Religion Dispatches
…of the duties of the Muslim ruler and established furthermore an elaborate code of conduct for initiating war. And this is where we must look deeper. Privileging the legal literature above other kinds of literature—particularly the exegetical literature on the Qur’an and ethical treatises—in discussions of jihad almost inevitably leads to the conclusion that it is primarily a collective military obligation incumbent upon able-bodied Muslim men in…
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…e the Vatican’s careful effort to claim an “essential difference” (par. 3) between vowed religious and their associates or co-members. This is purposely divisive as women’s religious communities are finding creative and life-giving ways to share their ministries and goods broadly. Just as I hope LCWR will not fall into the trap of being compared to CMSWR, neither should the rest of us take the bait nor allow ourselves to be divided over different…
Read More…f 12. Femicide is a global problem and Latin America one of the hot spots. Between 1987 and 1997 192 women were murdered in Ciudad Juarez and another 138 in Tijuana, Mexico. With support from the Ford Foundation, a leader in women’s rights funding, a regional network of women’s groups has formed to address the problem which continues unabated with little action by the police and silence from the church. No threats of excommunication are made to di…
Read More…d are experiencing a rise in religious extremism and restrictions on their freedom that were unheard of before the U.S. invasion, “Operation Iraqi Freedom,” in 2003. At this moment in Afghanistan, women are living with the return of the Taliban and other misogynistic groups such as the Northern Alliance, a U.S. ally, and with the violence of continuing U.S. and NATO attacks on civilians, despite the U.S. war to “liberate” Afghan women in 2001. As…
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…details, and it is always difficult for an outside observer to detect the coded messages of an in-group. (Think of the McCain campaign’s disturbing “The One” attack ad, which basically called Obama the Antichrist—but on a frequency that only evangelicals reared on apocalyptic conspiracy theories could pick up.) Chellew-Hodge quotes the following catechism from an evangelical organization: 1. We believe the Bible to be the inspired, infallible, au…
Read More…e most destabilizing revolutions of all have been conducted in the name of freedom and enforced liberty. That’s precisely how the French Revolution, and Napoleon’s later stewardship of it, went awry. The reason that Napoleon is still such a vexed and vexing historical figure may be found here. He changed the map and he changed the political ideology of European politics. There was much in what he achieved to warrant our admiration: legal and polit…
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…st cultures. Buddhism absorbed Chinese religion when it spread to China, Tibetan religion in Tibet, and so on. But mindfulness—what we think of as “meditation,” as opposed to prayer or ceremonial observance, for example—does have deep roots in the tradition. The Pali word sati, which can be translated as mindfulness, is frequently used in Buddhist scripture. (The noun comes from the verb sarati, meaning “to remember,” and alternative translations…
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…conservatives seek to devalue empathy—making it seem soft, sensitive, and freewheeling. Definitions of empathy by leading psychological scholars, on the other hand, identify empathy as an ability to interpret the experience of another person; to walk in someone else’s shoes. This is not the same as sympathy, pity, or over-identifying with the other person. It is more than ironic that the discussion of empathy occurs at a time when Obama has chose…
Read More…ever, increased in intensity with the latest controversy in a country torn between conservative mores and proximity to the West.” India: Actress discusses role as lesbian in film banned in India Preeti Gupta, a popular TV and theater actor, plays a lesbian girl Leela in Unfreedom, a movie released in the U.S. in May but banned in India. The film, by US-based Raj Amit Jumar, is set in New York and Delhi. The Hindu published an article and interview…
Read More…oliticians do not need to make these arguments. Which brings us back to the 2020 election. Coons suggested that the Democrats inject more religion into their party. Buttigieg seems to agree and is using it as a cudgel against Republicans. A better suggestion, one that both parties should employ, is the one Tara Isabella Burton made over at Religion News Service in a story about some campaigns hiring faith engagement specialists: “In coming years,…
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