Religion Dispatches
…ple born between about 1961 and 1981) and Baby Boomers (people born between 1946 and about 1959). According to Schwadel’s examination of data from the General Social Survey, adults raised by Baby Boomer parents are more likely to have no religious affiliation—to be religious “Nones,” in current social research parlance. The unaffiliated religious status of Gen-Xers can be attributed to high rates of Boomers disaffiliation in the 1960s that was pas…
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…ts cease, and the friendships end (scriptures such as Matthew 5:30; Matthew 18:15-17; and 1 Corinthians 5:1-13 are usually cited as reasons for “radical” acts of amputation). But how are we defining what is radical? Are we only radical when it comes to sexual sin? Are we radical in our love for the poor? Throughout the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, God commands the people to take care of the neighbor. The neighbor is the prostitute, the wido…
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…care providers, and possibly even government officials to outright refuse service to LGBT people and certain women. What kind of “certain women,” you ask? The kind who dare to become pregnant without being married to the person who impregnated them. (The bill has no exemptions for those who became pregnant as a result of rape, assault or incest.) As long as the person denying service cites a “sincerely held religious belief,” they are protected f…
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…iews with younger people, many will say that they want to attend religious services more regularly, but they work when services are offered. On a more theoretical/theological level, capitalism tells us to maximize our own individual (or corporate) profit without regard to the consequences for others. This seems to go against what most religious traditions teach. PL: It was striking to see how many of Kaya’s interview subjects are already actively…
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…ch of the research around trends—specifically with millennials born between 1981 and 1996—reveals a much more complex American landscape. The larger takeaway in the 2014 study was that the American church was losing members—and that became the sexy cover story. Lost in the weeds was the fact that affiliation with historically black denominations was more or less even (the loss was less than one full percentage point). And generally speaking, black…
Read More…and minors of the same gender, and which mandates prison sentences of up to 15 years, should be amended to also apply to sexual acts between adults of the same gender. Rita Hendrawaty, chairwoman of the group, said Wednesday it was not trying to criminalize lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. “The real reason is so that we have much clearer norms,” she said. “We are not intending to criminalize those who have a deviant sexual orientatio…
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…ging science into the mix. This summer, he’s on the 30-city “Everything is Spiritual” tour, which promises to show “how science and spirituality are long lost dance partners.” The Cubit’s editors saw Bell in late July, when the tour passed through Durham. A few hundred fans were in attendance, of varying ages, nearly all of them white. With the aid of a 15-foot-long triangular whiteboard, Bell gave a two-hour talk that referenced physics more ofte…
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…ed that “Between now and November, the Obama forces are planning as many as 1,000 house parties and dozens of Christian rock concerts, gatherings of religious leaders, campus visits and telephone conference calls to bring together voters of all ages motivated by their faith to engage in politics.” McCain, on the other hand, has had a rocky relationship with conservative evangelical Christians dating back to at least the campaign of 2000 when calle…
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…ks later, King’s dream turned into a nightmare. On the morning of September 15, 1963, a group of nearly thirty black children sat in a basement of the 16th Street Baptist Church, awaiting the closing prayers of a sermon entitled “The Love That Forgives.” Upstairs, adult black congregants gathered for the upcoming service. They had seen a lot in their town over the last several months. And what they were about to see confirmed the worst fears of ma…
Read More…enhard. I served as the platoon leader for both the 10th Mountain Division, 1/87IN, A CO, 1st Platoon, and for the 75th Ranger Regiment, 3D Battalion, B Co, 3D Platoon. I took part in three combat deployments: the first in Hawijah, Iraq; the second in Baghdad, Iraq; and the third predominantly in the Arghandab Valley and Panjaway District of southern Afghanistan. I believe in our constitution and in the strict separation of church and state. I am…
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