Religion Dispatches
…us (RIP) said nothing about new ideas or worlds within. It was all about a new land, a new world defined strictly geographically. As long as the myth was vibrant, it assured Americans that they needed no sophisticated concepts. The land of the United States itself (which became, in the U.S. version of the myth, synonymous with the “America” Columbus “discovered”) would be the paradise Columbus sought. It would exude all of his mythic qualities: co…
Read More…ience of hadith collection. The Muslims who collected sayings of Muhammad knew that people were making things up and created checks and the best methodology that they could at the time to stop it. Modern scholars are revisiting the existing corpus with new tools and methods. Why a famous mosque inscription may refer not to Muhammad but, astonishingly, to Jesus. Stumped by this one. No idea what it refers to. How the oldest records referring to a…
Read More…t list states where aid in dying legislation has recently been introduced (New Mexico, Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, and Hawaii) and states where it is already legal (Oregon since 1994 and Washington since 2008) and you’re likely to conclude that dead isn’t what it used to be. And you’d be right. Dead used to mean three things: you weren’t breathing, your heart wasn’t beating, and your brain wasn’t working. But in the 1970s, respirators and de…
Read More…se people, guaranteeing to them a fraternal space in our communities.” The new version asks if the church is “capable of providing for these people, guaranteeing … them … a place of fellowship in our communities.” The first version said homosexual unions can often constitute a “precious support in the life of the partners.” The new one says gay unions often constitute “valuable support in the life of these persons.” In nearly all cases, the first…
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…diplomatic description than the simple recitation of facts. The arrival of new diplomats in Vatican City has also birthed a sort of new genre, the formal papal welcome; one that the current Pope has utilized to remind his new partners of just how un-modern, and even anti-modern, their new diplomatic home is. Modernity, after all, is characterized by this Pope as a moment of restless and breathless innovation, in contrast to his conception of the t…
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…within denominational silos and without much common issue framing. A bold new campaign aims to change that. Believe Out Loud is a sophisticated social marketing effort, anchored by a rich new Web portal and with powerful messaging lines, that was launched nationally on February 14—Valentine’s Day. The campaign will also offer on-the-ground organizing support to existing advocacy groups both inside and outside of denominational lines. Extravagant…
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…tive. He was a hopped-up, stoned version of Jon Stewart, who once told Fox News, which had charged that his news program was slanted: “but my show is on Comedy Central!” Thompson was able to awaken his readers to the absurdity of their lives by documenting the absurdity of his. To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen’s comment to Dan Quayle in their vice presidential debate: Max Blumenthal is no Hunter Thompson. Blumenthal’s Goliath is not funny, nor is it ve…
Read MoreOver at The American Prospect, I report on Focus on the Family Action’s new Rising Voice initiative, launched at the American Conservative Union’s annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington this week: CPAC’s outreach effort to millenials, the anachronistically named XPAC, featured a seminar by Focus on the Family Action’s youth initiative Rising Voice, launched this week through the religious right powerhouse’s advocacy…
Read More…re you optimistic or pessimistic? Why? I am in the studio working on a few new songs right now, and I’ll be releasing a single with two new songs this fall. I am also working on a memoir, which will be my first book, and a couple of other projects. I continually try to advocate for LGBTQ people in religion and politics. I am optimistic, and I do believe the world is evolving faster than ever on LGBTQ acceptance and equality. Of course there are st…
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…hed a campaign similar to the one now being waged by their counterparts in New Jersey. This stance by the bishops goes against the tradition of American Catholicism and suggests that Catholics should decide their positions on social issues based on their political alliances and not their core principles. While conservative Catholic leaders have bemoaned “cafeteria” approaches to Catholicism, they are now prime examples of this behavior. *This line…
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