Religion Dispatches
…pers, or summarily deported are quite properly the suspicious ones. The President should use this nonsensical debate that will not end as a way to stand more firmly with such persons and such democratic principles….
Read More…and the untimely death of Pope John Paul I, been committed to rolling back most of the liberal reforms of that Council. Cardinal Ratzinger worked tirelessly to this end for John Paul II; he now continues to do in his own name, as Benedict XVI. Again, the Pope’s interest in this case is not now and never was anti-Semitism. It is anti-modernism. And to that end, he has demonstrated a surprising willingness repeatedly to shock and antagonize in the n…
Read More…omplice to murder. But what was clear at the time, and has grown clearer almo*]}*st by the day, is that the killing of Alexandros (“Alexi”) Grigoropulos has come to symbolize something much larger, and not only in Greece. One helpful analogy for a North American audience perplexed by these developments might be to connect them to the riots unleashed by the release of a videotape depicting several Los Angeles police officers beating Rodney King, then t…
Read More…ather than subjects to a rule of international law. And so on. Perhaps the most telling objection was voiced by David Brooks on The PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. He argued that the symbolics of the move carry real policy consequences. Brooks expressed surprise and dismay that the US Attorney General referred to the 9/11 attacks repeatedly as “crimes.” No, Brooks countered, they were not “crimes,” they were “acts of war,” and we ought never forget…
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…ne not conversant in the realities of Islam or American politics, that is. Most of the presentation was pulled directly from his book on the Qur’an and read from Powerpoint slides so quickly that even he stumbled over his own words. The speed with which Federer delivered this “information” left no time to even begin to assimilate and reflect on anything he was saying in a lecture of over two hours. The impact on his audience can be considerable; a…
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…t Rome and seek his fortune elsewhere. I have puzzled occasionally, though mostly I have been amazed by, the unwavering tranquility of the senator from Illinois. He can seem as cold as ice, even when his rhetoric soars, and always, always, there is the nagging doubt about his religion. For make no mistake, religion has been at issue in this campaign, and not only when Sarah Palin shares hers. Barack Obama is entirely comfortable with the phrases “…
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…e mysteriousness and impenetrability of the figure of Jesus. In one of the most shocking turnarounds in which Mark so clearly delights, Mark’s Jesus informs his disciples that he teaches in parables not to simplify his message, but actually to confuse people, “lest they turn and be forgiven” (Mark 4:1-12). Mark’s Jesus insists on secrecy; almo*]}*st every time that someone figures out who he is, he tells them not to tell anyone else about it. Few foll…
Read More…and websites: Daily Dish, Politico, Talking Points Memo, the Huffington Post and the Daily Beast. Given his interest in religion coverage, Silk pays closer attention to blogs associated with the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, US News & World Report, and USA Today. This is all brilliant in its quiet, descriptive way. Silk is especially mindful of the ways in which we are bombarded by news and information from the time we wake to the time we re…
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…drove into the vocabulary of the faith debate and some remain there today. Most have seen their resonance abate in the UK through the secularising of our history, but elsewhere still they carry the meanings drawn from the Bible. America and Nigeria are prime examples. (italics mine) So, is it literature or theology that we Americans and Nigerians are preserving? Bragg almo*]}*st seems to connect the two, suggesting a causal connection between the emph…
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…, two things seem to have escaped the attention of some of this movement’s most vocal and vociferous critics. The first concerns the Constitutional claims the movement is making, and the second concerns the highly suspect version of history in which its members seek to locate themselves. In making these observations, I also wish to suggest that there is no real evidence to suggest that this is a religious movement, and thus I am not convinced that…
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