Religion Dispatches
…e religious right. While opponents to Prop. 8 have filled the streets of a number of cities with thousands of angry and steadfast demonstrators, religious right groups appear see the anti-same-sex marriage amendments that passed in California, Arizona, and Florida as a much-needed culture wars booster shot. With pro-gay civil rights demonstrations continue across America, pro- and anti-gay spokespersons squaring off in debates on radio and televis…
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…ist facing the bewildering array of current economic problems stick to the numbers or engage in psychological analysis? We could do worse than break down the current cast of characters based on that question and that approach. Greenspan was a number cruncher, Brooks observed, and unfortunately for him, human psychology caught up with him in the “housing bubble.” The current debate over Timothy Geithner is being conducted in similar terms. No one d…
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…s Smith’s belief in the importance of the doctrine, as well as the growing number of people initiated into the order. And though the prophet tried to stop the rumors from spreading, an increasing number of prominent figures outraged by the alleged practice were dedicated to root out the truth. Among those trying to expose the practice and its participants were Joseph’s brother, Hyrum, as well as his wife, Emma. Then, in May of 1843, in a radical r…
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…in the Czech Republic. The mathematicians seem far more surprised by these numbers than most religionists would be. The first and most obvious reason involves an important distinction that when you shift the language away from “God” or “religion” and turn to conceptions of “sacrality” or “the sacred,”’ whole new worlds of meaning and meaningful activity bubble to the surface. Lost in the debate is the large and growing number of thoughtful people…
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…ect, because people like Tonéx were interviewed on YouTube, there were thousands—tens of thousands of emails [and other responses]—can you use a curse word on Religion Dispatches? Oh, I think so. When Cadillac Kennedy did that anti-Eddie Long tape: “Dick-sucking Eddie Long! You’re wrong!” She got over a million views. So what’s coming in are a huge number of statements. Many of them are typically homophobic, “God is not mocked,” “you’re going to…
Read More…ging a restrictive law enacted by state legislators in 2013. Two-thirds of Texas’ abortion clinics would close without intervention from the Supreme Court, leaving thousands of women and their families with nowhere to turn. The other is a series of cases challenging contraceptive coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The law allows for religious organizations to opt out of providing the otherwise required coverage, but also requires that they in…
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…ze the single largest protective custody seizure in American history, when Texas law enforcement and social service workers removed more than 400 children from the Yearning for Zion ranch in El Dorado, Texas. Comparisons between Mormons and Muslims usually trade on damaging stereotypical portrayals of both groups and have led to violence against religious minorities. #VanillaISIS is hilarious, but arguably not productive if we’re invested in Ameri…
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…ead more widely, though—men were also curious about birth and generation.) Cheaply printed and soon translated from German into vernacular languages across Europe, the Rose Garden became a durable best-seller. For midwives, the Rose Garden’s images fulfilled a practical need. Midwives (and other birth attendants) sensed the position of the fetus through touch. When a fetus presented in a position other than head down, a skilled midwife could, in s…
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…ous gatherings” under “Essential Businesses and Operations.” Although some Texas county-level shelter-in-place orders do ban religious gatherings of more than ten people, when asked about the issue, Texas Governor Greg Abbott asserted religious gatherings are exempt due to “freedom of religion.” While his rhetoric is more in line with the talking points the Christian Right has used to advance a theocratic agenda in recent years, both Whitmer and A…
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…e than a decade of obscurity in which the alias used in a challenge to the Texas law that banned most abortions became synonymous with women’s empowerment, McCorvey became an avatar of the abortion rights movement as it ascended to cultural and political power in the late 1980s. The movement had struggled to find cohesion in the 1970s, but exploded in the wake of Ronald Reagan’s election and the reality that Roe might be overturned by efforts to p…
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