Religion Dispatches
…ent. His 1991 book on democratization, The Third Wave, foresaw the wave of new democratic movements that accompanied the end of the Cold War. In the early 1990s, observers of global politics searched for ways of understanding the new world disorder in the wake of the Cold War and the rise of globalization. Frances Fukuyama proclaimed an “end of history.” Benjamin Barber saw the centrifugal tendencies of a globalized “McWorld” in conflict with the…
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…eed to oversimplify when you are working with laypeople who are completely new to this kind of material? John Dominic Crossan: From about 1970 to 1990 I was writing primarily, if not exclusively, for a scholarly audience up to and including The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant (1991). After Peter Steinfels referenced my book on the front page of the New York Times, I began to accept invitations to speak at churches. Bec…
Read More…It’s the new dark ages.” How was this heard in Rome, in the context of the new conservatism, the new oligarchy, and the new barbarism of the second regime of Roberto Berlusconi? They can burn books, records, and they can torch the environment. And how, by contrast, was it heard by me, an expatriate North American, who heard these same images—of burned books and new dark ages—when given voice by a bright young man from San Francisco? They can burn…
Read More…od met with key Baptist leaders in April 2006. They produced and signed a “New Baptist Covenant.” This covenant encourages Baptists to unite in efforts to “Promote peace and justice, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, care for the sick and marginalized, welcome the strangers among us, and promote religious liberty and respect for religious diversity.” They also determined to plan a meeting that would bring all Baptists in Nor…
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…during the 1950s to form a unified, unifying, and unabashedly progressive new denomination: the United Church of Christ. But the new body never quite took off. Lots of big Congregational churches, on both the most liberal and most conservative margins, refused to sign up for the new configuration in 1957. The more liturgical “German” Reformed wing (the old Evangelical and Reformed Church) mistrusted the Yankees and vice versa. Today’s UCC, at 1.3…
Read More…on. The problem seems to be his Pentecostal roots coupled with his lack of New Thought training. Pearson believes his inclusionist perspective to be consistent with New Thought teachings, however. Both affirm the radical, inclusive love of God and the divine potential within humanity. But, most importantly, if Christ Universal needs a leader with the proven charisma to lead a multimillion dollar religious empire and the stamina to endure criticism…
Read More…well as folk practices, were repressed. After the revolution, hundreds of new churches and monasteries were erected and there was a scramble to recruit new priests. There was also a popular demand for services such as exorcism and priests like Corogeanu could become local heroes by taking claims of the demonic seriously. Corogeanu reportedly performed exorcisms in ways not approved by Church authorities and even accused his bishop of promoting Fr…
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…he backdrop for Armageddon. Or maybe on American Muslims and Jews modeling new relationships? How to find these stories? I’d look for chinks in religious, philanthropic and communal groups: new ways of looking at longstanding problems, young leaders offering alternative visions, and philanthropists supporting new models. These stories need to be teased out online or pursued on the ground—venues far from the politicos, pundits and PACs that have do…
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…graphical is the feeling of alienation; of being Jewish when you’re not in New York. Because some of the things I experienced in different countries, like these characters did, where, when you leave your enclaves, like New York and L.A., and you go to places like London or Warsaw, it’s still kind of weird to be Jewish. It’s just not that big of a deal in a lot of cities in America. But when you go abroad, you realize it’s a different thing to be….
Read More…ms of violence are to be appreciated more than others. If the words of Fox News can lead to an arson attack against a mosque, and general Islamophobia results in knifings in pizzerias, then the words and actions of the Mayor of New York have a much more profound impact. Muslims in the city are bombarded by media coverage that paints us as suspect. The city’s police department paints us as suspect. Advertising in the veins of the city paints us as…
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