Religion Dispatches
…ough the Qu’ran in Arabic on my own this was exhilarating. Somewhere around 12 or 14 units, I lost track of everything outside of the recitation and the ritual performance—the zone. It was even more intense because Michigan had a summertime fast-breaking that was well after 9 p.m. Tarawih prayers did not start until 11 and were not over until after midnight. Then before 4 a.m. the morning meal or suhur had to be completed. Since that time, I have…
Read More…nd beauty of diversity. The phenomenon known as religion After teaching for 15 years in the southern part of the US, I have understood how important it was to explain the phenomenonological approach to religious studies. In brief, there is this phenomenon amongst humans and through out human history, known as “religion”. We look at this phenomenon as part of what it means to be human. Nothing more; nothing ominous; just like looking at different k…
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…lected the transitional views of government and religion that characterized 17th and 18th century debates. Thus, while Americans ultimately made religious liberty a constitutional right, American society has granted religious liberty grudgingly, often opposing pluralism in terms of new religious communions or divergent voices. This led to exile and imprisonment of Baptists, hanging Quakers, shooting Mormons in Illinois in 1840s, shooting Catholics…
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…and, for ours, that was an impossibly beautiful Tuesday morning. September 11 put an end to the long 1990s when, as it is nearly inconceivable to imagine today, the biggest problem in our post-Communist, unipolar world seemed to be Monica Lewinsky. I had long planned to become a corporate lawyer. Two years later, I enrolled in law school only to leave within months. There were many reasons why, but among them was this: I could no longer go down t…
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…od] revealed to me that if I would submit myself and these women under the spiritual leadership of Pastor Vicky that He would raise up an international army of mighty warriors, and together we would enter into a realm of intercession that would change nations. The following year, seeking to assist the family of Rami Ayyad, a Christian bookstore owner who was killed in Gaza, she traveled to the Ukraine and visited with Henry Madava, a pastor there…
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…ising to the position of professor in the University of Cambridge. Then, in 1979, he resigned his chair, and trained to become an Anglican priest. In the quarter century since, he has written about two dozen books on the relationship between science and religion. A delightful man to meet, between papers and presentations he talked quite as easily with humble journalists as with distinguished peers. Polkinghorne describes himself as a ‘bottom-up’ t…
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…what happens in the sacred space designated for worship, amid the peaceful spirit of a faith that wants to change the world, not bend to society’s lowest standards for resolving problems. Yes, I understand the violent environment in which some worship centers are located. One time in the past, I had a bottle rocket shot at me while I was delivering a sermon in a pulpit. Such an occurrence is frightening. But that is not a reason to replace peace-m…
Read More…to shake the holy hand of fate? —Kansas, “Rainmaker” from the album In The Spirit of Things The first of two episodes that together make up the season finale of Doctor Who is “The Pandorica Opens.” Although it ends with quite a cliffhanger, the fact that Doctor River Song had already passed through these experiences when we encountered her in a previous episode suggests that all will turn out okay for her and her husband. Time travel can make for…
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…indsay Lohan, who, frankly, could use some time reflecting on the “Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,” if you ask me. Then, while responding to my student I thought I should probably scan posts by other students and, well, there went the next hour. Okay, honestly, I forgot what I was up to specifically by then, so I fed the dog and started making myself some breakfast. By then, my partner was up trolling for coffee, and we decid…
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…atheism, the often-religionist Protscience guerrillas offer to restore the spirit—and the metaphysics—that gave us science in the first place. Then and now, Fuller contends, God the lawgiver/designer/intervener makes a better mascot for good research than any lack thereof that atheism or agnosticism have to offer. In a revealing “Further Reading” section, he cites the accomplishments of his friends at the ID-friendly Discovery Institute unironical…
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