Religion Dispatches
…n of their children. The children of the YFZ community are alive and one day they will tell us about their experiences, unlike the children who died at Mount Carmel. Comments? We enthusiastically welcome any response to this story, or to any of our features. Write to us!…
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…of Barack and his NICE WHITE MOTHER Ann Dunham, courtesy of BlackAmericans.com]… ++++ HIS FATHER WAS AN ISRAELI, A JEW, AND OLIVE-SKINNED—WE SEEN ALL THOSE PICTURES OF HIS NICE ISRAELI FAMILY. HIS MOTHER IS KANSAN, ATHEIST, AND WHITE. SO—WHERE ARE ALL THOSE PICTURES OF HIS NICE WHITE MOTHER AND HIS NICE WHITE GRANDPARENTS—THE ONES WHO RAISED HIM ALL THOSE EARLY YEARS? HIS FATHER DESERTED HIS MOTHER AND HIM WHEN HE WAS VERY YOUNG AND MOVED BACK TO…
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…writings, and called to mind, with all the attention and imagination at my command, every complaint you made therein; and I did likewise with the accounts of your friends and pupils at that time. But all this did not help me to understand what you say about us. In the first of your speeches with which I am acquainted, that of 1896, you quoted two particular incidents to the accompaniment of hisses from your audience: first, that a band of European…
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…drinking beer out of a brown bag.) Over at margaretcho.com the knives are coming out, and, like I said, some bags of poo for throwing. Someone over there just invited Cho to “move to the Middle East.” Or, more precisely, “f**ing move to the Middle East.” Because she loves the desert? I don’t really get this. No, I do. It’s just that it’s really such a leap, from pro-choice feminist to Lady Bin Laden. Right now, after covering the latest Palin-ali…
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…minate your life, and find what it is you’re missing.” It’s not a terribly complex or comprehensive answer, but offers a distinct alternative to the God-haunted, belief-oriented versions of religion offered by my C-grade student named Bill. Bill gets this low grade because his definition of religion appears to have been culled solely from Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary in which religion is essentially defined, in solid US-Protestant style…
Read More…e the presidential election and well before Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade comes the first, albeit relatively kind and gentle, salvo in America’s “War on Christmas.” The Reverend Donald Wildmon’s American Family Association is proud to offer holiday trinkets sure to become a sacred hand-me-down in Christmas-embattled families all across the nation; a new Christmas button, and a glossy sticker, emblazoned with the slogan: “It’s OK to say Merry Chri…
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…Second Life is a boon because virtual worlds afford the opportunity to overcome our cultural differences in a new community, formed of people from different cultures and with different beliefs (New World Notes). The opportunity to explore new religious “territory” is aptly seen in the case of the Muslim woman who attended synagogue in Second Life because she had been curious about Judaism but felt too self-conscious to attend a real-life temple se…
Read More…r-the-top parody group of hate groups. Even their Web site at godhatesfags.com looks like a deft parody of hate sites. In fact, compare WBC’s Santa attack to a similar piece over at Landover Baptist, an openly stated religious parody site. If WBC’s goal is to turn America against gays and lesbians, Iraq veterans and now Santa, they have been woefully incompetent. However, they do tend to foster more tolerance, and even some acceptance. Ask even th…
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…er against similarity, familiarity, and religious mystery. Orsi’s critical compassion toward his subject matter is masterful and serves as an inspiration. What’s your next book? A cultural biography of sorts on Bishop Carlton Pearson, former protégé of Oral Roberts tentatively entitled Pentecostalism Made Pretty. Pearson will serve as a lens to examine the growth of the neo-Pentecostal/Charismatic perspective in the latter part of the previous…
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…ehind series, discussed it on the Rachel Maddow show. Jenkins subsequently complained about how Maddow edited them, so she posted the entire interview (which you can watch at the bottom of this story). The exchange is worth watching in its entirety, but I will offer a brief summary analysis of the duo’s two-step. Jenkins and LaHaye wisely distanced themselves from a bald assertion that Obama is the Antichrist, retreating instead to a somewhat more…
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