Religion Dispatches
…December 20, 2005, that Judge John E. Jones III issued his ruling in Kitzmiller v. Dover that intelligent design was not science, but merely repackaged creationism—and that it had no business in biology class. The hoopla was immediate and enduring. Jones’ decision launched headlines across the globe, not to mention celebrations by the trial’s plaintiffs, their legal team and science experts (who send “Merry Kitzmas” greetings to each other on the…
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…While the Washington gathering saluted the nomination of Sarah Palin, extolled the virtues of opposing abortion, same-sex marriage and embryonic stem-cell research, David Gushee, a Mercer University professor and Baptist preacher, was helping lead a discussion amongst some 200 U.S. religious, legal and political leaders about the use of torture in the war on terrorism at a conference called A National Summit on Torture: Religious Faith, Torture &…
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Josh Duggar, the oldest son of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, stars of “reality” TV and the real life conservative movement, has resigned his position as executive director of FRC Action, the political action arm of the Family Research Council, after In Touch magazine reported that he sexually abused young girls, including, apparently, his sisters, as a teenager. In a statement to People magazine, Duggar, now 27, said: Twelve years ago, as a young…
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…tenured political science professor at the evangelical stalwart Wheaton College, was placed on administrative leave this past week after donning a hijab to express solidarity with Muslims and publicly claiming that Muslims worship the “same God” as Christians. Wheaton has maintained that the decision to place Hawkins on leave has nothing to do with her wearing of the headscarf. Dr. Philip Ryken, the college’s president, said in a statement that t…
Read More… Stephen Colbert barely clings to his persona in criticizing Supreme Court Justice Scalia’s arguments in favor of the cross in the Buono v. Salazar case. Watch the clip: The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c The Word – Symbol-Minded www.colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Michael Moore Go here if you have any problem watching the video above….
Read More…testers said “the Housing Authority of New Orleans had disproportionately allowed supporters of the demolition to pack the chambers.” So now it’s not only New Orleans housing stock that will be ethnically cleansed—a slight exaggeration, but obviously the point has been ever since Katrina to get blacks, who vote overwhelmingly Democratic, out of the city. Now it’s also the democratic process that will be cleansed of those who might undermine “peace…
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…plete with lackluster PowerPoints and stultifying statistics. Yet, these dull discussions of otherwise vital and riveting topics, like same-sex marriage, the economy, and science and morality, become fascinating when viewed from the perspective of Mormon history. They portend the likely storms on the horizon of a Mormonism coming of age in an intellectually and socially challenging world. The new orthodox marriage In the 19th century, the Mormon p…
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…n of Christmas reach back to the nation’s colonial beginnings—where ironically, it was a Christian group, Puritans, that offered the discouraging words. When the Church of England broke away from Roman Catholicism in the 1500s, Calvinist reformers (those Puritans) felt that the new English church did not go far enough in removing Catholic elements. One practice the Puritans opposed was the annual December celebration of Christmas, which they saw a…
Read More…ioned by Bishop Curry: “If humanity ever captures the energy of love, it will be the second time in history that we have discovered fire.” In fact, a movement has been underway to resurrect, as it were, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin as a renewed foundation for theological reflection. According to a November report in America magazine, Pope Francis is already considering removing the “warning” attached to Teilhard’s historical writings, and more recen…
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…ut the assumption surfaces again when cases of Jew-hatred arise—and especially in the weaponizing of accusations of antisemitism. In a piercing essay on the categorical confusion surrounding the term, “Away from a Definition of antisemitism,” David Engel, Maurice Greenberg Professor of Holocaust Studies at NYU, traces the way that it originated in the mid-19th century as a label for a very local and limited position among a group of anti-emancipat…
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