Religion Dispatches
…slims must kill Jews and eat them (have these people no sense of irony? It used to be that Jews were accused of killing infant Christian babies to make matzoh; it was meant to be a sign that Jews were subhuman. Now Hamas gladly says they themselves are subhuman.) This virulent anti-Semitism is not part of a general Islamic ethos, and more people have addressed this issue than I can count. But I look at Assud and I think there is another strain of…
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…et pockets, Lucas says, “These are people who reinforce the beliefs that cause LGBT people to suffer. If I’m in a place where I can love myself and teach others to love me and others like me, I have to use that opportunity to the fullest.” A little before noon, a handful of students from Central Baptist approach within a few dozen yards of the riders and take pictures of the scene with their cell phone cameras. Traffic on College Avenue begins to…
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…ied of past events or illnesses, spiritual or physical. The sweat lodge is used in Native American substance abuse treatment programs and has been an integral part of ceremonies of spiritual cleansing of returning veterans dating back to the time of wars with the United States. Many tribes believe that participation in wars and battles cause the dead the cling to the soul of the combatants and must be released to the next world through a process o…
Read More…d center would be significant. And let’s be clear, most of those Catholics use or want to use family planning. The continued blind spot of the Vatican on contraception is tragic. The papal commission on birth control reported to Pope Paul VI in 1966 that there was no impediment to permitting the use of contraceptives. The Pope rejected the report fearing loss of authority. Almost 50 years later, the loss of papal authority is seen not only in Cath…
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…iolently in the face of peaceful resistance. Such violence, whatever the cause and source, would surely impute to the church’s reputation in a variety of potentially damaging ways. I would worry, too, about the church’s relationships to the police and other city agencies, as these would likely be fractured by offering sanctuary for continued nonviolent protest. And, if I were the CEO of Trinity Wall Street, I’d be alarmed at the idea of the “unspe…
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…ersonal, theistic sense referring to a transcendent God in heaven and some use it to refer to a pantheistic, immanent power that infuses all of nature? God-hating atheists like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and others of their narrow-minded ilk have made a killing tearing down a God worshiped by childlike, blind followers not rational enough to follow lock-step behind the true idols they worship: science and secularism. God-fe…
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…ood the deeper moral issues beneath. God willing, Obama will never have to use force against Iranian or North Korean nuclear facilities, but this is no cause to overlook the misery these nations bring their people. There are also moral responsibilities in war—like those that come from invading a country and overthrowing its government. The US may have been in Afghanistan for eight years, but it never committed the resources to succeed. Obama, foll…
Read More…nsubstantiated claims such as “when you give money to groups that not only promote contraception but also promote abortion in an integrated way, you actually drive abortion rates up, not down.” Since 2000, Alvaré has taught law and brought her own brand of cherry-picked data tendentiously linked to the supposed dangers of abortion and contraception wrapped up as concern for women’s health and well-being to the Robert George/Witherspoon Institute/N…
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…t summer) for the “cut, cap, and balance” budget proposal put forward by House Republicans, and urging Congress to “stop the EPA power grab” (referring to proposals to limit carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions). Given the latter, it’s not surprising that the Ethic and Liberty’s Commission position statements on the environment reproduce extensive (and bogus) commentary on “Climategate” and other fantasies of climate change denialists. How…
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…separate bank account and funneling parish money into it for his personal use. The thefts occurred between 2006 and 2008. He tended to use the money for gambling-related activities. He is charged with money laundering. Between 1993 and 2006, Rev. Rodney Rodis was accused of stealing $600,000 from St. Jude’s and Immaculate Conception parishes in the Richmond, Virginia diocese. He was charged with one count of felony embezzlement. When the diocese…
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