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Is Christianity Simply About God Entering the Uterus of a Jewish Virgin?

By Eric Reitan

…ics and Programmer of the DNA code decided to enter the uterus of a Jewish virgin, got himself born, then deliberately had himself tortured and executed because he couldn’t think of a better way to forgive the theft of an apple, committed at the instigation of a talking snake. Since I live in Oklahoma (the purported Buckle of the Bible Belt), one might expect that Dawkins was envisioning a neighborhood like mine when he assessed the chances that m…

What’s Wrong With the Virgin Mary Depicted as a Barbie Doll?

By Joseph Laycock

…ial backed by the Italian bishops conference objected to depictions of the Virgin Mary, Joan of Arc, and other Catholic saints and virgins, asking “What is the difference between provocation and bad taste?” Commenting on the Barbie dressed as Kali, Times of India noted a long pattern of the West appropriating Hinduism for commercial purposes. Rajan Zed, a Hindu cleric and interfaith leader remarked, “Barbie-fication of Kali is simply improper, wro…

Will the Pope’s Woman Problem Alienate Young Catholics?

By Patricia Miller

…has called women theologians “the strawberries on the cake,” along with a number of other comments insulting to women more broadly, which hasn’t helped minimize doubts on the part of many women about Francis’ ability to see them as full persons. Gina Messina-Dysert, author of the forthcoming Faithfully Feminist, noted that: Francis has made some important, positive comments about women and said it is time to reexamine the role of women in the chu…

Spiritual Unplugging, Or What to Do When There is Wifi at the Ashram

By Matt Hamilton

…(and craving) swift condemnation by the monks and nuns at the sight of an iPhone. I was on a university-sponsored trip to the subcontinent with other journalists, all of us covering politics and religion. The reporting would come later, however. First came three days in an ashram, and I hoped for a 72-hour hiatus from the compulsion to connect. But this ashram sold wifi. Monks rested their keys and cellphones on the table during meals. And during…

Controversial Mary Statue Weeps Because ‘We’re Killing This World’

By Joseph Laycock

…ian seer long before the arrival of the statue. Her first message from the Virgin Mary came about two years ago when, sitting in mass, a cross and the letter ‘M’ appeared in blood on her leg. Since then, the Virgin has inscribed other messages on her body and has even spoken to her directly. Ibrahim’s message from Mary is that people must invigorate their faith and return to church. Catholic tradition has a long history of Marian seers. Typically,…

The Circle Can Remain Unbroken, If Battered And Bloody

By Daniel Schultz

…s do not exist in our society or our politics. Entering into conversation around those differences does not lessen their power, necessarily. Nor does it mean that they become more comfortable to talk about. It certainly does not guarantee that they can be transcended. What conversation does ensure is that we fulfill our responsibility as citizens to deliberate the issues set before us. We may spark and clash all we want, but as long as we’re engag…

Believing in Johnny Cash: An Open Letter to Atheists

By Paul Wallace

…I don’t for a moment doubt the basics of evolution and thermodynamics. But Myers was not forced by the facts of nature into these beliefs he so forcefully espouses. Instead, he has done exactly what storytellers do: He has told us a story. That is to say, he has added his own stuff. The problem is that not that Myers is telling us all a story, but that he insists he is not. “Reality,” he writes, “is harsh.” His story is the story you absolutely mu…

RD News Round-Up—September 22, 2008

By Bill Berkowitz

…ver.” Although encouraged by the Democratic Party’s “pledges to reduce the number of abortions, … [he] now worries [that] the party is using abortion as a wedge issue by running ads sharply contrasting Palin and Obama on abortion rights,” AP reported. “Strang said he’s waiting for the Republicans to talk more about health care and the economy—and is both intrigued and unmoved by Palin. ‘It’s a great story, but I don’t know what’s changed,’ he said…

Blame Series Bonus: Why We Want That Dish For Free, an Uncut Interview with Bertram Malle

By Andrew Aghapour

…nfairness. We have put in our part—we went to the airport, we paid for our ticket, we spent our time, we stood in line—and then the flight was cancelled. So there’s a discrepancy between the inputs and the outputs, there’s a sense of injustice and unfairness—that’s why compensation is so important. That’s also why dissatisfied customers at restaurants want to get their dish for free, or get a free glass of wine, or a free dessert, because that bal…

Religious Conservatives Mobilize Internationally Against Spanish Nondiscrimination Bill; And More in Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…the legislation. Jersey is a crown dependency of the United Kingdom. Faroe Islands: First same-sex couple married A British gay couple became the first same-sex couple to be married in the Faroe Islands, where the parliament voted in favor of marriage equality in May 2016. The law did not require the church to perform weddings for same-sex couples; the couple married at the courthouse. The Faroe Islands, located about halfway between Norway and Ic…