Religion Dispatches
…r solar system. The first short two-minute film sequences were screened in Paris in the year of his birth; he could now call up YouTube sequences many times that length on a laptop computer or iTouch. It is a different world. One Hundred and Twelve Years Mr. Breuning was interviewed by PBS reporters on Monday, and his remarkably engaging and self-effacing personality reminded me of another aspect of the national character that has been far too abs…
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…uiescence built into her conception of yoga. She once wrote of students in Paris who didn’t understand why she wouldn’t condemn the Soviet Union: “They weren’t interested in talking with someone who simply accepted things as they were and decided to live her life free from historical conflicts.” The desire to float above history is certainly understandable, given the cataclysms she lived through. But as a political person, I can’t help but see the…
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…system to learn to value the Hilton hotel housekeeper more than we value a Paris Hilton. It will be especially difficult for American Christians, accustomed to a weird sense of entitlement, to learn to live nearer to the earth. But it’s the only healthy way to go. Right now none of us is exactly thrilled that Fat Tuesday has gone away. None of us is all that happy to be down here on the ground—humiliated—after riding high for so long. Our spiritua…
Read More…influences had been eliminated. This is not to dismiss that a significant number of people believe that immigrants pose a threat to the cultures of the West. The immigration of Muslims and other minoritized religious groups to white, Christian-majority countries such as New Zealand, the Netherlands, and the United States have clearly engendered negative reactions and often nostalgia for a more homogenous society. But when those feelings become th…
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…f figures such as Cone, Katie Cannon, Charles Long, Jacquelyn Grant, Peter Paris, J. Deotis Roberts, and so on. While disregard of difference still has a stronghold in the Academy, it’s now much more common to find courses on black theology (and scholarship related to black theology) in curricular offerings (and the stuff of positive tenure and promotion decisions). This is not to let academic departments, administrators, and so on, off the hook….
Read More…The Associated Press reports that tens of thousands of people protested in Paris on Sunday against a law allowing same-sex couples to get married and against use of assisted reproduction and surrogate mothers to help same-sex couples have babies. The French National Assembly adopted a law that included new gender identity provisions that mean trans people no longer have to provide proof of medical treatment or be sterilized in order to change thei…
Read More…nedict’s recent visit to France, he spoke at the College des Bernardins in Paris to “representatives from the world of French culture.” In his speech he spoke out against Biblical Literalism and fundamentalism. He stated: Scripture requires exegesis, and it requires the context of the community in which it came to birth and in which it is lived. This is where its unity is to be found, and here too its unifying meaning is opened up. … It perceives…
Read More…Wellington, New Zealand Per the National Catholic Register: “The only Anglophone nominee is Archbishop John Dew of Wellington, New Zealand. In 2005, he advocated a new ‘pastoral approach’ for allowing divorced-and-civilly-remarried Catholics to receive Communion. During last year’s synod on the family, he also voiced his support for a change in language when ministering to persons with same-sex attraction.” Archbishop Alberto Suárez Inda of Moreli…
Read More…he weekend, using his mission experience in working-class neighborhoods of Paris as a point of experiential empathy with Americans on the down and out. Not the greatest of comparisons, perhaps, but a step in the right direction, say some. Still, just raising the question of religion means that someone (this time, political consultant Garry South over at the Politico Arena) is going to start bloviating about “bizarre” elements of Mormon belief, su…
Read More…lectual discourse.” Other faculty are pleased with the new look. Rev. John Paris dismissed the criticism as “narrow and bizarre musings of a few disgruntled folks.” During Pope Benedict’s visit to the US last spring, he encouraged Catholic educators to reinforce the Catholic identity at their institutions. However, it is doubtful that the pope thought hanging a few crosses would do it. Regardless, this move by Boston College points to the larger q…
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