Religion Dispatches
…never be discovered embezzling money, enjoying kinky sex, or (The Da Vinci Code notwithstanding) fathering surprise children. It’s not necessary to label something a “cult” to understand the potential peril involved in looking to a living guru. However honest and virtuous that guru might be, she—like the rest of us—is susceptible to tripping and falling right up until the day she dies. What makes some folks willing and able to trust in a charismat…
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…lding, and the need was soon felt in official and certain legal circles to promote the military jihad as a religiously meritorious activity. This is precisely what happened during the expansion of the Islamic empire after the death of Muhammad during the late seventh and eighth centuries of the Common Era. Certain hawkish scholars, starting already in the late seventh century, framed Realpolitik concerns focused on security and territorial expansi…
Read More…are the correct ones. Think about the term “jihad.” It’s one of the most abused and misused terms of its kind. The vast majority of the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims understand the concept in a non-violent way; it’s a struggle, they say, to live a pious life in the face of challenges. Writes Asma Afsaruddin here in RD: If we put on our historical glasses, a considerably different picture emerges. The earliest connotations of jihad had to do with pat…
Read More…tween the lines here: Monk is, quite literally, the best example of discrimination against Christians in the military that the Liberty Institute could find. He was chosen not so much because his case is strong, but because he was willing. So it’s quite possible that they’re unwilling to let Monk’s case go because he’s all they have….
Read More…; on the ideological level, the CIA shifts from an agency that might be accused of betraying national values to one for which we should be thankful. Ryan’s subsequent protection of Cathy and Wall Street reinforces the point. Perhaps because Jack Ryan seems almost unworthy of comment, reviewers have almost entirely failed to remark on its political messaging, except to note it as a part of a spate of conservative winter films. This oversight may be…
Read More…e subject of an investigation about whether he violated his town council’s code of conduct, which includes a clause saying that councilors must treat other people with respect. In the U.S. meanwhile, a congressional candidate who blamed gays for tornadoes and autism won the primary and will be the Republican challenger to Rep. Jan Schakowsky. Taiwan: Church-Sponsored ‘Happy Family’ Rally Draws Pro-Equality Protesters, Including Buddhist Nuns On Su…
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…legislation also proposed to amend the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms in order to enshrine the “equality of men and women” as the highest human right to which other rights (such as freedom of religious expression) would be subordinated. From the initial indications from the government concerning this legislative initiative, in May 2013, through a noisy publicity campaign launched in September, to televised public hearings over the w…
Read More…rd “Easter” takes its name from a Germanic goddess. (The Romance languages use some form of the Latin “Pascha,” which is derived from the Hebrew “Pesach” meaning “Passover.”) It’s also true that Pagan fertility customs used in vernal equinox celebrations (eggs and rabbits) were incorporated into Easter festivities. But Christians are hardly ignorant of this history. As early as the Protestant Reformation there were debates about purging Pagan ele…
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…of St. Monica’s morning Masses, whose more somber style turns out to be a better fit anyway. “Even if you’re completely over it and with somebody else, it’s not conducive to quiet prayer,” Sarah says. In this sense, dating through church might be riskier for the more devout. Of course, as Cynthia Kron, who runs the L.A.-based singles ministry Catholics Click, points out: this is the very group that cares most about dating fellow Catholics. One wo…
Read More…people, and particularly the apology he offered while in Bolivia for the abuses that took place during the so-called conquest of the Americas. A letter from activist Suzan Harjo called it “incomprehensible” that Francis could make that apology and then confer sainthood on “a leading perpetrator of those very crimes.” “There is a yawning disconnect between what Pope Francis says about defending the poor and what he is actually doing to Indians in t…
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