Religion Dispatches
First, a spoiler alert of sorts: the “half” in S. Brent Plate’s latest book is us. That is, the seeking, incomplete human body. Plate, a longtime RD writer and Visiting Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Hamilton College, contends that religion is a physical activity, the spiritual experienced through our senses. And each of those five other objects—stones, incense, drums, crosses, and bread—have a sensory component. (You can read an ada…
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….3 million people whose benefits were about to expire are just some of the latest examples of the heartless approach to poverty and unemployment that characterizes contemporary policy making. Not only have millions of the long-term unemployed started the New Year with no safety net, but many of those with full-time jobs earn less than the poverty level for a family of four (18 million people in 2012 or 17.5 percent of all full-time, year-round wor…
Read More…t exclusively employed by groups oriented to aggressive action. Yet PLAL’s latest action is unusual in that it named clinic escort and activist Katie Klabusich and pro-choice journalist Robin Marty, in addition to Dr. Cheryl Chastine. Scheidler defended the decision based on the fact that these women are hardly anonymous, noting that both Klabusich and Marty write often on the subject and that they have photos associated with that work. When asked…
Read More…il the 1986 “Born Again” story arc. The introduction of Kamala Khan is the latest in the longstanding tradition of comic books diversifying their characters to better reflect and reach out to their audiences. More specifically, Ms. Marvel #1 is part of the All-New Marvel NOW!, an initiative with the explicit aim of attracting new readers, much like DC Comics’ The New 52 revamp. The last few years have seen several other notable attempts at creatin…
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…ical scientific theory, and where did it come from? Mary-Jane Rubenstein’s latest book takes up these questions and more, tracing a history of multiple-world cosmologies that highlights the philosophical, mythological, and theological precedents for today’s scientific theories. Rubenstein also demonstrates how multiverse cosmologies can be a site for “reconfiguring” the traditional boundaries between science and religion. RD spoke with Rubenstein…
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…, the Russian government officially criticized Europe for its “aggressive” promotion of homosexuality. Colombia: Pro-Gay Ad from Senator Colombian journalist, commentator, and Senator Armando Benedetti has been a supporter of civil unions. This week he posted a short campaign video featuring kissing same-sex couples, Benedetti himself emphatically stating his support for equal rights, and the text of Mexican national hero Benito Juárez’s famous li…
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…y communicating ideas to people with whom they disagree, those who hope to promote unbelief in the public square ought to find symbols and stories that express something other than all that is implied by the giant “A” of negation; they should say something more compelling than “it’s not true!” Like what? This holiday season, public atheists might do well to listen to a little Christmas music. Specifically, this instant classic by the singer-songwr…
Read MoreThe Westboro Baptist Church’s latest hijinks took them to Lincoln, Nebraska this past Sunday to protest Ke$ha’s Warrior Tour and to “[pray] for the curses of baldness, burning & stink” to fall upon the pop star (and ordained minister) who’s made no secret of being bisexual, in favor of same sex marriage, and “a huge fan of the transgender community.” But as the WBC belted out its parody of Kesha’s gay anthem “We R Who We R,” a trio of her backup…
Read More…ringing the church back to its core message. And it is working. The Pope’s latest statement, Evangelii Gaudium, is a papal exhortation designed to promote evangelism in the Catholic Church. Most media outlets are not emphasizing the evangelism element, but are paying close attention to the pope’s criticism of the current economic system as “unjust at its very root,” and the Social Darwinism that pervades our societies. Even President Obama found…
Read More…Mohler’s “world-class gifts.” This public display of affection is just the latest in a long-running and highly public friendship. Not only has Mahaney praised Mohler, he donatedover $100,000 to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Mahaney’s former “flagship” church, Covenant Life, gave an additional $15,000 to SBTS. And Mohler has been just as steadfast a friend to Mahaney, using his influence to help promote Mahaney’s work in the past with no s…
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