Religion Dispatches
…Many a Romantic artist has said the same: the self must clear out for the spirit of creativity to enter. Loss of self is perceived as fulfillment of self. Now enter the lover in love, long venerated by poets and rhapsodes of all stripes, starting with the lyrical Lesbian, Sappho herself. The lover who tries to leave reason in control, she warns, does not follow her god to the end. It is the very chaos of love, the swirl of love, that may link our…
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…nt to get to some core non-physical identity, some materially transcendent spirit, some individuality that is more about the myth of modern individualism than about anything religious. Therein they miss the (religious) point. And this is where I will go on record to suggest that Darren Aronofsky is one of the greatest living religious filmmakers. I confess, I’ve been a fan since his first feature length film, π (alternatively titled: Pi: Faith in…
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…008, it is Catholic Does Not Equal the Vatican. You bet it doesn’t. In just 142 pages, six chapters, with not a wasted word, Ruether lays out once again her critique of ecclesial patriarchy as life-denying and institution-killing. “When I open her books,” writes Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, president of the Chicago Theological Seminary, in the foreword to the new book, “a force of mind and heart comes out that simply will not submit to patriarchy….
Read More…expect much from u because u have within you the Fathers supreme gift: the Spirit of Jesus – BXVI. Now, as the Synod of Bishops meets in Rome, one person suggested Pope Benedict enter the blogoshere. Agnes Lam, president of the Catholic Biblical Association of Hong Kong and one of the few women permitted to attend this meeting, recommended that Benedict start a blog to explain the word of God. She asked ”the Holy Father to open a multi-language bl…
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…d than simply a royalty check and a green-light from Showtime. “I feel the Spirit with me if I’m really disciplined,” Moore said. “When I was writing the book, I tapped into that, and I’ve definitely felt Him with me as I write this Showtime series. I’ve learned to be very respectful and humble and let these characters tell their stories through me.” If Moore’s spiritual passion enlivens his storytelling, then the narrative forms that have captiva…
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…ly dismantled some of the speakers’ Leave it to Beaver idealizations of the 1950s as a time when women were universally protected). Though only just under 3,000 women have actually signed the document since its unveiling on October 11, the fact that it exists, and the campaign to gather such a large showing of public support, reveals something important about this movement: that its followers don’t view themselves simply as a remnant of polite, ch…
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…ounding of World AIDS Day. The illness that was both unknown and unnamed in 1981 has since been labeled “wrath of God” syndrome, gay-related immune deficiency syndrome, and, eventually, acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Today, more than fifty percent of those with AIDS globally are women, and the syndrome is the leading cause of death among African American women between 25 and 34. Now, in 2008, nearly fifty percent of new US diagnoses of HIV o…
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…nding of “World AIDS Day.” The illness that was both unknown and unnamed in 1981 has since been labeled “wrath of God” syndrome, gay-related immune deficiency syndrome, and, eventually, acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Today, more than fifty percent of those with AIDS globally are women; and the syndrome is the leading cause of death among African American women between 25 and 34. Now, in 2008, nearly fifty percent of new U.S. diagnoses of HIV…
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…ero. In monasteries and convents and among the ranks of shamans, sages and spiritual warriors, gay men and women are disproportionately represented not only because those social locations have traditionally existed outside of hetero-normative institutions but also because undertaking the hero’s quest is their metabiological function. To put the matter differently: The birthing of new forms of culture at key junctures in human history is an express…
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…dimensional mask, while they were invited to reenact select events from the 1993 violence at the Waco compound that ended the lives of more than 70 people. According to the Eddo Stern’s Web site, gamers “enter the mind and form of a resurrected David Koresh,” and enter the game’s network “as a Koresh [who] must defend the Branch Davidian compound against internal intrigue, skeptical civilians, rival Koresh, and the inexorable advance of government…
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