Religion Dispatches
…say that the husband’s domination of the wife is entirely at odds with the spirit of the teaching. “People who think it’s the husband’s vote misunderstand the teaching entirely,” they say. “It’s the couple’s vote, hers as much as his, and the only reason that he is the one who casts it is because of the God-given differences between men and women. Men are designed to take more initiative and to be more active in the public sphere, and women’s bodi…
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…from what they were told it is. All the passionate music, jubilation, and spiritual energy [at the Dearborn Awakening] cannot hide the meanness of spirit that would perpetrate this kind of fraud. We as Christians can be very intolerant, and the conservative politics that has shaped many of us makes what we say very irrelevant to today’s issues. I think a good part of the church is in denial as to how this country has really changed. I never heard…
Read More…ficial state letterhead as follows: “My response to your letter of February 19, 1976, is—kiss my ass.” Baxley’s response falls right in line with Sikh traditions. Sikhs of the 18th century banded together to resist bigots who terrorized and oppressed minority communities. Because Sikhs staunchly insisted on standing up against injustice and inequalities, the rulers of the day focused on persecuting Sikhs such that their numbers dwindled into the l…
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…rst step in the implementation of the findings” is a personal meeting “in a spirit of mutual respect and collaboration.” This is rather fanciful since the LCWR leaders who received the document were not at all sure it was coming. They went to Rome with the intention of engaging in dialogue, not being presented with a fait accompli. Second, this move seems like an effort to cut off the head of lay people in the Church, beginning with the nuns. The…
Read More…about them. First we viewed a new documentary about the sisters, Women and Spirit which tells the amazing story of Catholic sisters’ work in the U.S. since the first of them arrived here in 1727. It’s produced and marketed by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), the primary target of Vatican criticism. Then we discussed the current situation facing the sisters and US Catholic women more broadly. A number of us had read in advance t…
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…t not to sympathize a bit with Douthat’s critique of contemporary American spirituality, even if he has a penchant for the low-hanging fruit. But this heretical American spiritual seeking is not really anything new, of course. For generations, Americans have been a religiously promiscuous people, attracted to all forms of non-orthodox beliefs and practices. What Douthat sees may be more of a hastening than a transformation. Moreover, we should pay…
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…Robert Ingersoll, a leading figure in the Free Thought movement of the late 19th century, was at one time the most popular speaker on the U.S. speaking circuit. Ingersoll was well known for being a loving family man and an ethical leader in his community—as a public unbeliever. Though he criticized Christianity and religion in general, he did so from a place of sincere engagement with its ideas. And while he was a self-styled agnostic rather than…
Read More…ons are banding together to share a powerful message, and we hope that other Mormons who may have been previously afraid to show their support for civil marriage equality will see us and feel emboldened to “come out of the closet”. That pioneer spirit is still in our blood, and it’s sorely needed here and now on one of the most critical civil rights issues of our time. So like pioneers, we walk. I will be walking with my wife and two kids. In chur…
Read More…d truth of Jesus Christ. Finally, we stand with the LGBT community both in spirit, and when necessary, legally and physically, when violence rears its head in Uganda, Jamaica or anywhere else in the world. The statement is in response to reports that the board Vice-Chair of the Exodus board of directors, Dennis Jernigan, traveled to Jamaica in May to speak about his sexual reorientation. While there he spoke to several groups and appeared to suppo…
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