Search for "Best Deals 1800-299-7264 "

Church and State in Mexico: A Political Party Wavers on Women’s Rights

By Ruth Samuelson

…voting for whatever party,” says Cuevas Ortiz. If the PRI indeed cut some deals, they served the party well. In the midst of Mexico’s anti-abortion drive in 2009, six states—five of which now possess abortion-related constitutional reforms—held governor elections. PRI politicians won five posts, pushing out the PAN in three states. Beyond backroom dealings, Mexican politicians know which public maneuvers will draw the Church’s good graces. Before…

Make Aeronautic Jobs, Not Jihad

By Haroon Moghul

…od news. Boeing, the US’s largest airplane manufacturer, has won two jumbo deals involving the Muslim world. Both will help them compete with European Airbus while sustaining or creating thousands of American jobs—up to an estimated 127,000. That’s Muslim money buying American goods, creating American jobs. That’s us benefiting from growth in the Gulf and Southeast Asia. That’s the world growing together. The Muslim world’s democratic convulsions—…

Romney Baffled by Own Party

By Sarah Posner

…Jim Heath asked Romney, “Blunt-Rubio is being debated later this week that deals with allowing employers to ban providing female contraception,” to which Romney provided the above answer. Then a Romney campaign spokesman told TPM, “Regarding the Blunt bill, the way the question was asked was confusing. Governor Romney supports the Blunt Bill because he believes in a conscience exemption in health care for religious institutions and people of faith…

Scope Bacon, Twttr Hoaxes & Joel Osteen’s Big Reveal

By Deborah Whitehead

…20th century. Tribble apparently feels that Osteen has, with his stack of bestselling books, television appearances, Lakewood congregation of 45,000, and audience of millions worldwide, become “more famous than Jesus,” to paraphrase John Lennon’s infamous 1966 quote about the Beatles. Tribble doesn’t really believe that Osteen will listen to him, but he hopes that others will question Osteen and his “Christianity-lite” message (something that Ost…

An Independence Day Sermonette

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…d has given up America—remember the first chapter of Romans? About how God deals with idolaters who worship material things? And then there’s Matthew 5:3-11: those who are blessed are poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, those who are merciful, those who are pure in heart, those who are peacemakers and those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. Just to remind the “God Bless Ame…

Still Captivated by Southern Gospel

By Douglas Harrison

…had written? Which one? Louis Menand’s The Metaphysical Club. He tells the best scholarly stories without relinquishing any of the depth or nuance. What’s your next book? It’s another Southern gospel book, this time built around original research data generated by an ethnographic survey I conducted in the research phase of the first book project. Right now, it’s titled The Gospel Sensibility: Faith, Fallibility and Feeling in American Sacred Song…

Something So Broken: What’s Frightening About Beasts of the Southern Wild

By Michael Pasquier

…ing its limited U.S. release last month it went on to win the Caméra d’Or (best first film) at the Cannes Film Festival. Most critics have gone out of their way to lavishly praise Beasts, with one writing that its “passionate and unruly explosion of Americana” that “reminds us not just of the unlimited possibilities of outside cinema, but of something true and intrinsic within ourselves.” Others have withheld such adulation citing the film’s “scre…

Mitt’s Jesus, Barack’s Jesus, and Why Christ’s Color Matters

By Joanna Brooks

…Baptist(R) I was particularly interested in the section of your book that deals with the Depression era and portrayals of Jesus. Thinking about the current U.S. economic situation, I wonder if the different portrayals of a radicalized Jesus also have a class component to them as well? And as an aside, If Jesus was portrayed by President Obama and Governor Romney respectively, what do each of you think their artistic version of Jesus would look li…

Queer Suicide and the Malpractice of “Love”

By Cody J. Sanders

…her practitioners of love awake at night wondering if their practices are “best practices.” Ministerial Malpractice As I said in a Religion Dispatches article after the spate of highly publicized bullying-related gay teen suicides back in 2010, anti-gay bullying is a theological issue. But, to be clear, queer suicide is more than a theological “issue.” It is an indicator of rampant ministerial malpractice. Of the three classic “professions” (law,…

American Buddhism: Beyond the Search for Inner Peace

By Joshua Eaton

…hat there is support for social engagement in “Buddhist doctrine, ethical ideals, archetypes, legends, and historical precedents.” Which of those do you find most inspiring for your own social justice work? In terms of doctrine, I would start with the Buddha’s tenet that suffering originates from the three unwholesome roots: greed, hatred, and delusion. Classical Buddhism regards these “defilements” as embedded in individual minds and thus primari…