Religion Dispatches
…courts for more than a decade. We used the internet to regroup and grow in numbers. The Church even developed its own web-based resources to acknowledge and address its own controversies—historic and contemporary. This, we thought, was a good sign. A sign that might not need to fear losing our membership, our place, in a cherished tradition, just for having and voicing questions, doubts, and differences. We told ourselves to not to be afraid. And…
Read More…ation not only honored our LGBT brothers and sisters, but also honored the spirit of Mormonism at its very best.” Tresa Edmunds, a straight LDS ally and mother, made a 3-hour drive into the city to march with her sign: “Gay kids grow up Mormon, I’m here to keep them safe.” As in Seattle, San Francisco marchers reported tearful parade-route meetings with gay Mormons estranged from the community. In Chicago, a contingent of 15 LDS marchers, organize…
Read More
…first time in their entire life.” The clinic’s website claims that after a number of therapeutic sessions “you are likely to experience a state of deep meditation and a feeling of unconditional love.” Skeptics may, of course, balk at the equation of a clinical, drug-induced experience with an experience that borders on the mystical, but such claims aren’t out of the ordinary. William James, author of The Varieties of Religious Experience, describe…
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…of immigrants including Jean Pierre Godet as told in Thomas Kinkade’s The Spirit of America.” Sure, Mr. Godot doesn’t exist, as McLeroy probably figured out after he proposed the change, which may be why he opted against presenting it formally for a vote. But that’s no reason why we can’t quote Mr. Godet to our children not saying things like, “I love America for giving so many of us the right to dream a new dream.” As McLeroy wrote, “Such words …
Read More…ecumenical apology. So why is Pope Francis’ visit with a relatively obscure 12th-century sect notable? There are two main reasons. First, there’s the Waldensians’ historical importance as a precursor to the 16th century Protestant Reformation. Like the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre of the century before or the many tales of martyrdom recounted in John Foxe’s Acts and Monuments the plight of the Waldensians would become a touchstone for many Prote…
Read More…also functions in African American religious experience as a tool to give spiritual support in times of tremendous loss and to celebrate the spirit of a deceased person. This is clearly evident in the New Orleans jazz funeral, which is a dramatic musical performance that expresses both the grief and joy embedded in the African American funeral.” Smith’s book is taking a place on my bookshelf next to one of my favorite cultural studies books of al…
Read More
…God a policeman? A scapegoat? His discoveries, if anything, fall into the spiritual-but-not-religious sensibility that has been ascendant in popular culture for the last half century or so. Religion, with all its tribalism and corrupt leadership, is pretty much bad. God, or spirit, and the power of individuals to decide for themselves, are good. As he crosses the border between Kenya and Tanzania, at one point, he discovers, having felt no tremen…
Read More…lifornia Supremes have now spoken and have backed completely away from the spirit of their decision of one year ago—the decision arguing persuasively that the principle of equal rights under law applies to gay people, too. Now these same justices say that the people of California have a perfect right to decide core constitutional issues via plebiscite. In oral arguments earlier this year, Chief Justice Ronald George—the principal author of the fir…
Read More
…rusalem took a bulldozer and went plowing through a score of cars, killing numbers of people. Judgment—you can’t miss it.” Wasilla Bible Church is now promoting a September 13 Focus on the Family event called Love Won Out, a workshop on how to cure homosexuality through prayer [see pdf]. From 2006 on: Juneau Christian Center, Pastor Mike Rose Once Palin was elected governor, she affiliated with a third church, where she attends services while in t…
Read More