Religion Dispatches
…need for literary criticism or historical interpretation because the Holy Spirit of God spoke truth through the scriptures themselves. Furthermore, the Fundamentalists also held to Scottish Common Sense philosphy, a tradition that argued that facts were readily accessible to every person through common sense. To understand the Bible, all you needed to do was read it—no need to inject your own personal editorial comments. Pawlenty applies similar…
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…lected the transitional views of government and religion that characterized 17th and 18th century debates. Thus, while Americans ultimately made religious liberty a constitutional right, American society has granted religious liberty grudgingly, often opposing pluralism in terms of new religious communions or divergent voices. This led to exile and imprisonment of Baptists, hanging Quakers, shooting Mormons in Illinois in 1840s, shooting Catholics…
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…stringent teachings on contraception and pregnancy terminations. In October 1984, Ruether joined nearly 100 theologians, ethicists, politicians, and ordained persons in signing “A Catholic Statement on Pluralism and Abortion.” Sponsored by Catholics for Choice (then known as Catholics for a Free Choice), the full-page New York Times advertisement declared “a diversity of opinions regarding abortion exists among committed Catholics.” Many theologia…
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…ll religious people—but it’s one LGBT religious people cannot avoid. Queer spiritual consciousness is inherently distrustful because it has seen how rules, codes, and even the operation of conscience itself can be tools of oppression and self-repression. Of course, straight people ought to come to this realization also. But religious queer people have to. Yet once we have had our moments, done the work, and cultivated the mistrust, what is next? I…
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…the birds and the workers) are not the expressed concerns of a purportedly spiritual corporation. Even if one can justify low paid but spiritually sound employment as a fast food clerk, it is disconcerting that companies like Hobby Lobby are not called upon to explain their reliance on cheap goods and labor. Exploitative working conditions, even if ones tucked out of sight in overseas factories, can’t be justified by religious rhetoric. Bethany Mo…
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…st Christian thinkers as a distraction from the more important life of the spirit. Saints no less than Augustine and Aquinas were clear that sex existed for procreation, with companionship (begrudgingly) as a secondary purpose. Following Jesus’ own path of virginity, however, was seen as the best life of all. Even when Protestant reformers emptied monasteries and convents, what they celebrated about marriage were friendship, parenthood, and sexual…
Read More…ospel, then it will have to expose and ultimately expel the ‘new and alien spirits’ that have weakened its authentic voice,” argued Arida. “Among these spirits are Biblical fundamentalism and the inability to critique and build upon the writings and vision” of the theologians and “fathers” of early Christianity. Arida’s essay sparked fierce debate. Among the critics was the Brotherhood of the Orthodox Clergy Association of Houston, Texas, which de…
Read More…ficial state letterhead as follows: “My response to your letter of February 19, 1976, is—kiss my ass.” Baxley’s response falls right in line with Sikh traditions. Sikhs of the 18th century banded together to resist bigots who terrorized and oppressed minority communities. Because Sikhs staunchly insisted on standing up against injustice and inequalities, the rulers of the day focused on persecuting Sikhs such that their numbers dwindled into the l…
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…nity in Tennessee. There Ina May helped to start a midwifery center, and in 1977 wrote Spiritual Midwifery, for which she became well known. In her way, Ina May and her midwifery colleagues from The Farm were, like the BWHC, trying to reclaim women’s health for women. Like the BWHC, Gaskin continues to call for greater involvement of women in maternity health policy and standards of care. Yet the differences between The Farm and the Boston Women’s…
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…oportion of young Jews—between one-quarter and one-third of Jews born after 1965—who identify as having no religion. But this is not the same as not having any commitments that we might instinctively classify as “religious beliefs.” Almost 20% of Jews who do not identify as religious claim to “believe in God or universal spirit” with absolute certainty, and when one adds in the proportion of interviewees who believe with less certainty, we have th…
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