Religion Dispatches
…y in linear consequences is just fine—because the consequences are not the central point. The change in hearts and minds is. If this is true, we may not be able to measure the effectiveness of #Occupy for years, and causal proof (i.e. linear proof) will be hard to come by. As I’ve disclosed in my previous writings on Occupy Wall Street, I am personally quite skeptical of such change. I think #Occupy is too anti-linear for its own good, and that it…
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…in 100 years.” It isn’t a stretch to say that his invocation of “truth” is code for conservative Christian dogma; his real problem with Harvard—and academia in general—is that its scholars do not defer to such dogma. But there’s no need to stretch as Santorum explicitly linked higher education to the work of Satan in a 2008 speech (which has recently gone viral) at Florida’s Ave Maria University. The intimate connection between these views and his…
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…olics in Alliance for the Common Good and Faithful America, Perriello beat Republican incumbent Virgil Goode in 2008, but is now virtually tied in the polls with his Republican challenger Robert Hurt. The ad, which FRC considers “one of the most humorous” of this election cycle, uses fat cat men in suits as a metaphor for government — on your back, slowing you down, hampering your progress in life. It declares that “Perriello caved” by voting for…
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…mes below the dividing line stand for fictional characters. The same color code was applied to match an author to his/her fictional creation.) First, what this diagram shows is a continuum of diminishing intensity of God-hatred from left to center: from rage, to hatred, to anger, to resentment. And, as we can see, as the intensity of hatred for the “real” God diminishes, it enters a phase where it can coexist with the diminished hatred for a God…
Read More…ent book and a new piece at AlterNet, places a very strong emphasis on the central role of Rushdoony’s thinking in the intellectual foundations of the tea party movement. The New Yorker piece focuses primarily on the roots of Bachmann’s views on homeschooling and on her recent gaffes (at least strategic gaffes) with regard to the issue of slavery. It’s often difficult to trace the lineage of the ideas presented by someone like Bachmann: there is a…
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…” theologies, and boldly touts its commitment to tolerance. Moreover, its code of ethics includes: “We commit ourselves to respecting the diversity of ecumenical, theological, ideological and personal expressions of the various faiths and traditions found in our community.” Since the aforementioned is an ongoing case that most likely contains more details than those I’ve offered, I use it only as a backdrop to illustrate the ease in which orthodo…
Read More…d houses, stores and at least one school after heavy rains in this Central African country, killing at least 70 people with some 250 still missing, officials and a survivor said Tuesday. Uganda is home to a growing evangelical Christian population. That influence has played a role in the bill before the country’s lawmakers that would require imprisonment or even execution for anyone who is gay or lesbian, or who fails to report gay or lesbian peop…
Read More…The catch here is that there’s a difference between “revenue neutral” and “free.” By one report’s measure, it costs about $21.40 to add birth control, IUDs and other contraceptives to an insurance plan. Those costs may be offset by a reduction in pregnancies. But unless drug manufacturers decide to start handing out free contraceptives, the money to buy them will have to come from somewhere. Where will it come from, since neither employers nor emp…
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I recently beheld what I believe to be confirming evidence that the 2012 general election has delivered far less religion drama than many of us expected: The CollegeHumor video “Mitt Romney Style,” a political parody of South Korean PSY’s global mega K-pop hit “Gangnam Style,” which is itself a send up of the lifestyles of Seoul’s rich and famous. “Mitt Romney Style” features a Romney impersonator obnoxiously flaunting his wealth. There are hors…
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…poor and without health coverage, that’s all about you. We wash our hands. Free markets: If you are poor, you are perfectly “free” to sleep under a bridge, in the immortal words of Anatole France. But the wealthy are totally free to suck up health care resources via tax-favored health savings accounts. And it goes without saying that the insurance companies and health providers are totally free to suck out your blood. State authority on insurance…
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