Religion Dispatches
…ent. His 1991 book on democratization, The Third Wave, foresaw the wave of new democratic movements that accompanied the end of the Cold War. In the early 1990s, observers of global politics searched for ways of understanding the new world disorder in the wake of the Cold War and the rise of globalization. Frances Fukuyama proclaimed an “end of history.” Benjamin Barber saw the centrifugal tendencies of a globalized “McWorld” in conflict with the…
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…ted States continues under the fraught leadership of Donald Trump, we find new iterations of the “Christian nation,” new connections and clashes between immigration bans, the religious right, and women’s rights. But if oppression relies on strange alliances, so does resistance. Sowing the seeds of liberation often entails looking back to the past and reaffirming elements of one’s own traditions, persons, and events that have been overlooked or wil…
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…eed to oversimplify when you are working with laypeople who are completely new to this kind of material? John Dominic Crossan: From about 1970 to 1990 I was writing primarily, if not exclusively, for a scholarly audience up to and including The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant (1991). After Peter Steinfels referenced my book on the front page of the New York Times, I began to accept invitations to speak at churches. Bec…
Read More…rograms addressing HIV and AIDS to access at-risk groups, reports Gay Star News. New Zealand: Baptist Union disavows pastor who calls for execution of gays Logan Robertson, pastor of Westcity Bible Baptist Church in West Auckland, is “unapologetic” about his remarks suggesting that gay people should be killed. From the New Zealand Herald: “My view on homo marriage is that the Bible never mentions it so I’m not against them getting married,” Robert…
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…of God returns to Jesus who is being put forward by the Christians as the new temple… the new meeting place between God and human life. So, the transfiguration story is the Christian version of Hanukkah. Once you get that framework in Mark’s gospel, Rosh Hashanah to Passover, then you can begin to see it in Matthew and in Luke. It’s very different because Matthew is very Jewish and Luke is very Gentile-oriented. Luke tells a different sort of sto…
Read More…od met with key Baptist leaders in April 2006. They produced and signed a “New Baptist Covenant.” This covenant encourages Baptists to unite in efforts to “Promote peace and justice, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, care for the sick and marginalized, welcome the strangers among us, and promote religious liberty and respect for religious diversity.” They also determined to plan a meeting that would bring all Baptists in Nor…
Read More…on. The problem seems to be his Pentecostal roots coupled with his lack of New Thought training. Pearson believes his inclusionist perspective to be consistent with New Thought teachings, however. Both affirm the radical, inclusive love of God and the divine potential within humanity. But, most importantly, if Christ Universal needs a leader with the proven charisma to lead a multimillion dollar religious empire and the stamina to endure criticism…
Read More…well as folk practices, were repressed. After the revolution, hundreds of new churches and monasteries were erected and there was a scramble to recruit new priests. There was also a popular demand for services such as exorcism and priests like Corogeanu could become local heroes by taking claims of the demonic seriously. Corogeanu reportedly performed exorcisms in ways not approved by Church authorities and even accused his bishop of promoting Fr…
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…he backdrop for Armageddon. Or maybe on American Muslims and Jews modeling new relationships? How to find these stories? I’d look for chinks in religious, philanthropic and communal groups: new ways of looking at longstanding problems, young leaders offering alternative visions, and philanthropists supporting new models. These stories need to be teased out online or pursued on the ground—venues far from the politicos, pundits and PACs that have do…
Read More…, environmentalists, policy specialists, and a Vodou priestess gathered in New Orleans to discuss new models of water management in Southern Louisiana. The symposium, which coincided with the seventh annual Anba Dlo Halloween festival, is important for a city under the constant threat of flooding. (Anba Dlo is a Haitian creole term meaning “beneath the waters.”) But the symposium was also important moment for Afro-Caribbean religions in America. F…
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