Religion Dispatches
…al Christians continue to opt for Santorum as the not-Romney, there is little solid data that isolates anti-Mormonism as the cause: region, social conservatism, and economic class also drive the narrative. As the race moves past Super Tuesday, the real story is the grind that the 2012 race is becoming. Its dispiriting effects on voters. The distorting effects of Super PAC cash. And the fact that we’re in it for the long haul. Like it, or not….
Read More…eshwater’s attorneys to turn over billing records related to time spent preparing affidavits related to an interview Freshwater was to have had with investigators. Apparently, the Freshwater team has been less than forthcoming at turning over documents related to discovery and appears to have gone to great lengths to avoid providing the material. R. Kelly Hamilton, Freshwater’s attorney, said he could not turn over billing records requested by pla…
Read More
…his retirement savings, well over a half-million dollars, taking out full-page newspaper ads and buying an RV that he had custom-painted with doomsday warnings. Even when I pressed, he wasn’t willing to admit any doubts about whether October 21 would really, finally, be it. “How can you say that when you see that all this beautiful information is in the Bible?” he asked me, his voice rising. “How can everything we’ve learned be a lie?” “I Was Par…
Read More…ear in agreement with what we are doing. I may ask for your church’s name, phone number, and Web site to verify your stand. What I see as the sin at the heart of Grizzard and Jones’ actions—as well as at the heart of anyone who seeks to violently control the free will or belief of others—is lust. These men lust for control; and in their lust they objectify others, people they call “heretics” or “sinners.” Lust, in and of itself, is not a bad thing…
Read More…of Romney’s Mormonism as a “cult” and calling for civility in the 2012 campaign. As the 2012 campaign heads into its final stretch, it’s not surprising that hearsay reports like Donohue’s and Deal’s are cropping up, and Mormons are feeling extra sensitive about the fate of the nation’s first major party presidential candidate. But I’ll bet you a twelve pack of caffeine-free Diet Coke and a dozen pink-frosted sugar cookies that there is no anti-Mo…
Read More
…dful of super lucky, sobbing teenagers were waiting for their super lucky, pale parents on a stage in an auditorium. Other parents, having checked and re-checked a sign-in list of bubbly teenage scrawl for their children’s handwriting, stood sentry outside—on rocks, on fences, anywhere to get a first glimpse of the busloads coming from the school. The mother prayed. Maybe superstitiously she decided not be selfish about it. She didn’t ask God to l…
Read More
…ofoundly disturbing to the equilibrium for which Pope Benedict argued. Some might even say “sinful.” *Elizabeth Drescher’s research on the ethics of digital social media participation is supported by a generous grant from the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University….
Read More
…I walk down 10th Street toward the river, I read the signs of the water’s path: parked cars askew in the street, on the sidewalk; flooded basement after flooded basement; ribbons of detritus strewn in patterns that look like the banks of a rushing stream. As if it had been following the outlines of the map the flood stopped just short of Avenue B, not touching our Orange side of the street. * Zooming in, zooming out—calculating the odds. It gave…
Read More
…rs Upon entering the Javits Center for Comic Con Manhattan, the energy was palpable. Over half of the attendees were in full costume, and I was immediately struck by the care that obviously went into their production. Most of the costumes were not pre-fabricated, but had obviously been lovingly constructed over months. I saw numerous iterations of Spiderman, Captain America, and Batman. I saw Finn, Fionna, and Marceline “the Scream Queen” from the…
Read More
…obert Jeffress, who just a year ago endorsed Rick Perry over Romney in the Republican Primary, and called Mormonism a cult, is now telling pastors in Florida—even though he still thinks Mormonism is a cult—that “It’s time to stand up and push back against all the evil in our country.” He suggested that failing to go out to vote for Romney would be like being a pastor in Germany in the 1930s and failing to try to stop the Holocaust. Meanwhile, Char…
Read More