Religion Dispatches
…us just keeps saying gutsy things—like when he told a roomful of people, one of whom was Governor Haley Barbour: Few politicians today use outright race baiting, but we see the symbols some use and the phrases they utter and everyone knows what the code is—what really is being said. Oh, and he’s also called attention to how voter ID laws endanger the voting rights of poor and elderly people, and was named a Champion of Justice by the Mississippi C…
Read More…at you believe about God.” Miller goes on to present an embarrassingly simplistic dichotomy: Romney “stands for the individualistic version of American success; Obama for the collectivist.” One of these views (of God) favors slashing taxes and government; the other shared sacrifice and gay marriage. These are not, though, two cleanly differentiated views of God that in fact inspire each candidate’s politics. (There aren’t even, of course, two clea…
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…t the perspectives of our opponents. Too often in public conversations, we listen to the opinions of others just long enough to create a caricature. The philosopher Iris Murdoch suggested that love is the “nonviolent apprehension of difference.” We approach different perspectives not to do violence, but to honor difference as a moral demonstration that something other than our perspective is also real. Rule #2: Show Compassion The word “passion”—a…
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…also be pedestrian, taking place year-round on every continent, every zip code. It is a game, proven by its global appeal, which defies socioeconomic standing. Therein lies further emphasis of the World Cup’s importance, too: the world stage. Marxism has long been called the world’s secular religion, but a football fan knows economic ideology pales in comparison to the world’s devotion to football. John Carlin of Time magazine is right when he sa…
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…e this last particular episode was fairly annoying, I generally don’t mind listening to people’s stories as long as these strangers aren’t asking me questions about myself. (Incidentally, Rev. Daniel’s and my experiences are directly opposite of a cartoon I keep in my office, in which a man with a t-shirt on that reads “LET’S TALK ABOUT JESUS,” says to another man, “It guarantees me an entire seat all to myself.”) I also share the Reverend Daniel’…
Read More…d beliefs opposing same-sex marriage so long as they do not incite harm or promote hate through their speech or actions. “However, individuals have a right to be treated equally and be protected from discrimination regardless of how unpopular such rights are and how small the number of people who hold those rights may be.” While the proposed partnerships would offer couples “most of the rights afforded to traditional marriages,” there are signific…
Read More…views on everyone else, but make sure they’re free to mock that very moral code. Democrats fear that argument. That’s why their approach has been, especially since about 2006 or so, to try to make themselves out to be the “authentic” Christians who truly care about their neighbors and all that. The Aqua Buddha ad may have been a bad strategic move in Kentucky; we’ll never really know. But Conway — without, as far as I can tell, invoking treacly re…
Read More…e men from murdering women or to send a moral message. In the 1983 Revised Code of Canon Law, only two groups are protected. A Catholic may incur automatic excommunication if he or she attempts to assassinate the Pope (you don’t even need to succeed, just trying is enough) or if one successfully procures an abortion. Only fetuses and popes are worthy of consideration. The rest of us are on our own. Perhaps most cruel in the Brazilian case is the f…
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…the public acknowledgement of God—all hang by one vote. Among that laundry list of liberties supposedly under siege, roughly a third have to do with LGBT people. “Religious freedom” has become a code-word for those looking to stymie LGBT equality. Any “threat” to marriage always seems to come from those hoping to access the institution, but never from heterosexuals (despite escalating rates of divorce, domestic violence, and infidelity in such uni…
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…gaging in religious offense (listed under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code) can face a prison sentence, a hefty fine, or an extra-judicial killing. Whatever the trigger is, and whether or not arrests are made, we see that violence often takes place shortly after. Often, these rumors spread via Facebook or WhatsApp. Soon, a mob will gather. They will destroy homes, shops, and places of worship belonging to the minority community. Law enforceme…
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