Religion Dispatches
…f course, the questions Huffington and the DNC raise are not new. In 2007, Boston Globe columnist Joan Vennochi scrutinized “Romney’s Honesty Problem” on abortion, and John McCain’s presidential campaign developed an anti-Romney ad strikingly similar to the DNC’s. But this time around, as attention continues to consolidate on Romney as once-and-future frontrunner, it seems clear that the honesty meme is going to stick. It may in fact be the issue…
Read More…of a real estate transaction because of their sexual orientation. Via the Boston Globe: Coakley’s office weighed in on a case pending in Worcester Superior Court in which a married gay couple, James Fairbanks and Alain Beret, contend that the diocese refused to sell them a historic mansion in Northbridge, which had been used for years by a church-affiliated nonprofit retreat center, because the couple might host same-sex weddings there. Fairbanks…
Read More…evelopers of approved projects the sales tax paid by visitors on admission tickets, food, gift sales and lodging costs. Developers have 10 years to reach the 25 percent threshold. Rob Boston, a spokesman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, says there are concerns over the project, but it’s too early to tell whether the proposed business incentives would be unconstitutional in that it would involve excessive entanglement with r…
Read More
…ing the Ark itself. As biblical archaeology watchdog Eric Cline wrote in a Boston Globe editorial in 2007, “When most archeologists and biblical scholars hear that someone has (yet again) discovered Noah’s Ark, they roll their eyes and get on with their business.” Finding evidence for an ancient flood is certainly possible. But the second misconception here is that Ballard’s evidence is anything new. Read closer and you’ll find that Ballard’s theo…
Read More
…Fuller Theological Seminary, and Nancy Ammerman, professor of sociology at Boston University, critiquing assumptions about “brainwashing,” with statements from an anti-cultist with no advanced degrees in the relevant fields of religious studies, psychology, or sociology. Joe Szimhart, a former deprogrammer, now an “exit counselor” and “a cult information specialist for more than 25 years,” was quoted as an authority on “brainwashing.” On April 17,…
Read More
…ogies.” Interestingly, back in February, Equinox Fitness unveiled an ad in Boston depicting rather scantily clad nuns. Unlike Playboy, Equinox did not back down despite the outcry of the Catholic hierarchy in the United States. They stated, “The ads capture the energy and artistry of the well-conditioned body in a thought-provoking fashion, blending fantasy and impact.” Indeed, both of these instances highlight the defamation of women in media, fr…
Read More
…gger and stronger than in America. So the conservatives are relying on the numbers of African leaders; they start fighting mainline church leadership using Africans to win the American battle, and come across as though they care about Africa. Do these renewal church conservatives in America actually care about Africa? They have some explaining to do: here conservatives came to fame because one of the governments, in a broadcast program, accused ma…
Read More…ork on scripture memory? There’s an app for that. You can even use your iPhone to tweet the latest execution news, like the Utah Attorney General. But for others the internet is a place for anti-religious rage. Over at the Huffington Post, they have debuted a new discussion between religion and science and the American Association for the Advancement of Science continues to seek dialogue between science and religion. University of Colorado psyc…
Read More
…immigrants brought a Catholicism that ties the city with New York City and Boston as per capita the most Catholic in the country; how the Great Migration of African Americans brought new faith traditions; how it became home to one of the largest urban Jewish communities; and how Hindus, Muslims, and Buddhists have added to the region’s spiritual diversity. Something else cuts across denominational lines, however, because faith takes on a certain e…
Read More
…and HIV as twinned issues in, for example, your 2010 book Names, Not Just Numbers: Facing Global Aids and World Hunger. I have to admit I love the title and its humane thrust. What do you see as the core reasons these issues are related? I already touched on this in response to an earlier question, when I sought to demonstrate the link between hunger and HIV. Let me expand my comments a bit. People who are HIV positive and who lack appropriate tr…
Read More