Religion Dispatches
…plugged-in lifestyle doesn’t really get at the heart of the issue. I think the Amish, of all people, have it right. It’s not so much about what you as an individual are doing or not doing, as the effect technology has on the community: Why not make life easier and just put [a phone] in the house? “What would that lead to?” another Amish man asked me. “We don’t want to be the kind of people who will interrupt a conversation at home to answer a tel…
Read More…evangelicals who some see as potential Democratic voters) to the polls in numbers Obama needs? Pennsylvania: Clinton Catholics for Romney? Obama is up by 7 points, but word has it that the Romney campaign aims to make a dent in the Philadelphia suburbs—or at least to force team Obama into dedicating resources there. Romney tends to run strong among Catholics, who make up 29% of the state, and he may have a shot at swaying the “Clinton Catholics”…
Read More…slogans about immigration reform. On line I heard that parishes with large numbers of undocumented immigrants had received many tickets. No outside food or water, statues, gifts or selfie sticks were permitted. Despite 10,000 folding chairs, most of us would have no choice but to stand. Once in my appointed place behind the last row of seats, I found myself in a community of fellow pilgrims, lottery winners from local parishes, nearby colleges, an…
Read More…ear window to allow adult survivors of abuse to sue the church, passed the Pennsylvania House. It appeared to have enough support to pass the state senate, but the senate adjourned for the session without voting on the measure after allies of the Church failed to get enough support for an alternate bill that would have allowed survivors to sue individual priests but not the Church. Now the question becomes: Will the public—both inside and outside…
Read More…Wednesday, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring announced that he had opened an investigation into clerical sexual abuse in that state, citing the recent grand jury report in Pennsylvania as his motivation. “We shouldn’t assume the behavior and the problems are limited just to Pennsylvania or to one diocese. If there has been abuse or cover-up in Virginia like there was in Pennsylvania I want to know about it, I want to root it out, and I want…
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…ove that the problem goes much deeper than the national level, the GOP-led Pennsylvania state Senate ousted Lt. Governor John Fetterman from his ceremonial role swearing in legislators and refused to seat a Democratic Senator whose election has been certified by the state and upheld by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. It’s important to recognize, as Greg Sargent does, that these attacks on democratic institutions are offered in bad faith: …The just…
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…ualism is bad. Also, he notes but offers no explanation for the decreasing number of marriages in many countries. I am glad to see that in Section 34 he understands this basic fact of contemporary western culture: The ideal of marriage, marked by a commitment to exclusivity and stability, is swept aside whenever it proves inconvenient or tiresome. The fear of loneliness and the desire for stability and fidelity exist side by side with a growing fe…
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…dultery. He was the sponsor of legislation that legalized homeschooling in Florida in 1985. He earned an “A” rating and an endorsement from the Christian Reconstructionist group Gun Owners of America. The religious right Florida Family Policy Council named its annual award honoring “outstanding service to the pro-life and pro-family principles” after him. Recipients have included the American Family Association’s Don Wildmon. “Culture of Fear” Don…
Read MoreCentral Florida’s heated House race between incumbent Democrat Alan Grayson and his Republican challenger Dan Webster is in the news again as Grayson, apparently as part of a more aggressive Democratic advertising strategy, released his own ad this weekend labeling his opponent “Taliban Dan.” The ad, which claims that “religious fanatics are trying to take away our freedom, in Afghanistan, in Iran and right here in central Florida,” replays clips…
Read MoreOn June 29, 2013, in heavily Christian Northern Florida, American Atheists will unveil the first public monument to atheism. A bench engraved with quotes from Thomas Jefferson, Madalyn Murray O’Hair, Benjamin Franklin, and other atheists and freethinkers will be placed alongside a monument of the Ten Commandments on display in front of the Bradford County Courthouse. How did this come about? As reported by news4jax.com: American Atheists had sued…
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