Religion Dispatches
…r living”). This is often lost on commentators. While scientists and journalists assess AA by the standards of the medical community (i.e. percentage of individuals who remain sober), AA members assess one another according to quite different metrics: levels of honesty, compassion, open-mindedness, and magnanimity. Although AA was instrumental in shifting the discourse about alcoholism from one of “sin” to “sickness” it nevertheless retained a foc…
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…e this last particular episode was fairly annoying, I generally don’t mind listening to people’s stories as long as these strangers aren’t asking me questions about myself. (Incidentally, Rev. Daniel’s and my experiences are directly opposite of a cartoon I keep in my office, in which a man with a t-shirt on that reads “LET’S TALK ABOUT JESUS,” says to another man, “It guarantees me an entire seat all to myself.”) I also share the Reverend Daniel’…
Read More…s interactions with Kendrick. Why? Why would a well-established male journalist say to a female blogger young enough to be his daughter, “Hey, even though there’s no reason to sexualize our interactions, let’s sexualize them anyway!”? Maybe he wanted to feel young and frisky and cool, and thought he deserved to feel those things at her expense? In our collective imagination, prostitutes are people whose consent can be purchased, after which it can…
Read More…he RSS to acts of violence and characterizes the RSS as a “militant nationalist organization,” and “chauvinist Hindu organization.” Penguin’s decision to withdraw Doniger’s book resulted in a variety of outcries from scholars, journalists, and policy makers. Most notable were academic associations, which issued statements to denounce Penguin’s decision. The Board of Directors for the American Academy of Religion (AAR) published a statement on thei…
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…me foreign forces” he didn’t name. He also accused gay people of trying to promote themselves… Lokodo, a former Catholic priest who condemns homosexuality, has previously been accused to leading efforts to foil the public activities of LGBTI Ugandans. Serbia: Prime Minister names lesbian to cabinet Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic announced that he would appoint Ana Brnabic to his cabinet as minister for state administration, which would make her t…
Read More…areers for women; and reforming the media such that 1950s gender norms are promoted and “sex and the city lifestyles” are discouraged. He claims the only other alternative to these “reforms,” which he acknowledges are restrictions on women’s rights, is “the creation of a network of surrogacy facilities in low cost countries and basically ‘outsource breeding,’” with the state as foster parent because “career obsessed” women would not prioritize car…
Read More…e antebellum South. And many people of color are well versed at linguistic code-switching depending on the context. So why should I be offended by Senator Reid’s astute observation? If anyone should be offended it should be the critical mass of Americans, of all racial, ethnic and political perspectives, who are so informed by the logic of white supremacy that they fail to interrogate the correlations between dark skin tone and negativity or light…
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…gaging in religious offense (listed under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code) can face a prison sentence, a hefty fine, or an extra-judicial killing. Whatever the trigger is, and whether or not arrests are made, we see that violence often takes place shortly after. Often, these rumors spread via Facebook or WhatsApp. Soon, a mob will gather. They will destroy homes, shops, and places of worship belonging to the minority community. Law enforceme…
Read More…seats tens of thousands every Sunday. The leader of that church, televangelist and best-selling author Joel Osteen, gave the opening prayer as Houston inaugurated Annise Parker as mayor last week. Parker took the oath on her grandmother’s Bible, held by her partner, Kathy Hubbard. That’s right, Mayor Parker is a lesbian. Osteen blessed the new mayor, praying at her inauguration: “God, we just thank you for raising her up. We honor her today and o…
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…‘Preaching Water, Drinking Wine’ Denis Nzioka notes that television journalist Larry Madowo criticized Kenyans for claiming they hate homosexuality at a time when Google listed Kenya as the world’s top country for searches for gay porn. Madowo wrote in the Daily Nation that Kenyans are “preaching water, drinking wine.” Says Madowo, “In a country that’s mostly Christian and rabidly opposed to homosexuality, there sure are many odd sexual preferenc…
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