Religion Dispatches
…n, activist and scholar on Islam and gender. All the more to share, all the more to keep a record, all the more then to celebrate, as I do today the next stage in the transition of the human spirit from the planes of the mundane everyday ordinary to the throne of the divine in celebration of the divinity within our selves. Feel free to join me….
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…given the contemporary atmosphere with all the conversations about being “Spiritual But Not Religious.” So I thought, let’s do this, let’s go for a Hail Mary pass, and change only the subject line, just that one word—“Research Project: Jazz and Spirituality.” And the responses started pouring in. So I thought, okay, this is pretty interesting. Is there an actual resistance to the term “religion” or did it simply fail to get on people’s radar beca…
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…ns. It could be argued that the Christ of faith is largely a matter of the spirit regardless of the physical body he inhabited. In response to this conflation between the “historical Jesus” and the “Christ of faith” by Black Christology, McClendon raises the question: “How do we determine whether Jesus is Black rather than white? Can it be historically confirmed that Jesus was a Black Messiah? Or is this Christological concept—Black Messiah—the pr…
Read More…. The U.S. nuns, however, who embraced Vatican II and remained true to its spirit while they built schools and hospitals and served the poor, are going to be rewarded for their efforts with years of ‘supervision’ from Rome in order to effect their dependable ‘renewal.’” Put another way, conservative anti-Semites are more valued and welcomed in the Catholic Church than women religious who engage the world through their faith. I think that says ever…
Read More…“God is experienced […] in the likeness of corruptible man […] in the half-spiritual, half-material creations, exhibitions, and representations of His creative ability — Family, Nation, State, Church and Fatherland.” American culture worships the “No-Gods” of military might, money and capitalism, “family values,” “the war on terrorism,” and most especially its state form of piety clothed in conservative evangelical Christianity. The linking of a p…
Read More…ulevitz writes, “than of choosing your friends wisely.” In that diplomatic spirit, there’s a whole movement of thinkers devoted to environmental theology, and other reconciliations between environmentalist ideas and scriptural messages. Frankly, that effort seems too intellectual to appeal to most religious practitioners, but too broad in its interpretation and too predetermined in its hermeneutic goals for many intellectuals (although I’d be deli…
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…e Bible are those that use or abuse another person—relations governed by a spirit of possession, objectification, and control—and this would be a sin for both straight and LGBT people. However, here our agreement frays. As someone who says he believes that “the Bible is the inerrant Word of God,” Mr. X is quick to point out that his site is godly precisely because it does not include “wicked” things like homosexual acts. In fact, homosexuality is…
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…which we alternatively learn more of the substance of our fellow citizens’ spiritual beliefs, and also hold them to a level of respectful accountability through more public scrutiny and discussion. Which Religions, Which Sciences? One of the most seemingly charged areas in the culture wars would appear to be the intractable conflict between “religion and science,” and to be sure this is a conflict with a long history. Too long to be helpful, it of…
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…fference subject its heterodox members to conduct betraying a smallness of spirit and a fearful rigidity. Nor does it diminish the fear and despair this new wave of disciplinary actions is inciting among progressive Mormons who have anxiously wondered over this past week whether a letter or a meeting request might be on the way for them too. Over the past few days, I have been getting Facebook messages and phone calls from rank-and-file Mormons no…
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…lly, is a manifestation of what’s going on in this unseen world called the spirit world.” On Palin’s election as governor: This was the result of a “prophetic call” by another pastor at the church, who prayed for her to win. “[He made] a prophetic declaration and there unfolds the kingdom of God, you know.” From 2002 on: Wasilla Bible Church, Pastor Larry Kroon When Palin ran for lieutenant governor in 2002, she switched Wasilla churches, and bega…
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