Religion Dispatches
…Their very existence tends to enable the alcoholism of a portion of their customer base. The fact of the matter is that people who lack self control are often enabled in their addictions by buffets and bars. But at least bars often have a policy of not serving obviously inebriated people. Buffets will let you eat until you explode. As I contemplated the commonplace nature of obesity in South Central PA, and its prevalence among Christians and non…
Read More…nt as part of the business. They similarly added a new Employee Policy and Customer Agreement stipulating that the Hitching Post will only perform unions ‘between one biological male and one biological female.’” Additionally, while the Hitching Post used to offer “wedding ceremonies of other faiths,” as Jeremy Hooper documented, the website was recently changed to offer only “a traditional Christian wedding ceremony.” Sarah Jones of Americans Unit…
Read More
…the large evangelical charity Samaritan’s Purse—has never been as grifty a customer as Sekulow. But he’s been no less a culture warrior for conservative evangelicals, and no less a stout defender of Pres. Trump. This does not sit well with everyone: The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is looking for venues in London and Liverpool for Franklin Graham’s upcoming UK tour. Management of ACC Liverpool said Jan. 24 that it was dropping plans to ho…
Read More…of public importance regarding the extent to which suppliers of goods and services can refuse service on grounds of sexual orientation, religious belief and/or political opinion,” the commission said before the court hearing. The BBC reports that more than 2,000 people showed up for an event organized by the Christian Institute to support the family that owns Ashers Baking Company. The hundreds who couldn’t make it into the full-to-capacity hall…
Read More
…usic up high, and our hearts wide open. Many riders seem to buy in. From a customer’s Soul Story on the SoulCycle blog: When I moved to Boston after graduation, I was ecstatic that there was a SoulCycle. My first ride at Chestnut Hill was with Charlotte at 8:30 AM and I brought my Dad with me. We converted my Mom eight months later… I am grateful to have SoulCycle in my life; for me, it’s not just a workout studio. It is a community of people with…
Read More…that vessel is framed above the establishment’s urinal for any intoxicated customer to peruse. It would, perhaps, be just as well to say that the Mayflower Pub in London is the place where “America was born” as Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts. Of course there is no real moment when “America was born.” That a pub in South London is as suitable a christening place as a beach in New England speaks to the arbitrary power of myths. As concerns the relig…
Read More…ke with an anti-gay message) and refusal to sell a product to a particular customer (a wedding cake to a same-sex couple). Of course, the Court didn’t seem so concerned with clearly biased government religious expression in Town of Greece. As Justice Kagan’s powerful dissent outlines, in that case “the Town Board select[ed], month after month and year after year, prayergivers who will reliably speak in the voice of Christianity” and thereby “infus…
Read More
…rch and on the OPTN website run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. From my own clinical experience, I have anecdotal data about how significant resources are in getting on the list for an organ transplant (non-kidney). None of this is new to those who work in transplant, and there are many hands taking up the work of ameliorating this situation. These main points were wrapped in a short personal narrative about not being a donor…
Read More
…o take action.” Then in 2005, Donohue struck gold when a Wal-Mart customer service employee emailed a woman who complained about the store changing “Merry Christmas” to “Happy Holidays” and told her: “The majority of the world still has different practices other than “Christmas” which is an ancient tradition that has its roots in Siberian shamanism. … Santa is also borrowed from the Caucuses [sic], mistletoe from the Celts, yule log from the Goths…
Read More
…companies building platforms “where the government will be a tenant and a customer, and not the landlord.” Pence cited this same verse from Psalm 139 to legitimate the mission of the administration’s newly formed Space Force: God’s hand will guide these space soldiers in their “defense of freedom”—that is, the freedom of commercial enterprise. The administration advertised the biblical foundations of its protectionist pursuit of dominance in spac…
Read More