Iran, Israel, and Republican Presidential Campaigns: Myth versus Reality
…ative consequences for the peace process: The full video is here. …
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Sex and the (Hipster) Church—Just a Gimmick?
…e it’s genital,” as Young told the Hillsong gathering—and there is no self-promotion. It is, or at least strives to be, an actual conversation. “If people are hooking up or having sex, and they don’t seem to have any problem with it, there’s no judgment from me,” Aaron Monts, pastor of IKON Christian Community in San Francisco, says. “I simply want to walk and have a loving conversation with them about why they’re doing what they’re doing… as oppo…
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Speaking with Palestinian-American Republican Who Confronted GOP at Debate
…so demonstrated their ignorance of a crucial part of the world. The Middle East isn’t exclusively Muslim; Hassan, for example, points out that he and his “massive family” are part of “a vast Palestinian community… in North Florida, nearly all of them Greek Orthodox or Catholic.” But Hassan gets the anti-Muslim bigotry, especially because it comes back to haunt him (he, an Arab Christian American, is tarred with Islamist Hamas). For those in the GO…
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Is Ken Starr ‘Pulling a Clinton’ on Jewish Studies Professor Marc Ellis?
…pt the position that we set forth.” Similarly, on February 6th, the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) released a statement expressing “grave concern” that Ellis’ “removal from his teaching and administrative duties without a hearing…may be motivated by Professor Ellis’ views regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” While noting that the information was based on information provided “primarily” by Ellis, the AAUP letter pr…
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Did the Pope Claim Gay Marriage as a Threat to Humanity or Didn’t He?
…argument that the Reuters article overlooked other newsworthy or higher priority items in the Pope’s address—economic justice, the environment, and violence in the Middle East—is more legitimate, but he can’t claim that the Pope didn’t suggest that gay marriage threatens humanity. He did….
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It’s Time To Ordain Women—Again
…these were (or were not) “real” ordinations. At least some churches in the East have decided that the ordinations of women deacons were “real.” For Roman Catholics, the jury on that question is still out. I saw recently that Paulist Press, your publisher, provided an opportunity for readers to buy copies for the US Catholic bishops. Do you expect that they’ll read the book? Phyllis Zagano (PZ): I think they will. My own bishop asked for a copy, as…
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Dark Sisters Opera Aims to Humanize Sister Wives
…ats these women like they’re brainwashed, but we were hyperaware not to be east coast gay guys making fun of them. For me, one of our cast members is very religious—Anglican—and she’s the one in the story who is the true believer, and gets this traditionally beautiful aria, and when she sings about how her mother and grandmother will be with her in heaven, and it helps us see her as a person with her own theological path through things. That’s a r…
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The War on Terror is Over; Tahrir Buried It
…he Muslim Brotherhood—Muslim radicals in Egypt, as elsewhere in the Middle East, defy the clergy and claim religious authority on their own—the Mufti believes the religious activists will play a positive role in the new government, and that the days of religious violence in Egypt are over. Later I met with an old friend, one of Egypt’s leading sociologists and human rights activists, Saad Eddin Ibrahim, who had been imprisoned by Mubarak’s regime….
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The Revolujah! Will Be Performed: Reverend Billy’s Reality Joke
…t we will offend someone—not necessarily them, but someone. It’s just the least imaginative response. Of course we offend people. But sometimes the provocation gives the character enough traction to get a foot in the door. Sometimes, also, the vocabulary of the preacher and choir feels narrow, too familiar. I think Reverend Billy has to either be dangerous or in danger, be threatened or be threatening, for the character to really work. It’s hard t…
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Jesus, Carpet Bomb My Heart: An Undercover Muslim in Detroit
…what I was doing in Dearborn. She seemed skeptical. So I shared TheCall’s promotional literature, and she was stunned. This poor girl hadn’t realized she was part of any “Islamic movement in America” (in America, but not “American”). That night, I spoke to other Muslims about TheCall. They were either deeply concerned or just shrugged it off. As of Friday night, I would’ve been with the second group. At midnight, I was back in my hotel, stuffed f…
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