Religion Dispatches
…the housing bust. Many people may simply be postponing childbearing until better times return, and a few years of swift growth could produce a miniature baby boom. Good. Here we have actual people making decisions about childbearing, and in the process considering their own economic conditions. He goes on to say that “America has no real family policy to speak of at the moment, and the evidence from countries like Sweden and France suggests that…
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…ry (40%). Since 1988, when George H.W. Bush won 35% of the Jewish vote, no Republican has done better than John McCain, who won 26%, according to data compiled by the pollster Jim Gerstein and presented at the Democratic National Convention. Obama won 78% of the Jewish vote in 2008. Sarna maintains, though, that 30% of Jews might be considered swing voters—and that’s what the Republican Jewish Coalition, fueled by Sheldon Adelson’s casino money, i…
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…m evangelical circles by people like David Barton on his radio show. It is promoted in books, conferences and Christian school/home school curricula. This is also the underpinning for any number of other administration policies. It’s why so many of Trump’s appointees literally oppose the efforts of the agencies they lead. Case in point, the Department of Education is led by one who believes that education is the responsibility of the family and th…
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…ious liberty thing. Liberty is fabulous, the best. All Americans should be free to take religious liberties. Oh, and that Turnbull guy, is he serious? I’m supposed to care about what Australia thinks? Gimme a break. Gonna talk about that tomorrow. Gonna say that I know how to play rough, gonna tell them all that fighting the bad guys won’t be pretty for a while. Let’s see if the Sunday School types at the Hilton tomorrow are ready to face reality….
Read More…he fate of the nation’s first major party presidential candidate. But I’ll bet you a twelve pack of caffeine-free Diet Coke and a dozen pink-frosted sugar cookies that there is no anti-Mormon phonebanking script in use by Catholics for Obama. Anywhere. Is anti-Mormonism real? Yes. But even if one poorly-trained rogue phonebanker veered off script into an anti-Mormon ad lib, it does not make for a concerted anti-Mormon effort. (Leave that to ortho…
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…ng financial problems and infighting among church staff — including a rift between Schuller and his son (and heir apparent) the Rev. Robert Schuller, Jr., over the direction of church ministry — the Crystal Cathedral filed for bankruptcy, eventually reaching a $57.5 million agreement with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange to purchase the gleaming architectural icon of American Protestantism. Exterior of the Crystal Cathedral, 2007. Image via Wi…
Read More…y, museum, and shop, The Wooster Group has also struggled with the tension between a somewhat Spartan existence and the temptations of commerce—Willem Dafoe, founding company member, left the group, and his relationship with Liz LeCompte, supposedly lured by Hollywood fame. Meanwhile, The Wooster Group recently attracted bona fide movie star Frances McDormand to join their ranks, as an “associate.” Four women (McDormand, LeCompte, Suzzy Roche, and…
Read More…ly Hindu, that women in Hinduism are subordinate to men, and that Hinduism promoted social inequality and injustice. In the absence of any theological perspectives, Marxist/Ambedkarist interpretations of Hinduism did have an impact on Western understandings, including those of noted religion scholars such as Doniger and Paul Courtright. This isn’t to say that Marxist approaches to religion can’t be useful, but it’s important to understand the cont…
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…ard, J.J. Goldberg translates the Facebook post of the former head of Shin Bet, Israel’s security service, Yuval Diskin, who says that Israeli “illusions” fueled the current escalation: the rapid deterioration we’re experiencing in the security situation did not come because of the vile murder of Naftali [Fraenkel], Eyal [Yifrah] and Gil-Ad [Shaer] [the three Israeli boys who were kidnapped and murdered], may their memories be blessed. The deterio…
Read More…express obsolete ideology? Or would blogging help the pope realize that some of his teachings are a wee bit outdated? What next, Pope Benedict on Facebook? If so, you can bet your mortgage that plenty of “good” Catholics will be editing their profiles before they ”friend His Holiness.”…
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