find an accessible but nonpartisan explanation of this crucial concept online) were routinely used as code in some Muslim organizations for “Sufis (to say nothing of the hated Shiah) need not apply here.” As with those evangelicals who treat their rather novel dogmas as self-evident, such organizations overlooked how their strictures were quite out of step with the historical consensus within their tradition….
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…they will not. ‘I’ll look for . . . well, it’s called racial profiling. Mexicans. Syrians. People who can’t speak American,’ he said. ‘I’m going to go right up behind them. I’ll do everything legally. I want to see if they are accountable. I’m not going to do anything illegal. I’m going to make them a little bit nervous.’ Of course, you can’t do ANY of that legally, because it’s the very definition of voter intimidation, which is illegal. The Cod…
Read More…hy of international coverage because the Palestinian women had broken “the code of silence” by resorting to Israeli courts. The implications of this juxtaposition of two unrelated events are that Palestinians belong to a backward, patriarchal culture that, rightly or wrongly, is under attack by a modern, “democratic” state with a legal apparatus that supports women’s rights. Others have shown that the New York Times gave disproportionate attention…
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…the overarching spirit of the pages is determinedly representative. Same-sex couples and mixed-race couples, old money couples and new money couples, couples who like tennis and couples who like cooking classes—everyone is there. The reader then becomes convinced by this welcoming attitude that you, too, could marry on Block Island; that you, too, could have parents who live in Bermuda; and that you, too could know that seafood display equipment c…
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…st. The interplay of religious beliefs and attitudes was found to be complex, for example, in India: Centuries-old communities of transgender women — most commonly known as hijras — were criminalized under laws passed when India was a British colony, and today often make a living as beggars or sex workers. India’s Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that the government must enact broad reforms to correct this history, including outlawing discrimination on…
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…atred for years, and they’re picking up the pace. With acceptance of homosexuality and same-sex marriage steadily rising, the Right has pivoted away from LGB (lesbian, gay, and bisexual) people as a scapegoat for society’s ills and onto T, or trans people. In a cynical way, trans people provide an easier target for right-wing ideologues—because they’re a far smaller group and less well known, they’re easier to demonize. It’s a coordinated attack t…
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…rs I have often observed that higher-ups in progressive religious groups are comfortable including left-wing activist speakers—who are typically Euro-American and may or may not be Christian—as long as they follow the expected code: the language must be inclusive, the ideas must be progressive, and fundamentalists will be laughed off the stage. This is the model for our all-inclusive faith where “God is Still Speaking”— M: The…
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…odou, which are unfounded and are more likely a consequence of repressed sexual expression in Christianity. Moreover, the late Paul Farmer and other researchers have demonstrated that it was actually Western foreigners traveling to Haiti for sex tourism that first introduced HIV/AIDS to the Caribbean nation. This latest episode reveals a deep-seated Afrophobia, anti-Haitianism, and religious racism against custodians of nature-based African-herita…
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…this year), Benedict prepared a statement on social networking platforms. Expressing again his deep anxiety about “authenticity” in the media age, Benedict warns that “the significance and effectiveness of the various forms of [online] expression appear to be determined more by their popularity than by their intrinsic importance and value.” One can imagine the pope wringing his hands in frustration at the lack of civility in online arguments about…
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…contracts to family friends; and how he ordered his staff to violate IRS tax code. Falwell’s been able to get away with such behavior partly because he doesn’t fear his board of trustees, which is essentially just a collection of close friends of the family. As noted above, Mark DeMoss, the one trustee who did speak up in disagreement of Falwell’s endorsement of Trump, was immediately removed from the board—a testament to Falwell’s Trumpian fragil…
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