Religion Dispatches
…We have an unprecedented access to cheap goods, yet we must recognize that cheap goods are cheaply made. I am not speaking of quality, I am speaking of cheap labor. We must recognize that through the act of shopping, whether it is for an article of clothing, a toy, a pint of strawberries, or even our morning cup of coffee, we participate in a global economy that values profit over people. Disposable goods are made by disposable people, faceless in…
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…spatial metaphors at play here. Invaders of light coming from outside the city—a city that’s still “theirs”—to do battle with the forces of evil secularism that have somehow appeared from within the city itself. As far as coherence goes, I’m not sure the metaphors hang together. The pairing of opponents seems off, like Jedi vs. Zombies, or Crusaders vs. Martian Bodysnatchers. (OK, those could be awesome movies, but you get my point.) But note how…
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…e success either. The opening weekend saw sales of more than $6 million in tickets. That’s the kind of number that will inspire others to try and figure out the formula for the faith-and-family blockbuster. Yet, with the cost of the film reportedly exceeding $30 million, it’s an open question whether or not the Left Behind reboot will get a second installment. The marketing problem of evangelical movies is still, stubbornly, a problem. The general…
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…ion, Polk responds, “It’s all the same really.” Studio 262 In January, the Los Angeles native opened her studio on Figueroa Street, just two minutes from where she grew up on 29th and Vermont. Polk, who has been practicing yoga for five years and benefited greatly, wanted to find a way to make yoga relatable and accessible for people within her community. That’s where trap yoga came in. She hosted a trap yoga workshop as a one-off and after it was…
Read More…raised by Justice Samuel Alito, who pointed to a Danish effort that would close kosher and halal slaugherhouses through a law that would ban killing an animal without stunning it first. Verrilli described that law as “targeted” at religion in a way the ACA is not. But, Verrilli noted, the contraception benefit is different, as is the companies’ objection. In this case, Verrilli argued, the rights of the employees of Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood…
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…lling itself Ordain Women, the group had already requested and been denied tickets to Saturday evening’s male-only priesthood session. Nonetheless the women and their allies walked to the Tabernacle on Temple Square to wait in the stand-by line for last-minute tickets. Instead they were met by church spokesperson Ruth Todd, who said, “This is no surprise to you, that we won’t be able to offer you a ticket or a place.” Then, as men and boys strode…
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…s about Ferguson Watch filmmaker Dean Peterson’s short video of a New York City subway stairwell: When the video was posted three years ago, it prompted this jewel of an observation by Metafilter user James Bording: “On its own, when you see one person slip, you automatically assume that person slipped, was clumsy or not playing attention. But when you look at the aggregate, you realize that the failure isn’t on the individual at all, rather the s…
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…e gospel.” He did just that, descending the mountain to conduct his famous Los Angeles revival campaign of 1949. Abetted by prodigious advance work, which would become the hallmark of Graham’s evangelistic efforts, Graham, billed as “America’s Sensational Young Evangelist,” conducted services beneath a circus tent, dubbed the “Canvas Cathedral,” at the corner of Washington and Hill Streets. Graham’s enormously successful Los Angeles crusade in 194…
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…lot about practicing my own faith from the inmates in this film. “If I Give My Soul” is screening at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles on February 6, 11 and 12. …
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…der of Ikar, a nondenominational spiritual and social justice community in Los Angeles, told me they have “worked really hard over the past decade to build a culture within the community in which people can hear voices that they strongly disagree with and sit respectfully in conversation nevertheless,” which was something she “felt both aware of and really grateful for” during the height of the Gaza war this summer. “Poisonous Atmosphere” In the J…
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