Religion Dispatches
…ro—the real matter was that Egypt is not only very conveniently located vis-à-vis the Arabian Peninsula, it is also a very highly populated Muslim country and too many people request visas for hajj. Like Indonesia, one has to plan two or three years in advance. No walking up to the embassy three weeks before. So, mostly I was nervous because of the failed experience before—I know what it is like to be denied. But honestly that is only part of the…
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…e does it say that men of the same sex can be mated, “says Alonso Chasin, a 25-year-old Venezuelan, who is cleaning offices. Panamanian lawyer and economist Rudy Perea Arrieta, 70, thinks differently. He is convinced that it is necessary to adapt to the times and we must put aside the religious prejudices that go against the common sense and the decent coexistence of the citizens of any country. Peru: Congressional Committee moves to strip LGBT pe…
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…arrest. Segue to my second and primary point: Bonhoeffer’s discussion of cheap grace in The Cost of Discipleship was meant above all as a critique of the so-called “German Christians”—the Lutherans who readily went along with the Nazi program—as against the much smaller group of Lutherans who chose the path of resistance through their Confessing Church. Bonhoeffer recognized that the Lutheran emphasis on salvation by grace alone had always been…
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…I saw Long give a heavy-handed appeal for money during one of TBN’s “Praise-A-Thons” to an audience that clearly didn’t have the money to spare for lining the pockets of Christian television titans. Long was presented as a prophet; he learned the “spiritual authority” and “kingdom order” from the same teacher as Earl Paulk, and earlier in his career, T.D. Jakes. Here’s how Long applied the pressure: For Long, the telethon presents just another opp…
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…ed States, it contributes to the “truth telling” element of a planned truth-and-reconciliation process on gender and sexual abuse in Episcopal spaces. And the truth is horrifying. Of the more than 2400 responses collected, 475 (20%) are from cisgender LGB Episcopalians. Nearly 40% of these—189 individuals—reported being the targets of inappropriate jokes and comments; 29.9%—82 individuals—of inappropriate touching; and a further 14.9%—71 individua…
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…of promoting “intersectional feminism” according to Bob Bland, one of the march’s co-chairs. Green painted a portrait of “pro-life feminists” struggling to find a place for themselves in the firmament of mainstream feminism, as well as a feminist movement that was perhaps ready to be “truly ‘intersectional’” by “mak[ing] room for women with diverse convictions, including a moral opposition to abortion.” The article sparked a fierce backlash in th…
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…nt Christian Zionist leader and antisemite Mike Evans would be leading the march. Within hours, March organizers clarified that although Evans would be attending, “he has no official role in the planned events.” But why would Evans have the chutzpah to jubilantly make such a patently false declaration to the press? And what does this tell us about the contemporary Christian Zionist movement? Among other things it tells us that in spite of (or rath…
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…e ability of cell phones to be used for impure activities, some Jewish cell-phone users have requested so-called “kosher” phones. The idea is to offer conservative Jews a phone that is free of “corrupting influences” of the sort that are already avoided by ultra-orthodox Jews through a ban on television and some radio. Reuters reported in February 2008 that Bezeq Israel Telecom launched a new “kosher” landline phone service, which will block calls…
Read More…ere my wife got to in Kohl’s. But it seems to me that focusing on the micro-trend of rich people opting out of the plugged-in lifestyle doesn’t really get at the heart of the issue. I think the Amish, of all people, have it right. It’s not so much about what you as an individual are doing or not doing, as the effect technology has on the community: Why not make life easier and just put [a phone] in the house? “What would that lead to?” another Ami…
Read More…earing wafers were released in our midst. An assistant who carried a yellow-and-white umbrella accompanied each. The missalette sternly warned against taking communion across denominational borders. I instant-messaged someone in my denomination to find out the status of communion between Reformed churches like mine and the Catholic church. “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” he kindly replied. “Wish I were there.” I turned to a Georgetown University undergra…
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