Religion Dispatches
…tunning beauty of the Shenandoah, with stars so bright against a deep dark sky that those of us used to city lights cannot walk under the canopy of trees without constantly commenting on the sparkling display; but also in the company of the faithful with the fullest intent to celebrate those special occasions of devotion. This is the have cake and eat it too place. In fact, my worship will increase for a few reasons. First, because this is a commu…
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…a cartoon of a desert warlord who copulated with a child and flew into the sky on a winged horse.” These are caricatures not because there aren’t people who believe things roughly along these lines, but because they tell us as much about the true substance of the faith as the shape and size of Obama’s ears tell us about the character of the man. While most of my Christian friends treat the Garden of Eden story as a myth whose religious significanc…
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…week, with his laudatory comments following the viewing of Under The Roman Sky—a new, hagiographic documentary about his controversial predecessor. All of this provides context for the recent introduction of anti-Semitic discourse into the Church’s response to pedophilia allegations, which represents a provocative new twist in the ongoing saga. “Babini’s” buffoonish accusations, incendiary but familiar, are not nearly as striking as the analogy Ca…
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…d a setting sun. The sun itself is partially obscured by clouds, but still high enough in the sky that it would hurt your eyes to look at it directly. The corona itself, of course, is a visual effect produced by refraction on the camera lens. It isn’t “really there,” but of course it’s produced by things that are “really there” (the sun and the camera lens). In any event, the symbolic resonance of the image fits well with the themes I’m exploring…
Read More…they should—so “I must.” And (the Paris agreement) “is very unfair at the highest level to the US.” He believes the United States is a pitiful helpless giant. The idea that we haven’t had enough carbon in our diet is absurd. We have already consumed way more than our share. The second story is to imagine that we don’t share earth, air, water and sky with the rest of the world. Perhaps we can put up a wall and have our air be clean even if no one…
Read More…top it or hold it or reason with it. One day it would just drop out of the sky and tear down your world.” The Pandorica is the perfect prison—and, as that ominous title suggests, it’s opening. So what happens when the universe’s most elaborate prison is about to open, presumably releasing its most dangerous prisoner? The universe’s many alien species are aware of the Pandorica’s imminent opening, and the Doctor’s most hated villains—the Daleks, th…
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…u find huge amounts of oil. Therefore, Obama should abandon the pie in the sky ‘green’ economy, and spend the money for research of safe deep-water drilling.” Wow, we’re not running out of oil after all. There’s a limitless renewable supply! Let’s get those Hummers back on the market and start stimulating the economy. Of course, no credible scientist takes this theory seriously. It would be nice to think that perhaps there is a silver lining to th…
Read More…er whether it will be my last. Rosemary Beach is part of a long-stretch of high-end resorts, connected by palm-tree lined roads. On Sunday, this stretch had not yet been touched by the BP oil spill disaster and one arriving here straight from a cave would have no knowledge that anything bad could be headed its way. But then Rosemary Beach is designed to keep out the bad elements of reality. The private beach is only for those who own homes here. T…
Read More…the garden of Gethsemane, but instead of Jesus looking longingly up at the sky as he kneels before a rock in the garden, Jesus is taking aim with an AK-47 at some enemy off in the distance. The postcard, at once, makes me laugh and gives me a chill. I laugh because I can’t imagine someone thinking this way about Jesus—as a macho, gunslinging, NRA member who will mow down infidels without a second thought—and a chill because I know of far too many…
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…u of my childhood, where we were confident that Christ might appear in the sky to take us up to heaven at any time, we sure did “love” Jews. Not that most of us actually knew any, or that even those of us who did through, for example, corporate work, would likely remember to take Jewish holidays into account when planning events. While I’m sure it’s true that most U.S. evangelicals do not self-consciously hate Jews or wish to carry out direct acts…
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