Religion Dispatches
…heologians like Origen who say “No, incense is bad, that’s what the pagans use.” But obviously they had to say it because people were using incense. I mean, you don’t issue a prohibition of something that no one’s doing. And then after the fact you have to make the rules. You could probably find that alternate church history you were looking for that way: “Things that have been banned” gives you information about those practices. Right, and then h…
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…one’s soul. Yes, the Immokalee agricultural workers who pick our tomatoes use their hands every day, work outside, get regular exercise, are free from the restraints of a cubicle, and even live in “tiny home” communities (formerly known as “trailer parks”). It may sound idyllic to the young, well-educated, and the restless masses of yesterday and today. But not many of us are seek employment alongside migrant laborers because of the near constant…
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…create advanced pharmaceuticals and treatments for conditions including diabetes, hemophilia, and hepatitis. Genetic disorders can be curbed, and perhaps in the future, eradicated. At the same time, GM foods have caused considerable ethical controversy over the potential for unknown harm. Particularly in Europe, Japan, and parts of Africa, the uproar over untested, unlabeled GM foods in the food supply has been dramatic. Some of the controversy ca…
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…n that was never shared. As my progeny, Karis possesses some of my genetic code. Furthermore, since we live in the same house and share daily experience, I also have contributed to her cultural DNA. Even as relatives who share so much, Karis and I must exercise patience if we are to genuinely hear, and be heard by, the other. If an abiding commitment to patience is necessary for healthy communication between blood relatives, how much more patience…
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…rs forced virgins to describe themselves as “brides of Christ” rather than use the male martial imagery they had come to use during the Roman persecutions. The early equality between male and female desert monastics was likewise undercut when eighth century bishops began taking control of women’s monasteries and ordained monks to the priesthood for the first time (but not nuns, of course). And as, throughout the following centuries, groups of dedi…
Read More…isn’t covered because their boss thinks it’s tantamount to murder–dignity didn’t enter into the equation. We’re focused on the bakers and the caterers, in part because the religious right has made such a spectacle of them, with hyperbolic pronouncements about the end of religious freedom and free speech. It’s easy to forget that in most states, as well as under federal law, LGBT people are left unprotected in public accommodations, housing, and em…
Read More…to me it is one of the most despicable pieces of rhetoric that people can use to—to use their religion to hurt others. Even if one agrees that this statement displays hostility to religion (I agree with RD’s Dan Schultz that it doesn’t), and even if it had been affirmed by any of the other Commissioners or the multiple judicial bodies that heard the case (it wasn’t), the Supreme Court hasn’t always been so sensitive to government activities that…
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…lloween masks should be similarly avoided by Muslims. Select costumes that use make-up rather than masks. Select costumes that do not use any forms of head-covering (e.g. wigs, scarves, nun’s habit, pirate hat). Dressing up as, say, Whoopi Goldberg may be impermissible because it necessitates dreadlocks. Dressing up as, say, Queen Elizabeth also involves head-wear, and should be avoided. The Muslim-Catholic comparison has already become a sore poi…
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…n, and Democratic operatives have fallen in line as well. Perhaps it’s because Romney’s policy positions bear virtually no imprints of his faith. Perhaps it’s because Romney himself has taken pains to avoid discussing his religion. Or perhaps it’s because Obama would be ill-served by bringing religion into the campaign, given what happened in 2008 when he was obliged to defend himself against critics of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Hard-right b…
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…ting that when voters last made their choice, against Trump, in 2020—he refused to accept it, refused to participate in the peaceful transfer of power, and waged a violent coup, with his supporters trying to hunt down and kill members of Congress, and hang his own Vice president. In the end, the survival of liberal democracies might in no small part depend on the willingness of their courts and other authorities to use the defense mechanisms their…
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