Religion Dispatches
…ch with the eyes of “on the one hand… and on the other hand.” It’s not that kind of situation. It is simple class violence, waged (as always) by the powerful against the vulnerable. It’s nice, I guess, that Scott Walker loves Jesus. He’s clearly not acquainted with the Jesus who lifts up the lowly and pulls down the powerful from their thrones….
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…ty groups and white awareness groups. In reaction to racial justice efforts, however, seven white male members, an affinity group of its own sort, produced a website called Apramada: Buddhist Perspectives on Society and Culture, whose mission statement declares: The aim of Apramāda is to bring Buddhist perspectives to bear on questions facing the world today—a task of urgent importance in an era when public discourse is often clouded by divisive i…
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…tle of pans, the sizzle of hot grease. Is what we are listening to religion, or, to push the question, how does listening to this reorient us in terms of thinking about or studying religion? This mode of mapping renders visible the subjective quality of maps in general. In the process of making religion audible, the American Religious Sounds Project makes ethnography audible too. These recordings call into question what counts—and has counted in t…
Read More…r more likely to have groups that discuss politics, distribute voter guides, lobby politicians, and take part in demonstrations. Generally, this has been the case for a while now, but the trend has accelerated quite a bit since 1998. It seems religious lefties have not been content to let the Religious Right have the last word in the political realm. (Notice that these activities are all non-partisan and mostly issue-driven. There isn’t really a r…
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…alone which god. Americans are free to be godless (as a growing number are), or, if they wish, to worship every god from every holy book. Olsen’s commandments would prohibit free expression and art by outlawing the creation of graven images; prohibit free speech by making it illegal to take the Lord’s name in vain; and, per the tenth commandment, it would criminalize thought (potentially condoning slavery and the treatment of women as chattel as i…
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On Wednesday, December 2, 2015, Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 29, murdered 14 people and injured 21 during a targeted attack at Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, CA. In the aftermath of the attack, a number of Republican presidential candidates and elected officials issued tweets that, many have argued ad nauseum, demonstrated a commitment to public piety instead of public policy as a response to the massacre. In a rare mome…
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…. But Bell stayed in motion. He developed a stylized image of a progressive, hip, open-minded Christianity. He preached social justice and pluralism, encouraged doubt, and supported gay marriage. Bell had already lost much of his evangelical base by 2011, when he published Love Wins, an argument against the existence of Hell. Cast out of the evangelical mainstream, Bell traded the pulpit for the stage. He went on a Love Wins book tour, made the co…
Read More…s. Blogger Blabbeando reminds us that during Brewster’s nomination process, “a number of religious leaders the Dominican Republic criticized the nomination of an openly gay man for the diplomatic post. Leading the charge was Cardinal Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez who called the then-nominee a ‘faggot’ on national television.” Last month the Cardinal urged church goers to show respect for the new ambassador, but some people aren’t willing to…
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…possibilities of civic engagement. Let me set the scene: On Monday, July 1, thousands of Texans gathered to protest restrictive abortion bills. Governor Perry vowed to stand steadfast against “the breakdown of decorum and decency” fomented by, in Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst’s words, that “unruly mob” who thwarted passage of SB5. And yes, the unruly were rallying once again. Orange of every shade—the official color of pro-choice activists in the debat…
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…ar, and we grew in power on the backs of slaves. American religious history, too, is fraught with prejudice and bias—even against Catholics, with “popery” having been perceived as highly suspect for many decades. But American Catholicism has from the beginning been shaped by immigrants, and resists a narrow, singular identity in the manner of WASPs. Beyond that, Francis’ vision of the confessional as a place of mercy is not the experience of many…
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