Religion Dispatches
Oakland minister Harold Camping is betting that the world will end at the close of the work week—although he does seem quite a bit less certain this time around. Earlier this year, Camping captured the intrigue of North American cynics, believers, and the generally curious alike with his end-of-days prediction and the rapture of all repentant Christians on May 21, 2011. Those he managed to convince donated tens of millions of dollars from their…
Read MoreThe results of the meaningless Values Voters Straw poll are in. In sum: the perceived frontrunners, Mitt Romney and Rick Perry, are not frontrunners here (polling at four and eight percent, respectively) and (no surprise) Ron Paul brought a lot of supporters to give him a victory at 37%. The big story coming out of the conference is not the straw poll results. Paul is renowned for his fervent supporters showing up for straw polls; Herman Cain, wh…
Read MoreWhile Romney-watchers feign shock in reaction to Mitt Romney’s People magazine confession that he once tried a cigarette and a beer (both forbidden according to the LDS Church’s dietary code, “The Word of Wisdom”), more substantial coverage this week is focusing on Romney’s service as bishop of his LDS congregation in Belmont, Massachusetts in the 1980s. On Monday, the Washington Post offered a revealing account of Bishop Romney’s interactions w…
Read MoreScandal-ridden Bishop Eddie Long has temporarily stepped down from the pulpit of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church to take care of “family issues” — his wife Vanessa’s filing for divorce from the troubled prosperity preacher. After some confusion in the press about whether First Lady Long had withrdrawn the divorce request, her lawyer confirmed the filing of divorce papers, and said that any further statements, if any, would come from her lawye…
Read MoreCharisma magazine reports: A Sioux City, Iowa pastor, prominent in the defeat of three Iowa Supreme Court justices last year for their same-sex marriage ruling, announced today that a hip-hop video calling Newt Gingrich “the GOP’s Kim Kardashian for his many infidelities on marriage—gay, straight and his own” would be delivered, via text messaging starting Thursday, to every registered Republican or non-aligned Iowa voter with a cell phone on rec…
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Over at the website of the Manhattan Declaration, this is treated as a serious question in honor of Christmas: If Christ were never born, our history, our surrounding, every culture, and even the earth would be a vastly different place. Think about it, if Christ were never born, there would be no reason to have Christmas and your very birth is questionable (would your parents have met?). The post goes on to list a number of world events, inventio…
Read More…Aqua-Buddha college pranks notwithstanding, Rand Paul embraces Buddhist notions of the interconnectedness of everything and the illusion of difference; “nothingness” is The Word. Thanks to my colleague Jon for sharing. The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c The Word – Nothingness www.colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election March to Keep Fear Alive…
Read MoreIn Memphis, Michigan* some residents have taken umbrage with the sign outside a local Baptist church. It reads “God calls pastors to have their own wife thus avoiding fornication!” Some residents feel that the sign targets Catholics. Others just don’t like the use of “fornication” in public. A church billboard in Texas admits that Christians are “jerks.” A church in Charlotte, North Carolina won’t allow a Mormon couple to serve as leaders in thei…
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“This is God’s body,” the girl says. She is one of a group of middle school students participating in a youth workshop on misogynist images in media. The subject has turned to abortion, and her peers nod vigorously in agreement. Imani Moses, a high school senior who is facilitating the workshop as a Women’s Leadership Project student, challenges her to examine her position—“does God sleep, eat, live in and control this body 24/7?” She asks, point…
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Like for Halloween and Christmas, the sales pitches arrive well before the actual event. Television, radio, newspapers, piles of merchandise in stores you visit, and blogs all announce: Back to School! For some it’s kindergarten, for others, the very first day of college. School is starting soon. And that may mean losing your religion. And no, not the R.E.M. song. Nor, indeed, most of the definitions of the phrase out there—losing your temper, gi…
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