Religion Dispatches
…gical statement matters more to the deportee, the down-and-out, and the gay 17-year-old who jumps off a bridge than any horse-trading we could ever do. We still want to be smart about the material while being enchanted by the spiritual. We are not going back to the time when we converted people in the soup kitchen so they could eat (are you saved?) so much as we are going forward toward an opening levered by the Holy Spirit and drawing us more dee…
Read More…mouth of a local politician. State Rep. Rick Brattin (R), the sponsor of HB 1227, wants ID to be taught alongside evolution in Missouri’s science classrooms. According to the Kansas City Star, Brattin says the bill is “not about religion.” Yet in the selfsame report he says, “I keep pointing to a Gallup poll that shows 90 percent of Americans believe in a higher power. And yet our schools only teach that we emerged from primordial ooze. I think st…
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…e a special duty today to be the guardians of the truth about the American spirit and our national identity.” In fact, Archbishop Gomez argues, immigrant Catholics “without proper documentation,” who share the values of “faith, family, and community” are “the key to American renewal.” Yes, Archbishop Gomez is arguing that unauthorized immigrants not only deserve the chance to adjust their status to live legally in the United States, but also hold…
Read More…make such a move, but it begs the question of why it took the denomination 150 years to repent of its racism in the first place. A group of gay and lesbian activists is asking the SBC to step up its glacial pace on apologies and skip the next 150 years and get on with the business of apologizing to them now. A petition started by several organizations including the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, Believe OutLoud, Faith in America…
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…nce: “The psychedelic drug in magic mushrooms may have lasting medical and spiritual benefits…” Spiritual benefits? You can read the details yourself in Time or this Mother Jones piece, but bottom line is that the drug can induce transcendental, mystical experiences in volunteers who feel better and more fulfilled over time, with relatives and close friends claiming the individual also became “calmer, happier, and kinder.” Yes, it’s a rather limit…
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…come together when saving a life is at stake. Dr. Fred Rosner agrees. In a 1999 journal article speculating on the eventuality of this technology, the Assistant Dean and Professor of Medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine wrote that, “…Judaism will look with favor upon this procedure to prolong or save the life of a human being who is ill or dying from organ failure. Although Jewish law forbids Jews to raise or eat pigs, no such prohibit…
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…expectation from the traditional “silver dagger” song that this is perhaps 1909 or 1939, but certainly not within our lifetime). Whatever it was that happened, it could not have been entirely pretty: Seems every castle is made of sand The Great Destroyer sleeps in every man Here comes my baby, here comes my man With the silver dagger in his hand. And how can all these stories of barroom girls, morphine addicts, rape victims, murdering ghosts, and…
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…represent are Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Atheist, Agnostic—including 12 practitioners of the Jedi Faith. About 100 people work in the foundation—many of them are full time volunteers and still others are highly decorated veterans. We have many law firms that provide pro bono legal work as well as promotion and public relations entities. We have offices in all four time zones and thousands of donors across the country. Frederick Douglass onc…
Read More…practices. Muslim reformers of all stripes seek to take Islam back to the spirit of the Prophet Muhammad, the embodiment of moral truth and good character—however differently they interpret him. This historical tendency is often picked up by Muslim-majority nations, who pursue similar ends through modern means. These nations try to take the lead in shaping the return of Muslims to more ‘authentic’ expressions of their faith. Often this meant Ira…
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…ay to demonstrate their fidelity to Allah; Rastafarians smoke cannabis for spiritual sustenance; the ancient Aztecs engaged in human sacrifice to appease the gods. Likewise, Republicanity is rife with ritual acts of the sacred variety. One of the most recent examples is the signing of yet another pledge, “The Marriage Vow—A Declaration of Dependence on Marriage and Family,” drafted by The Family Leader, an Iowa-based organization. Signing pledges…
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