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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…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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…ou’ll read an excerpt below—has surprised me, too. I wish I could find my airline companion and give him this book, to surprise him, too—in a good way. (I would accept Lakers tickets in lieu of apologies, but I think that particular era is done.) This whole book is a result of a profound evolution, and needs to be seen as such. American Muslims have gone through a lot over the last few decades. We were never the caricature Islamophobes made us ou…
Read MoreAt oral argument in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties, Inc. v. Sebelius this morning, the Supreme Court justices spent a great deal of time questioning the lawyers in the case about whether corporations have a religious conscience, and whether Congress intended to protect it when enacting the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). What was most striking, though, was how all three female justices, Sonia So…
Read More…imilation At Slate, Liam Hoare examines the impact of marriage equality in France. “The introduction of same-sex marriage in May 2013 was, without a doubt, the most important LGBTQ rights victory in France since the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1982,” Hoare writes. But the victory has also had unforsee consequences: The almighty resistance to the idea of same-sex marriage, with La Manif Pour Tous (a collective of groups opposed to same-se…
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…te segregation and economic favoritism. When I spoke with Rothstein on the phone, he underscored the long-term effects of this last policy. During the 1940s and 1950s, suburban subdivisions were built in St. Louis, and throughout the country, using federal loans stipulating that no homes be sold to African Americans. Priced at about $125,000 in today’s dollars, these were affordable—with a mortgage—to working class families, black or white. Yet bl…
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…t religion: it actually attempted (unsuccessfully) to reinvent religion in France through two civil religions, the Cult of Reason and the Cult of the Supreme Being. During France’s tumultuous nineteenth century, republicans generally endorsed the principles of the Revolution, including anti-clericalism, while monarchists typically embraced the Church, finding it—particularly with regard to its large role in the educational system—a powerful politi…
Read More…and rules and precedents. He is so petty that he can’t imagine Pittsburgh, Paris and the planet all in one great global breath. How did this happen to the earth? It happened because the President (and his supporters) live in two small stories, both of which are false. His first story sees the United States as a victim. The President believes that the US has been “disadvantaged” and is a pitiless poor giant which other countries of the world rip of…
Read MoreThank God I got to hear Naomi Klein speak before floating home. I am officially religious; she is not. She helps me. Klein’s links between the “zone of sacrifice” and the way the rich use that zone make the Pope’s encyclical look dated, especially religiously. Otherizing has run amok. She talks about our collective recklessness as masculinity run amok. She rarely speaks with out quoting a woman or man of color or an abrupt reminder of worlds norm…
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…ielded them from discrimination by family, friends and society in general. France: Gay policeman killed in jihadist attack married posthumously The gay policeman killed by a jihadist in Paris in April was married posthumously to his partner on May 30. Under French law, reports The Local, the president can authorize a posthumous marriage when there are “significant grounds” to do so and the deceased person had an “unequivocal” desire to get married…
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