Religion Dispatches
…hem too. Over the past few days, I have been getting Facebook messages and phone calls from rank-and-file Mormons not interviewed by the Times relaying that they too have been accosted or called in by their bishops for voicing support for greater equality for women in the church, or same-sex civil marriage rights. “I’m really a nobody,” wrote one woman. “Just a stay at home mom who doesn’t particularly go out of her way to take up too much space o…
Read More…cedented attention. Mayor Mick Cornett has already received 450 emails and phone calls opposing the event. Archbishop Paul Coakley has also condemned the event and called on Catholics to protest if it moves forward. Daniels, naturally, has expressed delight that his antics are finally provoking Church officials. This newfound energy has nothing to do with Daniels and everything to do with the events of last May. An online petition features footage…
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…accusing those who pray of narcissism to believe that a god of any significance would care to listen to them, prayer is one of the primary targets of those who dismiss the religious. And while I’ve admittedly rolled my eyes at proclamations of, “Prayer works!” when people experience what looks like arbitrary good luck, a letter from slain photojournalist James Foley to his alma mater, Marquette University, on the power of prayer made me reconside…
Read More…llers invoked a tyranny of the majority, arguing that religious minorities can be ignored because Oklahoma is “The Bible Belt.” One letter suggested that the monument to Satan be allowed but that its scale must be in proportion to the percentage of Satanists living in Oklahoma. Virtually no one understood the point Greaves was trying to make—that the establishment clause was designed to prevent problems inherent in building religious monuments on…
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…re attempting to kill herself. Christensen claimed she was responding to a phone call from her husband, a pastor, who announced that the world was ending and to get the family ready. Cases such as this raise questions that have long gone unanswered about how the state should define “religion.” By what criteria should we decide whether deviant beliefs and actions are an expression of religion or evidence of a medical problem? Dr. Kolchak points out…
Read More…gicians have clientele rather than a church. The Anba Dlo festival is an index that Vodou has begun to enter the American mainstream. With resources not available to many Vodou practitioners, advocates like Glassman can demonstrate that Vodou is not merely a collection of magical practices, but a religious tradition complete with its own values and worldview….
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…ing sets him apart from fellow atheists. By recognizing the poetic and ethical value of biblical stories in a more nuanced way than those scholars who offer only perfunctory nods to the Bible’s poetry, Maguire’s book offers a gentler welcome to atheism than its more dismissive predecessors. RD spoke with Maguire by phone about his latest book and the future of belief. What was the impetus for undertaking this after a long career as a priest and th…
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…t because, according to journalist Maury Terry, Lueken also made anonymous phone calls to reporters investigating the Son of Sam murders. She offered information connecting David Berkowitz to a Satanic cult. I’m very interested in Satanic Panic and it seems that the Baysiders had a major role in disseminating urban legends that serial killers are part of an organized network of murderous cultists. 4. What are some of the biggest misconceptions abo…
Read More…hristian Coalition: melding evangelicals with the tea party issues they’re already comfortable with, but maintaining their distinct identity as a voting bloc that pre-dates the tea party, and is courted as a separate group by Republican candidates. Who does this “pro-family” opponent of “union thugs” think has the best shot at the GOP primary? Reed told the Christian Post, “I think Michele Bachman is the total package.” And Rick Perry? “I don’t se…
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…nzalez de la Vega, the Supreme Court clerk who helped Méndez bring the Oaxaca case, said. But now, with scores of amparos pending, “they are not saying anything.” Gonzalez attributes this in part to the fact that there isn’t much history of using the courts to force widespread change in Mexico, and so neither activists nor the media fully understand the scale of the change that’s underway. Méndez thinks this will change as the litigation moves fro…
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