Religion Dispatches
…ion of one of the least-read books of the Bible. The first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles are taken up with the official family tree of the Hebrew tribes… Talk about boring! The long lists of unfamiliar and difficult names—more than five hundred of them—are likely to make even the bravest Bible student turn back.” Genealogies are “boring” and “difficult”—because we can’t use them. But they were recorded and preserved with such care because the stra…
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…ren, and respect in the community.” Dr. King was killed while in Memphis in 1968 while standing in solidarity with sanitation workers on strike to protest paltry wages and abusive working conditions. Still, the Poor People’s Campaign King founded in 1968 with Rev. Dr. Ralph Abernathy lives on. Its members contest a global economic system that consigns three billion people to poverty and 870 million to chronic malnourishment. Contemporary activists…
Read More…Milbank went so far as to compare Mitt to conjoined twins recently born in China. Ouch.) In dodging the question of Mormon identity, was Huntsman acting the part of the slippery and crowd-pleasing politician? Or was he trying to negotiate the often difficult path of the other-than-orthodox Mormon? Either way, I claim him as a member of the tribe. Editors’note: Joanna will be speaking about Mormon identity in the 21st century June 11 in Salt Lake C…
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…g and murder was highlighted. Persons from Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Nigeria and China—all areas where Christians are persecuted—were represented. During the second station of the Via Crucis, Shahbaz Bhatti, the Pakistani Minister for minorities, martyred in 2011 by a group of armed men, was remembered, and later, the injustice of the death penalty around the world. I must admit, I have always liked Holy Week. It is a moment to reflect and ponder the me…
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…re and more important research takes place in non-Christian countries like China and Japan and by their nationals working in the West, a totally theology-centric narrative seems less and less plausible. But even an anecdotal survey of what ways of thinking uphold the everyday habits of science today don’t quickly draw one’s mind to religion, nor do they necessarily stand in opposition to it. As in any profession, there are professionals competing…
Read More…lunch (technically, and disgustingly, it was really breakfast, since it was 1;30 p.m. and I hadn’t had anything to eat all day). I should be Subway’s sponsor, a creeping Shari’ah version of formerly fat, now thin Jared. Maybe I can be formerly crazy, but now acceptably moderate Muslim “Abdul,” because of my diet of Subway sandwiches. I eat there every day, or almost every other day, and thanks to my their reward points programs, I have put the fea…
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…year, a budget larger than any other country’s military budget except for China,” writes Kinjo Kiema. “Over 50 years of crime data shows only 2 percent of crimes end in conviction. Police don’t stop crime that has occurred, nor do they prevent it from happening.” Second, police don’t stop violence. “When researchers account for the impacts of socio-economic and other factors, the reality that police don’t protect us from violence—because their pu…
Read More…officials are conflicted over how to deal with the rise of Christianity in China. Investigators found billions of dollars worth of treasure in the vaults beneath a southern Indian temple. The Vatican is opening up its Secret Archives to reveal 100 previously unseen documents to the public. The documents cover the period of Pope Pius XII’s World War II papacy and the trial of Galileo. Speaking of Pius XII, a woman has claimed he miraculously cured …
Read More…LGBT Advocates Strategize LGBT activists met in the Lori region on October 17 and 18 to develop a strategy for building a movement and fighting homophobia in the country. Pink Armenia reports that after social media coverage of the event, some participants have faced attacks. Hong Kong: Interview with Intersex Activist Activist Small Luk, an intersex activist from Hong Kong, describes the challenges facing her advocacy in Hong Kong and mainland C…
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…ement, built in the former spot of the Babri Masjid mosque razed by mobs in 1992—Madhav compared it to the longed-for restoration of King David’s Temple in Jerusalem, an idea championed by portions of the far-right Jewish and Christian Zionist movements today. Hungary: Against “liberal hegemony” Like so many others, Balázs Orbán, political advisor to Hungary’s authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (no relation), as well as the current chairman…
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