Religion Dispatches
…he West is certainly doing neither Israelis nor Palestinians any favors. It is also fatally undermining its own ability to successfully navigate, build relationships and promote its own interests in a rapidly changing Middle East by ignoring Gaza and Palestinian disenfranchisement.”…
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…nd 39, which according to LaHaye are about contemporary Russian and Middle Eastern politics, he claimed that: “For the first time in world history the Russians are working openly with the Arab world; that kind of makes you think [the fulfillment of prophecy] could be very close at hand.” Asked about the impact of such thinking on government policies during the Bush administration, LaHaye began by claiming “I’ve never been asked that before.” He di…
Read More…te in 1870. And Mormon women in the late nineteenth century were sent back east to train as medical doctors, encouraged by Brigham Young himself, who said in 1869: We believe that women are useful, not only to sweep houses, wash dishes, make beds and raise babies, but they should stand behind the counter, study law or physic, or become good bookkeepers and be able to do the business in any counting house, and all this to enlarge their sphere of us…
Read More…ove for Allah: as the greatest principle of Islam. My own shaykh is on the east coast and a visit to him and some time in retreat is already on my calendar after I visit with my family. What was particularly striking for me last night, is that this particular company among Sufis was also made up of mostly well-educated, American professionals, over 50. Let me be direct here about what it means to say that one is American in the context of identity…
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…, many of these hardworking rural and small-town folks felt menaced by big East-coast banks and creeping national corporations. They weren’t opposed to money, business or success per se; rather, they wanted to ensure that some of it came their way. Accordingly, they supported federal legislation that protected the region and its farmers, setting a precedent for using government funds to aid a “favored segment” of the nation. By the twentieth centu…
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…name. Ostensibly, FBM is about biblical prophecy, the contemporary Middle East, and the role of Jews in history, though it’d be more accurate to say that FBM is an attempt to use history and science to prove the existence of a Christian, pro-American God. During the eclipse of a full moon, the face of the disk turns red: a blood moon. The appearance of four blood moons in a short period of time is called a tetrad. Right now, we’re three-quarters…
Read More…ir support for Amina. An international movement called Femen staged bare-breasted protests in European cities, in which the writings on their chests echoed Amina’s, along with “Freedom for women” and “Fuck your morals.” (Be warned: photos contain nudity and strong language.) But Femen did not have the last word. Almost immediately, there was a backlash from some Muslim women who did not appreciate the “support.” A Facebook group, Muslim Women Aga…
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…y. Fasting in Ramadan is obligatory for healthy adults. But if you live in East Turkestan (Xinjiang), for example, where a genocide is underway, then saving one’s life takes precedence. I point all this out not only to underscore that the Muslim tradition is often far more human, humane, and humanistic than many current approaches assume and propose. But also because obligations are inseparable from the consequences of their performance. Which is…
Read More…e away from long-suffering EuroAmerica, and focuses his gaze on the Middle East instead, a very different picture comes into view. In a year where religious tolerance and peaceful pluralism have been major papal themes, the Pope now declares that “Christians are the most oppressed and tormented minority” in present circumstances, worldwide. This is a stunning conclusion, and we have not one word about what metric Benedict has used to draw it. He c…
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…of religion as a social balm. That is, the United Kingdom, among the ten least religious nations in Diener’s study, is pretty much all out of opiates. Those who have don’t need them for happiness, so they’re off the market for everyone else. So, too, with sports teams, which have been sources of identity, pride, and social connection for the working classes in generations past. While the jury is out on whether playing or watching sports encourage…
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