Religion Dispatches
…of his rambling self-defense quoting the words of another abortion clinic assassin, Reverend Paul Hill. In the 1990s my own research had brought me into conversation with others in the inner circle in which Hill and Roeder were at that time involved. So it was a chilling experience for me to realize that this awful mood of American Christian terrorism—culminating in the catastrophic attack on the Oklahoma City Federal Builiding—has now returned. C…
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Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began three weeks ago, it’s likely you’ve heard the term Russian World (or Russkii Mir). It’s easy to conflate this concept with nostalgia for the Soviet Union (it’s just another term for Russia plus satellite states, right?), but the term—and the concept—predates the Soviet Union and Marx by centuries and bears the mark of Orthodox Christian political philosophy and history. It has, subsequently, underscored…
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…l entity. Hence, New Atheists might as well be railing against the stinginess of the tooth fairy or the bad taste of Santa Claus. They merely state their case against a hypothetical God-idea. At the same time, they challenge those who (mistakenly, they think) take God to be real. Copan, on the other hand, talks about God as an existing person. These two camps—the atheists and the believers—inhabit two different universes. It’s a bit like trying to…
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…p of the first episode can be read here, the second here, and an overview essay here. “It’s not so much what’s genuine and what isn’t, but what people consider is genuine.” -Mark Hofmann The final episode in Murder Among the Mormons ends with the same interview with which it begins: Shannon Flynn, one of Mark Hofmann’s close friends and confidantes, isolated in an enormous and ornate room, expressing discomfort answering a question concerning Mark…
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…for example, wants to restore America, according to the Web site of his Massachusetts-based ministry, “to its Bible-based foundations through preaching, teaching, and writing on America’s Christian heritage and on Christian discipleship and revival.” He also believes that Hurricane Katrina, Watergate, and the Vietnam War are the result of divine wrath. As part of his curriculum review for the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills process, Marshall…
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…y pilots and military personnel… revers[ing] the multi-year—and quite successful—campaign to debunk all types of witness testimonies regarding UAP sightings.” Then, last summer, retired intelligence officer David Grusch testified before congress, claiming to have second hand knowledge of a secret program to reverse engineer alien technology. Grusch described himself as a whistleblower and said he hoped these revelations would cause “ontological sh…
Read More…on Wednesday denied Kim Davis a stay of his order requiring her office to issue marriage licenses to all eligible couples who want one, the latest setback for the Kentucky county clerk who went to jail rather than issue licenses to gay couples. … “Such an approach would not only create piecemeal litigation, it would be inconsistent with basic principles of justice and fairness,” [Judge] Bunning wrote. – Reuters, Sept. 24, 2015 Dear Kim Davis, I am…
Read More…nt NGO that grew out of Georgetown University’s Berkley Center,* plans to issue a manifesto on religious freedom, a copy of which Religion Dispatches has obtained [PDF]. They are currently seeking prominent endorsers and, according to one organizer, they hope to have a “grand signing ceremony”—perhaps including former presidents of the United States. Though the document includes much on which reasonable people would agree, it is marred by efforts…
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…in something about Lutheran theology and the Lutheran approach to ethical issues—which is quite different from either the Catholic tradition or those churches with Calvinist roots, such as Baptists and Presbyterians. I will also try to explain how abortion cannot be understood today without the political dimension. Abortion is not simply a moral issue; it has been very highly politicized by groups who have much larger motivations and agendas than…
Read More…bors as a “human shield” against Islamist attacks. A “community healing” mass was held at St. Odiilia Church in Tucson, Arizona. It was the church where the 9-year-old shooting victim, Christina Green, had her first communion. A group of Trappist monks from Iowa built, engraved, and blessed a handmade casket for Green. The monks specialize in hand-crafting caskets “with reverence for nature.” Not to be outdone by compassionate monks, the hateful f…
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