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Elephant Orphans and Ecological Spiritualities: An Earth Day Reflection

By Jacob J. Erickson

…other side. Cameras begin to click, small gasps and “awws” begin to rumble, and, from the crowd’s sudden muttering and questions, it becomes very clear to me that I have stumbled half hazardly across a kind of spiritual pilgrimage site. We stand near a suburb of Nairobi known simply as “Karen,” named for the Danish immigrant who once had a farm here early in the 20th century. Most people in the U.S. know its namesake Karen Blixen in the guise of…

None Means None (Not Atheist, Agnostic, Unbeliever…)

By Elizabeth Drescher

…ionship between belief and affiliation in the U.S. and across the globe. Or, maybe, reflection on how patterns of existential belief are changing within and beyond institutional religions. Yet Winston’s go-to source for context on the Pew studies is a University of Tampa sociologist, Ryan Cragun, whose quite respectable academic oeuvre focuses primarily on atheists and the otherwise nonreligious. (And Mormons. Go figure.) It certainly seems that C…

Hell, in Rob Bell’s Own Words: State of Belief Radio

By The Editors

…, a lot of people simply haven’t heard. So that’s probably where it started, a number of years ago. [WG]: This is going to sound like a flip question and it’s not a flip question; but Rob, why do we have to have hell? I mean there are people who seem to resent the fact that there would even be an opportunity for some people to enjoy whatever is we call heaven. It’s like they resent that. [RB]: Right, right. It’s very interesting. There is this fas…

Pussy Riot Members Sentenced to 2 Years for Offending Russian Orthodox Church

By The Editors

…watch. Here’s how Wikipedia recounts the original incident: On February 21, 2012, as a part of a protest movement against the re-election of Vladimir Putin, four women from the group came to the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow, crossed themselves, bowed to the altar and began to perform a song. After less than one minute they were escorted outside the building by guards. The film of the performance was lat…

Marriage equality and ‘the end of Catholic Ireland’; Gambian Prez vows to slit gays’ throats; Colombian govt affirms support for marriage and adoption; global LGBT recap

By Peter Montgomery

…f LGBT organizations and human rights defenders.” The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) released its in-depth 2015 report on state-sponsored homophobia this week, accompanied by a map of world laws. We see the analysis of the legal situation in countries as one of many layers of analysis. This report provides us with a solid platform from which to understand, discuss, lobby, advocate and analyse further. W…

The End (of Religion) is Near, Scientists Say

By Louis A. Ruprecht

…te from data on religious affiliation in nine countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand and Switzerland. Turns out, every case of self-reported religious affiliation is trending downward: 40% self-identify as religiously non-affiliated in the Netherlands, as do 60% in the Czech Republic. The mathematicians seem far more surprised by these numbers than most religionists would be. The first and…

Our Lady of Good Hope and Excellent Behavior: Why this Apparition and Why Now?

By Lisa Bitel

…an vision-hunter and MacArthur-winning anthropologist, William A. Christian, Jr., calls the “tip of the iceberg”. For every blessed sandwich, there are a hundred more visions and locutions that no one sees or hears about, except for the lucky recipient. The rash of apparitions has been astonishing to academics, journalists, and Catholic leaders alike. Professors of Religion talk about “re-enchantment” and cite the parallel expansion of charismatic…

Cruz and the Evangelical Illusion

By Sarah Posner

…llion; his campaign spokesman, Rick Tyler, has cited 30 million. Either way, the numbers don’t add up.) Back in March, Politifact rated this statement “mostly false,” and it’s been roundly criticized even in conservative media. Meant to trigger guilt and fear (the nation’s very survival is in your hands), the tactic is also crafted to elevate Cruz’s standing: you stayed home in 2012, but in 2016 there’s a “true” conservative to vote for, a “true”…

Creeping Shari’ah… Ahem, Excuse Me… Biblical Law

By Julie Ingersoll

…tes in these facilitates choose the faith based programs over other options, it’s not, as proponents like to argue, fair to say that they choose to be there. Opponents of the plans argue that inmates in faith based programs enjoy a number of perks and better facilities than other inmates. But whatever the case, Scott’s plan would turn more of the state’s obligation to run the criminal justice system over to religious organizations. According to th…

Record Numbers Voted for More Death and More Racism; Can We Really Just Come Together as a Nation?

By Peter Laarman

…ual, that everyone counts, and that we have a responsibility to create more, not less, opportunity for all of our neighbors to flourish in safety. They have seceded from civil society. We who believe that everyone belongs didn’t seek this war, but we now have little choice but to fight and win it. Joe Biden has no interest in fighting, and he certainly won’t lead in this one. Joe Biden wants to be a healer, even with all the knives circling his th…