Religion Dispatches
…plaints coming. * homo-intimacy in the ex-gay world is far more suspect among lesbians, for whom excessive emotional closeness is considered a sign of lesbianism even in the absence of a sexual relationship….
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…h religious myths are singular; they constitute the thing everybody has to sign on to in order to be a member of the movement. In Tertullian’s day, however, most Christians agreed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God; but as for what that actually meant, well, that was one of the things Christians argued most vehemently about. Those arguments led to the emergence of “orthodoxy” and “heresy” in time. And it took a very long time to figure out which…
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…d that his headgear was accommodated not because of its declared religious significance but because it left his face clearly visible. This only clouded the issue. The Department of Transportation website states that head coverings are permitted only for “religious reasons” (religiösen Gründen), and that in such cases, the face must be visible from the lower chin to the forehead. The affair raises questions that go beyond the jokey “church”—questio…
Read More…included Orthodox Jewish men from the group Jews for Decency who displayed signs that warned that bestiality was the next step. Members of the Topeka, Kansas, family-based Westboro Baptist Church also turned up, only to be shunned by fellow protestors like NOM’s Maggie Gallagher. “We had advance notice that Westboro Baptists might try to join our march and we want to make it clear that that kind of message… is loathsome and not welcome here,” Gall…
Read More…nch, and Washington’s Christin Gregoire), because official praying events now appear to be a prerequisite for high office. Still, though, Perry’s very short gubernatorial guest list is a sign of his event’s, uh, shall we say politely, problematic nature. It’s just too bad that no governor seems willing to come right out and say that….
Read More…ke all the GOP candidates save Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum, did not sign Vander Plaats’ pledge. Jackson, who is black, told the Christian Post that he was disappointed the pledge addressed only statistics about black families, and that it should have been “vetted by minority groups such as his International Communion of Evangelical Churches.” The ICEC was recently launched by Jackson because, according to its website, “Christianity is not j…
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…. Joining him in the seat of American power was Sarah Palin, who, with her signal lack of originality and predilection for repetition, told the crowd: “We must restore America and restore her honor.” For this year’s “Restoring Courage” rally on August 24, Beck has set his sights even higher, gathering the elite of the conservative faithful in the Israeli capital of Jerusalem—or, in the Christian Zionist imagination, God’s ‘seat of power.’ In his a…
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…stablishment Clause theory—that Obama is not a “natural-born citizen,” a designation that would render him ineligible to be president due to his “divided loyalties.” Deuteronomy 17, he insists, demands that that the “king” be selected from one’s own “brethren.” As an outsider Obama isn’t a “real” American, worthy—according to the Bible or the Constitution—of being president. The “Judicial Tyranny” Canard In 2003, motivated by Moore’s Ten Commandme…
Read More…is a white male conservative authoring some sappy pledge for candidates to sign. After reading the report on John Ensign and Mark Sandford hitting the Appalachian Trail, and the RNC using funds at a sex-themed voyeur nightclub, moralizing, asinine pledges aren’t going to stop anyone, including the candidates, from having sex and watching lots of porn. Add in the ahistoricism of the right, and it’s laughable that any pledge from this hypocritical b…
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…blical Instructors changed its name to the American Academy of Religion; a sign that what James had started was beginning to take hold. In our time, the failure to bracket might not lead to Christian bigotry in our understanding of religion. But it could lead to a secularist prejudice just as toxic. If the early investigators of world religions believed them to be lesser forms of Christian truth, then our own postmodern investigations might just a…
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