Religion Dispatches
…spaper reported. “I want to push up against the boundary of that. Why, because I am sadistic? No, because I want to protect innocent people,’” Pavlischek said. “In between [painful interrogations and simply being jailed] are a continuum of interrogation techniques that I believe are morally and legally permissible, that are aggressive, that are short of torture,” he said. Michael Lindsay, a Rice University sociologist and author of Faith in the Ha…
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…arlie as a demon appears only to make him more appealing. Ellis notes that use of the Ouija board has a structure similar to exorcism, in which an entity is called forth, named, questioned, and then dismissed. The Charlie Charlie challenge eschews some of these elements because the conjured entity is already identified and the game/ritual does not allow for open-ended responses. And yet the ritualistic opening and closing remain. Players emphasize…
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…lliance, also slammed the gesture, calling it “one of the most flagrant misuses of religion I have ever seen.” Witnessing the sacred word of God used to prop up and justify racism, authoritarianism, violence, and death by one of the most dangerous and unethical men on earth was profoundly disturbing on both theological and moral grounds. But what struck me as I watched, was Trump’s awkwardness with the Bible as an object. He doesn’t even know enou…
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…call attention to things—that’s part of the strategy. In other words, you use everything you can use.” There’s no question that Trump has thus far leaned heavily on executive action to advance his policy goals—which is not uncommon for presidents faced with a divided (or, in this case, deeply dysfunctional) Congress. And while Trump has signed more executive orders to date than any president since Harry Truman, the actual policy impact of those o…
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…s launched a campaign against “gender ideology,” which they said was being used to promote acceptance of homosexual relationships and the idea that “a person can voluntarily decide for themselves whether they are a man or a woman.” Among other things, the bishops charged that the World Health Organization and a European anti-domestic-violence effort were sowing sexual confusion among youth. Critics argued that church officials were using the campa…
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…tance of context, in practice its vague language and large net has been misused to target pro-Palestinian advocacy on college campuses and in legislation. For example, IHRA’s concern about criticizing Israel by a “double standard” has often been interpreted to mean that anyone who protests Israeli human rights violations without equal attention to other countries has a “double standard” and is therefore presumed guilty of antisemitism. It opens up…
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…merican people will use their right to vote to make changes in the White House and on Capitol Hill because people get the president (and congressmen) they deserve. 40 acres and a mule? Shout outs from ancestors? A new day is on the way? Walking on water? Getting crunk in the White House? Does anybody else recognize something noticeably disconnected about these electronic messages? I certainly did. In the first place there was pride, hope, exciteme…
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…et pockets, Lucas says, “These are people who reinforce the beliefs that cause LGBT people to suffer. If I’m in a place where I can love myself and teach others to love me and others like me, I have to use that opportunity to the fullest.” A little before noon, a handful of students from Central Baptist approach within a few dozen yards of the riders and take pictures of the scene with their cell phone cameras. Traffic on College Avenue begins to…
Read More…I do not care if there are gods or not.” Whether unconsciously or not, we use the term “religion” as a substitute for “theism” (belief in divinity). This is partly because Christianity, as the dominant religious system in the United States, normalizes a lot of its characteristics. Religion is not the same as “theism,” nor does it require an institutional affiliation. Often, students remark they are “spiritual” and not “religious,” because they th…
Read More…his, of course, but just predicting how it will likely play out. While the use of ex-gay therapy has been condemned and discredited by medical and psychological professional associations, it is actually quite common for conservative evangelicals to endorse and promote it. Remember, after all, that while campaigning in 2008, President Obama ran into a little trouble for campaigning with the singer Donnie McClurkin, who has claimed that “God deliver…
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