Religion Dispatches
…m and his son Isma’il: as the place of worship to only one God. And 2) the site of an ancient meteorite, now called the black stone. This natural occurrence was itself sacred and then enhanced by years of continual reverence. It used to be the corner stone of the actual structure which was destroyed several times due to the unusual but occasional torrential rains in the desert. The pre-Islamic Arabs maintained the Kaaba as a sacred place even as t…
Read More…en who were charged with “offending public morals” for eating on their job site during Ramadan. By declining to hear an appeal, the US Supreme Court effectively upheld a ban on religious Christmas carols in a New Jersey school district. In Germany, a group of Catholics want to take the Santa out of Christmas. They want to replace the consumerist Claus with the selfless St. Nicholas. Druidry is now recognized as a religion by Great Britain. That on…
Read More…m I so excited by it)? Let me count the ways: It’s true. Check the Holland site for the citations, which are difficult to refute. Lou Engle has horrible politics. Brownback should have his judgment questioned for hanging around with him. More to the point, whether you like it or not, hanging a bigoted person around your opponent’s neck is an accepted and efficient political tactic. Fred Phelps has even more horrible politics. More to the point, he…
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…n the incident to charge that Wal-Mart had purged “Christmas” from its web site, which he called “discrimination” practiced by “cultural fascists.” He called for a boycott of Wal-Mart in mid-November of 2005, just as the holiday season was starting. Wal-Mart quickly apologized and fired the offending employee, but with charges that major corporations were plotting to eradicate the holiday the “War on Christmas” went mainstream. That same year, Fox…
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…omes for change. The mass and the eucharist simply don’t make sense as the site for holding a boycott. It runs the risk of directing one’s protest against the church’s sacraments, rather than against the human beings who mishandle them. More urgently (and less theologically), however, is what some people’s leaving means for those of us who stay. Ex- or lapsed Catholics are everywhere, often well-meaning and progressive. But where does their absenc…
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…ll-and-response of tweeted and retweeted updates from Chilean officials, onsite reporters, and friends and family members of the miners; along with prayers and encouragements from the millions watching the rescue. In addition, hundreds of Facebook groups sprung up as global digital sanctuaries for prayer and celebration throughout the day. The relics the miners brought up with them (sealed in “Fénix 2,” the high-tech sarcophagus in which they surf…
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…ols operate with surprising inefficiency, with students scoring the lowest numbers in Europe despite having four times as many teachers as Europe’s highest ranked system, in Finland. There are there separate government owned defense corporations. As for Greek health care, it is unclear whether waste or outright theft by state employees is the greater drain on a hopelessly overburdened system. And then there are the pensions: all men who work in p…
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…e been on a cross-country journey for the past several weeks, in which I visited with the Westboro Baptist Church clan in Topeka, Kansas, and attended Ted Haggard’s comeback church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In addition, I’ve talked to many many people along the way about their faith and religion. Most recently, I drove to Slab City, which is a forsaken piece of land out in the Colorado Desert near California’s Mexican border. People here say…
Read More…agreement with what we are doing. I may ask for your church’s name, phone number, and Web site to verify your stand. What I see as the sin at the heart of Grizzard and Jones’ actions—as well as at the heart of anyone who seeks to violently control the free will or belief of others—is lust. These men lust for control; and in their lust they objectify others, people they call “heretics” or “sinners.” Lust, in and of itself, is not a bad thing—not s…
Read More…in the dessert, coincidentally right there in Makkah so we can visit this site on our pilgrimage. Of course it wasn’t Makkah yet, but that’s another story. Now, here’s my favorite part. Hajar asks her baby daddy, well what will we do out here in the desert? And he looks and away, “God will provide.” Well thank you very much, old man—that’s just what I will do then, rely on God. So he walks off and leaves them; leaves a woman and her child, his ch…
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