Religion Dispatches
…rt of secret handshake among the most discerning and dedicated geeks. When BBC Wales resurrected the show after a 16-year hiatus in 2005, word began to spread that the new Who was something incredible. Under the guidance of producer Russell T. Davies (creator of Queer as Folk), Doctor Who quickly transformed from “acquired taste” into “essential viewing.” The new show is sophisticated, witty, and (most importantly) fun. It’s been showered with acc…
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…uding representatives of “Neo-Nazi, white nationalist, and racist groups,” Newsweek reported. The National Radical Camp, which organized the rally, “has told its followers on social media that the Syrian migration is part of a conspiracy between Jewish financiers and Communists to destroy the European Union with Islam, Sharia law and homosexuality,” reports Newsweek. “The group considers itself the new version of a movement with the same name in t…
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…with each other in ways that are transformative, and symbolic of this new world of social media. They are all Jewish and I am Muslim, and we are breaking down barriers. Our backgrounds and religions are relegated to the background as we share ideas, hopes, worries, and more. These friendships forged online are not tainted by stereotypes and prejudice, but are stronger because we respect one another’s differences. Maybe people who reach out on soc…
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…I can’t know if God exists, but I do know the word God is operating in the world, running around doing all kinds of work, good and bad, and I think, as a theologian, I have a responsibility to think critically about the kinds of gods we make and worship and to try to come up with versions of god that might make the world a more just and life-giving place for everyone. Did you have a specific audience in mind when writing? I had many different audi…
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…t with a high degree of certainty then that, outside of the perversions of Fox News, we will never hear the word “religion” uttered in connection with the Boston Marathon attacks. Instead, what Fox would refer to as “liberal” media (mainstream media to the rest of us) will have a good deal to say about “ethnic” violence because of the Chechen background of the young suspects. Mind-Purge Second, because the non-Fox media presume that religion, in t…
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…both progressive and regressive, in global Islam. This list, in links and headlines, just skims the surface—but every one of these topics bears watching in 2013. 1. A US Army report confirms over 1,000 copies of the Qur’an and other Islamic Sacred Texts Burnt in Afghanistan by the US military. 2. YouTube Video “Innocence of Muslims” ignites protests in the Muslim world setting deep divisions between interfaith communities and liberal and orthodox…
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…e kind of national media and blogs that have fueled the MAGA movement—from Fox News and the Sinclair Broadcast Group to The Washington Times and The New York Post. The church’s materials include an excerpt from a book by Bruce Reyes-Chow, a teaching elder and former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA): “For many of us, being uncomfortable about public protests or what we perceive as aggressive expressions of frustration simply identifies ou…
Read More…or before we ever tolerate gay people working here.” In other parts of the world, World Vision employs thousands of non-Christians. Earlier this month, World Vision’s national director in Uganda, Gilbert Kamanga, said the organization “opposes any law that fails to meet human rights standards and results in stigmatization or discrimination of any group or class of people.” “Sexual orientation of those we serve or those with whom we collaborate wit…
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…mbers in the country. (CitizenGo also includes Brian Brown of the US-based National Organization for Marriage and World Congress of Families on its board; he was in Mexico City for the Sept. 24 march.) The story makes it clear that the president’s decision to push for national constitutional change to guarantee marriage equality caught supporters off-guard and energized opponents, who portrayed summer setbacks for the ruling PRI as a referendum on…
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…eck to Breitbart. _________ Eric C. Miller: You identify Rush Limbaugh and Fox News as “second generation” conservative media institutions. Who were their predecessors? How far back do they go? All the way back to the mid-1940s! The first generation begins with the founding of Human Events, a little four-page newsletter published out of Chicago. Human Events grew out of the anti-intervention movement in World War II, both in terms of personnel and…
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