Religion Dispatches
…id you have a specific audience in mind when writing? The book is aimed at Western Christians, particularly mainline Protestants, social justice Roman Catholics, progressive and emergent evangelicals. But I hope it invites anyone who is might be willing to give Christianity a second look—those who are “spiritual-but-not-religious” and the “church alumni club.” And those who might be completely post-religious and just want to read a good story abou…
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…nkage remains unchanged. Even John Paul II’s famous note inserted into the Western Wall in 2000, during his undeniably more successful trip, enigmatically asks forgiveness for “the behavior of those who in the course of history have caused these children of yours to suffer.” At most, individuals were at fault, not an organization. Benedict’s own separation between Catholic Church and Catholic Christians is apparent in a similar enigmatic statement…
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…lay readers: local Mormons who could use something besides insular, faith-promoting history; and non-Mormons outside Utah who could use an informed, even-handed historical account of life “behind the Zion Curtain.” The timing seemed right. The past ten years has been something of a Mormon moment in American media culture. Think about it: the 2002 Winter Olympics, the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping, the Warren Jeffs trial, Mitt Romney’s past and prese…
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…stians to shape the content of educational textbooks in Texas, country and western music has been given a seal of approval as a significant cultural movement worthy of study. Yet for rappers as well as country crooners, Jesus inspires musicians and the music they create. What do the Christians believe? Same-sex marriage, euthanasia, immigration, race relations… the list of topics that demonstrate the vast and often heavily contested views of Chris…
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…l as in the capital Delhi, even though media failed to give much coverage. Western followers of Tibetan Buddhism, a significant source of tourist revenue to Himachal Pradesh and elsewhere, remain extremely disappointed, more at the media than the authorities. An initiation into politics The sheer preposterousness of the claims, about the Karmapa’s status as a “spy” in particular, did lead international Tibet specialists, such as Dibyesh Anand and…
Read More…ts to portray that repeal as devastating to the troops and the survival of Western Civilization, even though a majority of Americans (58%) favor open service, compared to 27% who oppose it. Consistently, the only demographic group from which more people oppose open service than favor it has been white evangelicals. Opponents of repeal frequently point to the opposition of the military’s chaplains to ending DADT, although the Pentagon report releas…
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…am in the primordial sense. It is a very convincing discourse, but only by Western Muslims. Muslims born and in generations of Islam anthropologically don’t really care as much how the newbies identify. Besides, once I learned that my slave ancestors on my mother’s side were Muslims, anthropologically speaking, the gusto was taken out of that claim for origins. Mostly because when I discussed this amongst Muslims of generations, even my friends, I…
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…extension, the news media that reports on them. More broadly, contemporary Western societies may have entered a period of what philosopher Jürgen Habermas calls “post-secular,” which is to say that, in a sense, religion has been there all along. If philosophers, politicians, and artists want to talk about religion, fine—but for God’s sake, alt-rockers too?! Alternative rock, with its default anti-establishment stance (whether feigned or forthright…
Read More…nk we know what shari‘ah is, yet its meanings are widely contested. In the Western context, and for some Muslims, shari’ah has become synonymous with patriarchal laws and cruel punishments; with polygamy, stoning, amputation of limbs. Yet, for the mass of Muslims, shari’ah is the essence of justice, while for Islamists shari’ah is a powerful political ideology. In Muslim tradition, however, shari’ah is generally a theological and ethical concept m…
Read More…ersonal capital all over the map with mixed results, making appearances in Western states in support of Sharron Angle (who lost) and Idaho’s incumbent Republican governor Butch Otter (who was always expected to win). Romney also made robocalls in support of Meg in California. After the Proposition 8 victory in 2008, the conservative Mormon grapevine in California was abuzz with the idea that California’s small but highly disciplined 2-3% Mormon po…
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