Religion Dispatches
…in the “real” physical environment of the player, as mediated through the phone’s camera. As one player told a reporter: “This is full on escapism, where I’m like ‘let me just go catch some Pokémon and ignore the news.’” What news is she talking about? The murders of Sterling and Castile and the Dallas police officers. She is referring to the news of death. But in a matter of days Pokemon Go has changed our relationship with death. This is new te…
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…ce since the Hamas attack because “On Violence,” the opening chapter of his 1961 book, The Wretched of the Earth, essentially outlines the motivation and structure of the Hamas attack. In the colonial situation, the colonized take the violence that was injected into their lives by the colonizer and spin it back onto those in power. This doesn’t necessarily mean their acts are always morally justifiable, it’s simply to acknowledge that their praxis…
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…n bed on Sunday morning, reading the news about the Orlando shooting on my phone. In the wake of the tragedy, I have found myself mostly at a loss for words, stuttering between anger and sadness. I can not fully describe what I was feeling and thinking that morning as I was getting ready to head over to the LA Pride parade—even as news came in of an arrest in Santa Monica, earlier in the day, of a heavily armed man who was supposedly en route to t…
Read More…Jewish heritage of my wife of 38 years,” he wrote in an email. Later in a phone interview, he said his wife was not a practicing Jew but “ethnically Jewish” because her maternal grandmother was a Jew. Of course, it is possible to express [insert flavor of bigotry here] even if you have friends, relatives, partners, or a spouse who identify as part of [group that is the target of that bigotry]. It’s a close cousin to the “some of my best friends a…
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…regime had threatened his wife. Chen then appealed directly to Congress by phone during a hearing saying that he and his family are not safe in China. On Friday, the Chinese government announced that Chen could apply to study abroad. The Pro-Life Spin Cycle Anti-abortion news and opinion websites have taken to calling Chen a “pro-life dissident,” which is fundamentally misleading. And though he’s been described as an opponent of the One Child poli…
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…outhern Baptist Executive Committee members toward sexual abuse victims (p. 176). Meanwhile, Auburn University has its own troubles concerning its handling of sexual assault cases. When USA Today contacted over 100 universities to request public records concerning Title IX complaints, Auburn was one of six who failed to comply. Auburn didn’t even respond to multiple requests for information, which it’s obligated to provide. Hugh Freeze’s story int…
Read More…raphed a piece of paper on the dashboard of Roeder’s car: It contained the phone number of Cheryl Sullenger, Operation Rescue’s senior policy advisor, who served two years in prison for conspiring to bomb abortion clinics in 1988. Roeder also told me that Sullenger was present at the lunch with Newman where they discussed “justifiable” homicide, and that Newman had given Roeder the autographed copy of his book just three months before Roeder kille…
Read More…slogans about immigration reform. On line I heard that parishes with large numbers of undocumented immigrants had received many tickets. No outside food or water, statues, gifts or selfie sticks were permitted. Despite 10,000 folding chairs, most of us would have no choice but to stand. Once in my appointed place behind the last row of seats, I found myself in a community of fellow pilgrims, lottery winners from local parishes, nearby colleges, an…
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…with Ramadan. By the time I settle in after my mosque visit, it’s way past 11 and then I’m up by 4. It’s true with no work schedule I have the luxury of going back to sleep after reading Qur’an in the morning, but that is actually my favorite time of day to be awake and productive. I used to say, if I see that sun come over the horizon, I know the day is going to be good. Simple things like the sun or the absence of it, remind me then to be grate…
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…ake of the division of British India into independent India and Pakistan in 1947. The wounds of partition have never healed. The two countries have fought a series of wars; both have nuclear weapons aimed at the other. Speaking by satellite phone, one of the attackers explained that he loved India, but that Muslims could not stand by while their mothers and sisters were killed. This indicates that revenge was one of the motives for the attacks. On…
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