Religion Dispatches
…Consider yourself lucky if this happens. It’s not as if there are not only signs everywhere, but also the sacred is manifest everywhere in every thing and at every moment. All one has to do is, like Zelda, stand still at the right place or at the right time and let it “be.” But we are too busy collecting gems, and swordfighting with demons, I guess, to notice, so wham! How nice to get that kind of slap in the face, really. Awe is the response we m…
Read More…ng other religions. Of course, the idea of wearing religious covering as a sign of respect is not new for politicians: both Laura Bush and Condoleezza Rice did it. For some reason, the Democratic establishment is having a hard time with simple courtesies, let alone dealing with religious bigotry. Rashad Hussain, special envoy to the Organization of Islamic Countries, has already been thrown to the wolves. He is prevented from doing his job because…
Read More
…write the terms on yet another scrap of paper. ‘Do they go together? Can a sign of the right realism be that it leads to this religion?’” With Whitman, with Melville, Preib feels and is drawn to “their strong conviction, a faith in their writing, a religious sense.” Indeed, he is a devotee of this religion himself; his car littered, literally, with fragments of thoughts and observations, artifacts of his commitment to “a kind of faith that lingers…
Read More
…r queer. Love Won Out conferences, sponsored by Focus on the Family, are designed to reach conservative Christians in churches and political organizations who may have never considered the issue of homosexuality. Their aim is to establish referral networks between the churches and ex-gay ministries. When a young person divulges to a pastor or religious leader that she is queer, the church will immediately refer her to an ex-gay ministry and encour…
Read More…ike the Human Rights Campaign’s Clergy Call lobby event and through clergy sign-on letters and letters to the editor. Retired chaplains have been speaking out to tell the truth about DADT and to tell their own powerful stories of pastoral ministry to lesbian and gay service members who were denied the freedom to serve their country simply because of who they are.” However, as Knox and the faith leaders working with him are well aware, the fight to…
Read More
…. He marched along with a thousand men, including Nickelberry, all holding signs that said, “I Am A Man.” The night of his famous last speech, he had not been scheduled, but had arrived at the urging of his friend and confidant the Rev. Ralph Abernathy. “Like anybody, I would like to live a long life,” King said. “Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mounta…
Read More
…something here I haven’t thought about?’ And those who experienced it as a significant problem two years ago still experience it as a significant problem. A problem that to many is even exacerbated because the church wants to just do Business As Usual. I know plenty of LDS people who are in no mood to do Business As Usual. Even in the heart of institutional Mormonism, many LDS people remain conflicted, sensitive, unclear, ambivalent, and tender ab…
Read More
…the hands of the clergy, and that’s the end. I don’t mean to minimize the significance of either—for so many people, enough really is enough. It’s too painful to go back. What I’m proposing is a struggle, but a necessary one. But their significance can be exaggerated. When progressives leave their counterparts shape the Church more and more as they like it. Some have tried forming alternative Catholic communities, groups that celebrate their own…
Read More
…t this did make me think about the phenomenon of interfaith as it is being promoted these days. First of all, this is not an idea promoted by the oppressed to invite others to celebrate their faith. It is something those already in power or with privilege extend to make an opening or orchestrate a collective. This means, those who do get invitations are usually at a disadvantage. If nothing else, it could be from the mere organizational standpoint…
Read More…ing the off-season. An update on the Oklahoma atheist billboard story. The sign reads “Atheism is OK in Oklahoma.” A billboard company has answered the atheists with signs reading: “Why settle for OK? God promises MORE” and “God is more than OK in Oklahoma.” Take that. The Oklevueha Native American Church of Utah is suing to prevent state and federal authorities from arresting and prosecuting church members for peyote possession and use. Only memb…
Read More