Religion Dispatches
…and his people expect much from u because u have within you the Fathers supreme gift: the Spirit of Jesus – BXVI. Now, as the Synod of Bishops meets in Rome, one person suggested Pope Benedict enter the blogoshere. Agnes Lam, president of the Catholic Biblical Association of Hong Kong and one of the few women permitted to attend this meeting, recommended that Benedict start a blog to explain the word of God. She asked ”the Holy Father to open a m…
Read More…will occur after an era of Christian dominance). American Vision is a non-profit, tax exempt, educational organization. Like many of these groups, DeMar also has a companion organization that can raise money and promote candidates for elected office: Vision to America. Yesterday, Vision to America sent a fundraising appeal in support of Nevada’s Republican nominee to the U.S. Senate, Sharron Angle, from South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint’s politic…
Read More…nstitution as scriptural. For example, I find nothing scriptural in the compromise on slavery . . . . President J. Reuben Clark, who referred to the Constitution as ‘part of my religion,’ also said that it was not part of his belief or the doctrine of the Church that the Constitution was a ‘fully grown document.’ ‘On the contrary,’ he said, ‘We believe it must grow and develop to meet the changing needs of an advancing world.’ That was also the at…
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…nti-Catholic backlash that occurred in Baltimore in the 1830s here on RD.) Prominent civic leaders were suspicious that these new immigrants gave their allegiance not to the president of the United States, but to the pontiff in Rome. They questioned whether or not Catholics could really become Americans. Lewis C. Levin, a Methodist newspaper editor in Philadelphia, published several anti-Catholic tracts. In May 1844, he led a mob of 3000 supporter…
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…read that connects the various elements of the play. In addition to Paul’s prayerful struggle with his feelings for Carlos—the out-and-proud new kid at their high school in Texas—debates in an after-school Bible-study group and around a movement to start a gay-straight student alliance led by Angie, Paul’s girlfriend, are the main sources of the play’s energy and tension. And the tender, artfully drawn romance between Paul and Carlos provides hear…
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…I have three different prayer time schedules: my iphone has one from the Ipray app; and I printed one off line from Islamicity; then collected one from my favorite mosque, when I went there for the tarawih prayer the night proceeding the first day of fasting. None of them have the same time on it. I therefore create a buffer to offset any slight disagreement a few minutes in the morning and a few at sunset. The rest I leave in trust to Allah. But…
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…me—poets such as Rumi, Sadi, and Hafiz, whose mystical sonnets (ghazel) express the inexpressible through metaphors such as dreams, nightingales, and flowers that embody the pain of separation from the beloved, and longing for a reunion. #10: “Truckin’” as New American Pilgrimage by Varun Soni “Truckin’’” is not just the narrative of an American band on the road, but it is also an aspiration for a uniquely American adventure where the road trip i…
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…e notable example is the John Templeton Foundation, founded in 1987 by the Presbyterian investor whose name it bears. It gave away $70 million in grants last year and boasts an annual Templeton Prize with a larger payout than the Nobel. Among fields as diverse as economics, theology, history, education, physics, neuroscience, and medicine, Templeton has become a force to be reckoned with in the sociology of religion. Some believe that Templeton’s…
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…nk a bit more seriously about what they are willing to accept as an echt expression of progressive Christian faith. No, for present purposes I really don’t care who they are. My point here is that none of them can help the President stay centered and stay righteous absent a more sustained and in-person conversation. A pastor needs to enjoy the complete trust of the congregant, which means that the congregant needs to know that he/she can actually…
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…re expectations are high and conservative backlash looms. This is a common problem for progressive church officials who might find it easier, for example, to stand publicly for gay civil rights than to bring about similar justice within their own denominations. In this case, there is every indication that Bishop Carcaño remains a committed ally of LGBTIQ people both Methodist and otherwise. She will have many more opportunities to demonstrate her…
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