Religion Dispatches
…es writing with one particular hand. “Clinging” is like putting in colored contact lenses because the church and society only approves of one eye color, or coloring your hair because the church and society only approves of one hair color. “Clinging” is when you’re so afraid to live into the reality of how God has created you that you insist on putting on the mannerism of whatever way of living the church says is acceptable. So, you can “cling” to…
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…the body of a living creature, however, Dayan illuminates how her physical contact with dogs tests the boundaries of her knowledge of spiritual things. In evoking the way that dogs teach her about the life of the spirit, Dayan attributes to dogs what many refuse to attribute to anyone but human beings: something like spirit, a mind, or a soul. (Dayan is not particularly dogmatic about terms.) Many assume that the exclusion of other animals from sp…
Read More…hey seem to be reaching out across the specificities of species and making contact with us humans, even offering, Siebert intimates, something like “forgiveness” for killing off their ancestors. One finds, here as elsewhere, an underlying question: If animals like non-human primates (see the inspiring work of Jane Goodall and her followers) and cetaceans have shown themselves to have highly developed communication skills (possibly higher than homo…
Read More…-theological works of the 20thcentury. With that, please don’t hesitate to contact me with questions, concerns, or invitations to discuss this with a larger group, at www.johnslattery.com. Citations of major quotes from Teilhard: “Do the yellows…”: Günther Schiwy, Teilhard de Chardin: sein Leben und seine Zeit. 2. (München: Kösel, 1981): 105. “I hate nationalism…” : Günther Schiwy, Teilhard de Chardin: sein Leben und seine Zeit. 2. (München: Kösel…
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…almud brings is a broom that’s used to sweep up around the idol but has no contact with it nor is it present as the idol is worshipped. This object has even fewer prohibitions and is, in many cases, permitted. It seems that, regarding antisemitism, at least in light of Farrakhan and the Women’s March, there are no gradations similar to the Talmud’s discussion of idols. One who is deemed an antisemite must be contested and avoided at all costs. Thi…
Read More…ty biology professor invites people who know someone who has stood up for evolution and science education to post suggestions on his blog or contact him. His e-mail address is: mzimmerm@butler.edu….
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…surgents to ongoing investigations and surveillance, causing them to sever contact with undercover operatives, destroy critical evidence or move their operations.” Assange apologists are taking that sort of scorched earth approach — disclose at any cost — to the rape charges, at great risk to the safety of both Assange’s accusers and critics. Assange is like the authoritarian televangelist: give me your money, support me, admire me, pledge allegia…
Read More…xuality proves anything, it’s that Hispanics are religious and that social contact with LGBT people influence them in much the same way it does the general population. Just as in white and black communities, there are traditionalists who won’t be convinced no matter what, fundamentalists who are heavily influenced by their clergy and their churches, and progressives who are socially integrated and far more accepting of LGBT people (and many who ev…
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…documentary film crew is here setting up a camera behind me that puts my iPhone to shame. Before us are pools of water, shrubbery, and larger bottles filled with a vegetable milk mixture. Suddenly, ten to fifteen baby elephants—the first group—come running down the hill for their food and bottles. It is seriously cute. And the crowd gasps and coos and takes as many pictures as they can manage. The orphaned elephants grab their bottles with their…
Read More…lyptic race war. If Roof did not read The Turner Diaries, he certainly had contact with people who had. In the days after the attack on the A.M.E. Church, discussion focused on how Roof’s actions were related to a wider culture of racism, both in South Carolina and throughout American society. It seems that within the culture of racist apocalypticism there is a division of labor between dreamers and doers, prophets and martyrs. Numerous hate crime…
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