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Burning Man: Religious Event or Sheer Hedonism?

By Lee Gilmore

…f bricolage. This decadent ritualism, which can be both sincere and satirical, casts the festival as a semi-religious cultural happening. Furthermore, many participants describe Burning Man as a “spiritual” experience, but deny that it constitutes a new religious movement as such. Organizers too explicitly hope that the event will “produce positive spiritual change in the world,” even while they also stop short of characterizing the event as “rel…

Saving Teens from Obama: When Bible Study Goes Wrong

By Vyckie Garrison

…she complained. That would be the point, at least when it comes to political candidates. When a church applies for tax exemption, the institution agrees to abide by certain rules, which are intended to enforce the separation of church and state. Officially, the IRS prohibits “voter education or registration activities with evidence of bias that (a) would favor one candidate over another; (b) oppose a candidate in some manner; or (c) have the eff…

An American Muslim Abroad, Or, Things I Saw in Dubai

By Haroon Moghul

…ow your audience. This oversize sample inadvertently gives away the credit card number of some eight-five million men, most of whom live in Egypt. ⬆ Earlier on this day, I saw a South Asian gentleman crossing an eight-lane highway while drinking a cup of tea out of a white ceramic mug. He took his time, pausing between lanes to let cars whiz by (at roughly 70 miles per hour) and took measured sips to pass the time, enjoying his hot and fresh caf…

Religious Affiliation, ‘Mankind’: India’s Anti-Corruption Activist Leads Second Freedom Struggle

By April L. Bogle

…rseas flight, and needed to reschedule our interview for that afternoon. I called the number back, convinced the opportunity was lost. “I’m here at the hotel now, but I’m booked solid this afternoon—” “Hold on, let me check with her,” the woman told me. There was a brief pause. “She says to come on up, she’ll meet with you now. It wouldn’t be fair to cancel since you’re already here.” Fair? As I was to learn, this was true Bedi behavior. I had, qu…

Penn Jillette’s Signs You May Already Be an Atheist

By Steve A. Wiggins

…itle indicates, Jillette believes atheism is more prevalent than many Americans would care to admit. This may be due to the definition of atheism he provides in the book’s preface: “If god (however you perceive him/her/it) told you to kill your child—would you do it? If your answer is no, in my booklet you’re an atheist.” He later qualifies this a bit, asserting that anyone who can’t answer a solid “Yes” to “Does god exist?” is an atheist. Religio…

The Religious Implications of Nudity

By Steve A. Wiggins

…years ago I lost a secure seminary teaching job for being too liberal. My academic career never recovered (just try to explain that to a search committee repeatedly asking, “but why were you let go?”). For five years I clutched to the lifestyle I knew by living as an adjunct instructor at four different universities. As I was pondering the religious implications of nudity, I realized that the humility of being unwanted in the world of your peers i…

What the Lost Finale is Really About

By S. Brent Rodriguez Plate

…individualism is really an illusion. I am a part of the great whole, and I can never escape. But I can deny my connections, break them, and become a fragment. Then I am wretched. Whether Locke or Shephard or Austen are saviors or demons does not matter. The hero is the community, the living together. The greatest fiction of Lost is the apocalyptic tale that we are individuals, that it is survival of the fittest. Lost then, is the antithesis of Lor…

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Men “Stand Up” for “Religious Freedom”… On a Plane

By Kara Loewentheil

…don’t want to deal with ultra-Orthodox men interfering in your travel, you can just take another airline. If only it were as easy for female employees affected by the numerous lawsuits against the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive coverage requirement to find a better job. *Correction: This post originally indicated that gender separation was due to concerns about women’s menstrual cycles. To read more about gender separation among Haredi Jews i…

What’s More Frightening Than Snakes on a Plane?

By Devin Kuhn-Choi

…through an ad in a local shop or community center. Last minute emergency? Call the airline right away to see about possibilities for accommodating your needs. Likewise, if one is ardently anti-abortion for moral reasons, rather than only focus on making it illegal, prevent it by limiting unwanted pregnancies: help ensure adequate, healthy sex education and contraception are available to those who need or want them. Work to make affordable, qualit…

The Sacred and the Dead: The Trouble with Sugar Magnolia

By Kaya Oakes

…nty of evidence that they also are cruel. The things I hated as a teenager—Catholicism, camping, sports, and the Grateful Dead—also were things that were important to the people who cared about me, including my parents, friends’ parents, and teachers. Rebellion is fun when you’re 15, but by the time you hit your thirties, rebellion in the form of mindlessly jeering at what other people love gets a bit tedious. You begin to reach for deeper things,…