…se tale, we learn, the Buddha keeps his genitals “hidden in a sheath” as a sign of his detachment from the world. Yet he seems far from detached when a group prostitutes taunt that he “lacks a functioning male member.” The fifth-century text continues: When the Buddha heard this, [his organ] gradually emerged like that of a horse king. When it first appeared it was like the bodily organ of an eight-year-old-boy, and it gradually grew into the shap…
…rrangements with their insurers. The fact that the bishops refused to even sign on to the so-called compromise shows that for them the whole point of the exercise was to make a political statement about the moral unacceptability of non-procreative sex (especially for unmarried women), to save face about the fact that most Catholics use contraception, and to gin up “religious liberty” concerns that would backstop their campaign against same-sex mar…
…s exemptions to federal contractors. It’s true that many of of the figures signing the letter — organized by a former campaign and White House staffer who now runs a consulting firm that says it “advis[es] Christian leaders and organizations on cultural, political, policy and communications issues” — are “friendly” to Obama or worked for his campaign. But it’s also true that many more advocacy and faith-based organizations that support church-stat…
…s like LGBT advocate Sister Jeannine Gramick. (For the record, a 2009 NCAN sign-on letter in support of a priest who was threatened with excommunication for supporting women’s ordination received the signature of well over 100 well known women religious social justice leaders, including Gramick, and Sisters Donna Quinn, Joan Chittister, Mary Ann Cunningham, Maureen Fiedler, Ivone Gebara, and Theresa Kane.) What bothers Carey besides the fact that…
…arate check’ for abortion, which pro-life dissenters might try refusing to sign, is apparently false,” which the bishops have known since 2012. The irony is that while the Bracys’ suit is generally hostile to the ACA and the individual mandate, they will only have to pay $2.63 a month for health insurance for a family of six because of federal subsidies. And while the suit implies they will have to make a separate payment for abortion, it admits t…
…es’ vote on the 2014 constitution, and lavished praise on Al-Sisi, who was promoted to Field Marshal shortly after the constitution was ratified. Religious scholars supportive of the regime are regularly featured on state television, often either praising the current government or denouncing the Muslim Brotherhood. One Imam recently wrote a poem in praise of Al-Sisi, while a Coptic Priest publicly admired Al-Sisi’s beauty. An Azharite scholar even…
…rishing other relationships, working to mend our broken world, and being a sign of faithfulness to their community.” I hate to admit to agreeing with Douthat, but he’s right. The church can’t retreat from its fight on gay marriage because to do so would take it back nearly 50 years to when it was on the brink of approving the use of contraception but backed down because it would codify the idea, which it had already tacitly accepted, that the purp…
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…ts with Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper, for that they have not any visible sign or ceremony ordained of God (872, XXV). This is no mere theological quibbling. The cornerstone of Reformation theology developed by Martin Luther, then adapted by John Calvin on its way to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, was the idea that human beings could not ourselves determine what God had marked as sure indicators of God’s grace in us. Rather, Luther argued th…
…hat we may soon witness violent attacks and murders by individuals whose assignment of collective guilt is strengthened by visiting the museum and by consuming its incomplete and misleading content on Islam. These fears of the institution’s effect are magnified by the awareness that one of the key members of the board of directors, who serves on the crucial 11-person “program committee” that approves exhibition content, has argued publicly that Is…
