Religion Dispatches
…d that the film was intended to be a provocative political statement assailing the religion. He denied being Sam Bacile, the pseudonym for the video’s purportedly Israeli Jewish writer and director, but AP said the cellphone number it called for a telephone interview with Bacile on Tuesday matched Nakoula’s address. —- For more RD coverage of the events in Libya see “Tragic Violence in Libya: No Excuses,” by Haroon Moghul — ed….
Read More…een distorted to such an extent that the US state of California approved a compulsory course on historical accomplishments of representatives of sexual minorities. I think you see for yourself how the topic is promoted in the international media. A reasonable question under the circumstances is what to expect next?” Tasmagambetov continued. His speech concluded to say that education should be based on building a society capable of resisting the “g…
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…l or religious objections” to contraception with proven improved health outcomes that accompany access to preventive and reproductive healthcare. Do you think the administration—or anyone at HHS or DOL, which allegedly drafted this rule—has any idea how to balance those competing ideals? Or is this draft a 125-page attempt to avoid answering that question entirely? PM: The original exemption for religious nonprofits did balance the question of a “…
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…Amos in upbraiding the filthy rich as “cows of Bashan”—much as I would welcome some prophetic indignation in Obama’s mouth. All he needs to do is present a compelling narrative about how progressive taxation came into being and how it remains an essential tool in maintaining a national purpose and a sense of unity. He could weave in some helpful teaching about the estate tax as well. If he did this he would surely find a receptive audience among…
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…ishonest, and for making a lot of money. But I suspect that our deepest discomfort comes from their naked appeals to the perfect coherence of capitalist success and personal salvation. These appeals come through a relentless emphasis on individual improvement and positive thinking. An exercise studio is not a church. But SoulCycle seems to come at some of the same themes of the prosperity gospel, only in the opposite direction: a business using th…
Read More…light of authentic, biblical, natural, historic, God-defined marriage. The complimentary halves of humanity coming together is simply breathtaking. Two things struck me as I read this odious message. First, what kind of blind hatred of other people would compel you to use the occasion of your wife’s death to make political hay? Rev. Garlow’s wife dies and the first thing he wants to do is write a letter to his supporters about how awful and sinful…
Read More…llow Arabs, demonized and derided for years, such that their blood becomes cheap. This happens all too often with minorities; what is unique about the Arab world is the degree to which many dictatorships also oppress the majority. My point in that essay about Tunisia was that we in America and the West generally reflexively associate secularism with what is good and democratic, and conservatism (specifically, in Islam) with that which is antidemo…
Read More…nce. Because he is carefully eliding the church’s teaching and focusing on compassion, many liberals and media pundits—including The Advocate—believe that he is opening a door to a changed theology. That is not the case. What the Pope is doing is opening a door for discussion, but not necessarily change. The group Kairos of Florence, a group of LGBT Catholics, wrote to Pope Francis in June of 2014 asking to be recognized as a “people” and not a ca…
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…he bromides of politicians—I can’t quite pinpoint what all of these had in common, except that they were cheap, over-simplified, and kitschy. And thanks to Walter Benjamin, Clement Greenberg, the Frankfurt School, and a legion of writers and musicians allergic to the cliché, I came to reject kitsch and its quasi-fascistic associations. Feel this way, think this way, act this way—no! It took another several years before I really understood that som…
Read More…e?” It’s one of the bishops’ favorite arguments: that birth control is so cheap and so widely available that it isn’t even a question of whether the religious freedom of objecting organizations should be burdened by having to pay for it. The bishops have been claiming since 2012 that birth control is “ubiquitous and inexpensive” and anyone who wants it can get it without insurance coverage for $10 at Target. And as usual, bishops’ allies on the r…
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