Religion Dispatches
…the extraterrestrial Federation of Light, Goodchild channels a Native American spirit called White Cloud, on whose behalf she has written three books and published a series of guided meditations. Available on CD, the meditations aim “to help us tune into our higher selves,” the site states. With nods to Spiritualism, New Thought, and New Age mysticism, Goodchild seems to participate in the eclectic, combinative spirituality typical of UFO faith; W…
Read More…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 multi-language blog to shepherd today’s world: [a] daily scriptural verse with [a] simple reflection, brief text and plentiful images.” So, the question is, will the pope…
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…on results, their classmates had made comments such as “they [African Americans] can never complain anymore because they got one of theirs in the White House.” Despite the numerous problems with this perspective (which cannot fully be dealt with here), I use this statement to make the same point here that I made to my students–don’t fall for the “okey doke,” for the con. In another words, don’t allow the spin factor to make you to think that race/…
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…ca are (and, moreover, in the wake of Obama’s election, who will get their phone calls returned from the White House) certain names keep cropping up. Pastor Rick Warren, who sees no daylight between his views and James Dobson’s, but who, according to Sullivan’s book, former-DNC-chair Terry McAuliffe blasphemously didn’t know; Jim Wallis, best-selling author and activist who lambasts the religious right for its petty intolerance and the left for “n…
Read More…freedom of religion are not relevant here. “Can” we worship? Of course we can. Can we function as religious minorities? Certainly—better than those in our own countries. Can we speak our languages, raise our children in our faiths, avoid forbidden foods, wear religiously approved clothing? Yes, yes, of course—most of the time. But the question of can we is not a question the seeker asks. Hagar did not ask how fast she could run in search of water…
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…s for someone to reflect on this site about religion’s future in 2020. A decade can be a very long time, and some things can move and change very rapidly indeed. Global warming is such a thing. Max Weber famously observed that capitalism’s real crisis would come when the last bit of the earth’s coal had been burned. What contemporary environmental scientists have reminded and urged upon us is the way in which the entire planet comprises a single…
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…casting Network issued a response clarifying that Robertson did not specifically call the earthquake ‘God’s wrath’, but simply joined in with “countless scholars and religious figures over the centuries to believe the country is cursed.” CBN further explained that their organization was sending “millions” in medical aid to the country. Shocked Christians respond with incredulity that Robertson could be audacious enough to ‘explain’ such a tragic s…
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…titled Toxic to Democracy, and warned that: Right-wing populist movements can cause serious damage to a society even if a significant fascist movement does not coalesce because they often popularize xenophobia, authoritarianism, scapegoating, and conspiracism. This can lure mainstream politicians to adopt these themes to attract voters, legitimize acts of discrimination—or even violence—and open the door for revolutionary right-wing movements, su…
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…isagreement escalated. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a 45-minute phone call to Netanyahu. Israeli ambassador Michael Oren, after being summoned to the State Department for a dressing down, reportedly called the dispute a 35-year nadir of the US-Israel relationship. Subsequently, in an attempt to tamp down concerns, Oren took to the op-ed pages of the New York Times to deny that he had engaged in such a characterization, and to minimize t…
Read More…holy. I should probably catch ride outside the gates of the estate where I can have bars for my cell phone and get in touch with them later today. Before the shaykh arrives, I continue with my Qur’an reading. I don’t use the tiny mp3 player anymore because this last juz’ includes most of the Qur’an that I have memorized myself, and this is more a review than a simple reflective read. Coming to the end of the Qur’an reading is also melancholy, and…
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