Religion Dispatches
The Grinches that comprise the family/membership of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas have a knack for turning stomachs. Whether they’re brandishing signs at gay pride parades condemning gays and lesbians to hell or protesting the funerals of U.S. soldiers, they seem to be spreading rage and distaste wherever they appear. Now, the WBC folks are on the warpath in Washington State against the big guy himself – Santa Claus. Westboro Baptist…
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…on. The poll, conducted by Michael Berkman, a political scientist at Pennsylvania State University in University Park, and his colleagues, also learned that 16 percent of teachers believe in creationism. While Berkman’s research did not address why so many teachers are creationists, he speculated in an e-mail that biology appeals to even fundamentalist Christians: In Darwin’s day, most biologists felt that they had a calling to describe God’s wo…
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Ten Questions for Jonathan Walton on Watch This! The Ethics and Aesthetics of Black Televangelism What inspired you to write Watch This? My interest in African American religious broadcasting came from what I perceived to be the gaps in the fields of African American religion and Religion, Media, and Culture. For the most part, scholars of African American religion in general and black theology in particular theorize about Afro-Protestantism in…
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…analysis of the duo’s two-step. Jenkins and LaHaye wisely distanced themselves from a bald assertion that Obama is the Antichrist, retreating instead to a somewhat more theologically tortuous position of Obama as something of a warm-up act. First, because the Antichrist will only appear after the rapture—and since Obama “claims to be a Christian” and “might be a closet Christian”—he may not even be on Earth during the crucial stages. (Familiar re…
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In early April of last year, at a conference in Jerusalem of American evangelicals organized by Pastor John Hagee, Benjamin Netanyahu told the audience that Israel had no better friends than America’s Christian Zionists. “This is a friendship of the heart, a friendship of common roots, and a friendship of common civilization,” Netanyahu said. Now, nearly a year later, with Netanyahu cobbling together a ruling coalition in Israel, three men of the…
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…thirst for blood. No longer a threat to humans, many vampires reveal themselves to the public, form advocacy groups, and begin dating human waitresses. Set in rural Louisiana, the vampires’ struggle against prejudice carries strong echoes of the civil rights movement. Last year’s season drew an average audience of 7.8 million viewers per episode. This was due, at least in part, to one of the most bizarre marketing campaigns in history. HBO hired a…
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…found in sex, drugs, and rock and roll; God is love, peace, and war; God lives in anything, everything, and nothing at all; God evolves, is eternal, and is an illusion….
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…ng gas, used to demand that I refer to farting as “fluffing.” No Harm in Salvation When analyzed from a feminist perspective, Janzen’s confessions of her inability to leave an abusive man seem frustratingly common. Though a nonbeliever in adulthood, Janzen’s Christian upbringing is mentioned more than once in reference to a woman’s strength—or lack thereof. “You show me a Mennonite woman, and I’ll show you a woman who sucks at asserting herself in…
Read MoreWhen members of the anti-gay group the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) gathers next month in Philadelphia for their annual convention, they’ll be facing a lot of baggage—theirs certainly, but also luggage being brought to them in protest. Truth Wins Out, a group that works to expose the scientific quackery of groups like NARTH, will sponsor a “Lift My Luggage” protest on Nov. 6: The notorious “ex-gay” group…
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…n and will provide updates as soon as I have them. Whether the man was involved in gay activism in Uganda or not, this is still a terrible crime. The fact remains, however, that the lives of gay and lesbian Ugandans are in danger every single day – and if the anti-homosexuality measure passes, I fear we’ll be telling many stories of gay people being killed – but by the government that should be protecting them. As Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality bill…
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