Religion Dispatches
…ove every four years, that they could not and should not belong to any one city or nation. He called them “ambulatory” Games. And it was their very quality as a “moveable feast” that first generated the idea of the Olympic flame. It is a potent symbol, indeed, by far the most popular and recognizable ritual moment in all of the Games. Seven priestesses are appointed in Greece for each modern Olympiad. They gather in the heart of the excavated sanc…
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…eing the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, New York City is, of course, one of the country’s most LGBTQ-friendly urban centers. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has bullied states governed by Democrats and played politics with the federal distribution of medical equipment needed to protect healthcare workers and treat coronavirus patients. Under the circumstances, already-valid mistrust of Samaritan’s Purse is amplified, an…
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…f America, was invited to address the Friends of Gandhi Dinner in New York City on the occasion of the Mahatma’s Sixty-second birthday. Rabbi Wise, who had long admired Gandhi, took issue with his assertion that Jews were entitled to settle in Palestine “provided it is done without the help of bayonets belonging either to Britain or the Jews.” Rabbi Wise’s retort, though couched in respectful terms, is quite forceful: “Gandhi is so hospitable to t…
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…me down,” he said, explaining that he planned to take the birds out of the city and ritually sacrifice them in his religious tradition, releasing the powerful life force he believed was contained within their blood. He would then eat them. Within the borders of the United States, most of the remnants of animal sacrifice that once infused the world’s religions have fallen away. In 1987, the Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye in Florida’s Dade County banne…
Read More…ric openness could be rediscovered, for its outlines still survive in this city. Most all its churches and synagogues still stand. And so I went back—the last thing I did with my free time. On Wednesday morning, after I woke up and showered, I went to Gazi Husrev Beg, climbed onto the patio and prayed. Behind me I could hear ablution fountains splashing, the sounds of a city waking up, a madrasa student practicing his lessons; and I didn’t want to…
Read More…eir religion, when it was on those grounds that they were attacked? A tiny city, Sarajevo has endless cemeteries squeezed into every available space, one of them inside a stadiums for when no space could be found for the bodies, bringing to mind a ghoulishly overstuffed apartment. The city endured, but not infrequently reveals its hideous gashes and mutilations, buildings burned and mosques trashed, houses gutted and streets pockmarked. Folks I ta…
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…l place known for its arts scene. Recently, Bothwell and a majority of the City Council appeared in support of a resolution that would give full legal equality to Asheville’s LGBT population. The gathering, hosted by People of Faith for Just Relationships, involved religious leaders from a variety of traditions. In the resolution, introduced in January, the Council notes that Asheville has a concentration of same-sex couples more than three times…
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…pastors who have formed the Unceasing Prayer Initiative to ensure that the city is prayed for around the clock. At the Texas Alliance for Life’s Rally for Life in January, where Gov. Perry was the keynote speaker, it was Kent who gave the benediction at the request of the group’s executive director Joe Pojman (who did not respond to interview requests). Had an Abortion? You’re Not a Second-Class Follower of Jesus I recently met Kent and his wife,…
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…, is one of the city’s annual highlights, it’s counterpart in Jerusalem, a city sacred to Jews, Muslims and Christians, is always smaller and more controversial. Jerusalem’s pride parade was the target of violence in 2015, ultra-Orthodox extremist Yishai Shlissel stabbed to death 16-year-old Shira Banki and injured five others. DW reported that hundreds of security personnel were deployed to protect an estimated 10,000 marchers, and says that a do…
Read More…rator told him it was not allowed. In the ensuing controversy the New York City Board of Rabbis issued a statement against the hospital policy. So did the New York Protestant Council. The Diocese of New York fought to keep the policy as it was. After a 4 month fight, the Board of Hospitals agreed to change the policy, meaning that birth control would be allowed in the public hospitals of New York City. There were many fights like that. But in this…
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