Religion Dispatches
…with the mid-day or zhuhr prayer, but these will be shortened. Usually for travel prayers are shortened to two raka’at instead of 4, and zhuhr and ‘asr (mid-day and afternoon) prayers are combined. Here, they will be shortened but not combined. We stay in Mina, in a kind of modern tent (that is with air conditioning and plumbing) until sunrise on the 9th of Zul Hijjah. Then we all proceed to Mt. Arafat. This day at Arafat and its events mark the h…
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…n perspectives on the order. Because they’re a non-profit organization that gives all of its monies back to the community, some will ask only for the cost of travel; honoraria generally go to the Sister’s house rather than to the individual member….
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…many gender-affirming surgeries taking place, there are too few, given the number who don’t have access or the means to make it happen. There’s an epidemic of gatekeeping trans-related care in the United States, not to mention insurmountable financial barriers. But we don’t mention these issues, do we? I have a young daughter and we were supposed to celebrate our birthdays on Sunday. We were supposed to celebrate our birthdays together by painting…
Read More…ly morning, to avoid suspicion,” one florist said. Others were planning to travel to the more religiously liberal neighboring countries, Bahrain or the United Arab Emirates, to celebrate. Here we have valentines being smuggled like contraband. (Will we be hearing of Valentine’s Day “speakeasies,” next?) Were it not affecting the lives of millions of people, this would be comical. Even as a kid growing up in a Muslim-American family Boston in the 1…
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…from this experience. From what I could observe at the conference, a large number of Buddhists are attempting to draw upon principles intrinsic to the Dharma to deal with challenges we face in present-day society. Some, with scientific backgrounds, have been applying mindfulness and meditation practices to alleviate stress and psychological disturbances; others are using the Dharma to aid conflict resolution and still others are helping prisoners…
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…divinity, capable of both demanding and delivering the lives of those who travel upon it. Yet Huckleberry Finn has become a progressively safer book to read over the last century. This process took shape in the mid-twentieth century, when Cold War humanists in the United States sought out works that could solidify a canon of literary nationalism. They found in young Huck an iconoclastic individualism, a wish to cut free of institutions and resist…
Read More…s and administrative regulations sought religious exemptions in increasing numbers. The Little Sisters of the Poor, the owners of the Hobby Lobby chain, various Christian colleges and universities, and wedding florists, photographers, and cake-bakers have all advanced such claims. It’s clear that this issue is here to stay. The year that just ended saw the opening of new fronts in the legal battles over religious freedom. In 2018, the Supreme Cour…
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…Sunday has caused a little bit of a stir in some of the rabbinic circles I travel in. It also prompted this letter to Gary Trudeau from Rabbi David Saperstein, of the Reform Movement’s Religious Action Center. The eight colorful panels depict a young girl (it’s been a while since I’ve read the strip, but my perusal of Wikipedia seems to suggest that she’s Samantha, the 17-year-old daughter of Boopsie and B.D.), reacting to a church service led by…
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…hat was premature. The bus driver went in circles, clocking eight hours to travel 95 miles. Arriving at Osho, my only goal was sleep. But the registrar at the Welcome Center had other plans. First check-in, then blood tests to insure we did not have AIDS, a lengthy registration and payment. Although Osho’s guesthouse and “multiversity” accept credit cards, the registrar requires cash for the resort’s day passes, food and other amenities. Discoveri…
Read More…st all learn to love, support, and accept our brothers and sisters as they travel through their wildernesses.” The vigil also comes at a moment when individual Mormons across the country are engaging in an increasingly robust discussion about how a faith that theologically prioritizes heterosexual marriage—in LDS temples, eternal marriage is the equivalent of a saving rite—should address LGBT youth and adults. As the LDS Church appears to be back…
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