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Religious, Spiritual, and “None of the Above”: How Did Mindfulness Get So Big?

By Nalika Gajaweera

…such as Vivekananda, who presented yoga as an ancient wisdom tradition to help Americans cope with the stresses of western modernity. When contemporary mindfulness proponents claim that what they do is “scientific” rather than religious or cultural, they are tapping into a complex history of colonial encounters and adaptive appropriation that goes back at least 150 years. Moreover, while the adaptability of the Dharma to the needs of practitioner…

Post-Paris Reflections: We May Have to Learn to Hope

By Donna Schaper

…c participation of the Global South. Third and Fourth World countries want help “leapfrogging” over the industrial cycle of fossil fuel oriented economies. They are talking about getting more women involved. They talk about biomimicry, permaculture. They stress “resilience,” “regenerativity.” These used to be the kind of words hippies threw around. Now you can hear whole international panels on each subject. We heard a Zambian woman interpret Rach…

How the Religious Left, or Whatever It’s Called, Failed at the Budget Big Game

By Sarah Posner

…while 34 percent said they would hurt. In the poll released Tuesday, those numbers had substantially changed. Today, 26 percent said the cuts would help while just 27 percent said they would hurt. We’ve gone from a 2-to-1 plurality acknowledging that cuts would hurt to an even split on the question. These numbers, and the widening confusion they reflect, will come back to haunt the Democrats if and when they next propose a jobs program to help the…

Be Prepared: Preachers’ Daughters, Episode Eight

By Sarah Morice-Brubaker

…resources specifically for faith communities. 3. Really investigate what help is available in your area—both its presence and its quality. Getting the names and numbers for referrals is a good first step, but you can do much more than that. Which counselors in the area can be trusted not to blame a victim for his or her own abuse? Which social workers and police officers are most responsive to domestic violence reports? Which therapists have sli…

God in the Inauguration: JFK, Bush, and Obama

By Jerome E. Copulsky

…to the religious dimension of the president’s inaugural address itself. A helpful place to begin is with sociologist Robert Bellah’s classic essay “Civil Religion in America.” First published in 1967, “Civil Religion” contended that “there actually exists alongside of and rather clearly differentiated from the churches an elaborate and well-institutionalized civil religion in America” which lends a dimension of transcendence to public life. By me…

Gays in Great Danger in Iraq

By Bill Berkowitz

…raised will also help provide LGBTs under threat of killing with refuge in the safer parts of Iraq (including safe houses, food, electricity, medical help) and assist efforts help them seek refuge in neighboring countries.”…

Catholic Bishops Meeting For Family Synod; South Africa’s Dutch Reformed Church OKs Gay Weddings, Ordination; Court in Malaysia Deals Setback To Transgender Advocates; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…propriate sexual tendencies are sent to reflect.” “It’s a place where they help you to rediscover the straight and narrow. They wanted to ‘cure’ me but I refused to go.” Following Bonfanti’s allegations, the head of Venturini, Father Gianluigi Pasto, told Italian reporters: “I can only say that here we help the priests become healthy”. On Tuesday, Vatican spokesperson Father Thomas Rosica said there is a need for new, non-exclusionary language, sa…

A President “Anointed By God”: POTUS Shield and Religious Right’s Affair with Trump

By Sunnivie Brydum

…Christian-nation status, and the president and his Pentecostal friends can help bring about the reign of God in the U.S. and help Jesus Christ make his return to the earth. I don’t think I’ve seen that before. Is it fair to say, given POTUS Shield’s embrace of social media, and the fact that Donald Trump is the president, that maybe this couldn’t have happened at another time in history? Because this group can reach millions of people with a tweet…

Science Mike Building a “Christian Science” Liturgy for the Nones

By D. Ashley Campbell

…eir prayer transform in each pose. “A liturgy is just a ritual designed to help people meet God,” McHargue says. “It’s trying to evoke a feeling in you.” You could feel the well of emotions opened by the Gathering as the crowd chanted shalom in unison and silently served each other the Eucharist before leaving the Church for the last time. In the middle of this moment of mutual reflection a few heads were bowed, not in contemplation, but to examin…

“The Gift of Gay”: Father Matthew Kelty, Confessor to Thomas Merton, Dies at 96

By Louis A. Ruprecht

…o it naturally. As you look at Father Matthew’s monastic resume, you can’t help but be struck by the strange contrast between these two men—Father Louis’ restless energy and deep unhappiness, Father Matthew’s easy contentment and quiet grace. But Father Matthew knew a true poet when he saw one, and he gave Merton a friendship and an appreciative understanding that one cannot help feeling the latter desperately needed in his later years. No Saints…