Religion Dispatches
…to call upon Allah, “the names come back to you as if you are reading the list upon a script.” She held her hands shoulder high, palms up to the heavens in the Muslim position of supplication. I could “see” what she meant, then and there, and I stopped worrying that I would make a promise and then forget this unnamed woman and her three children. I’ve collected stories from the hajj experience for many many years. Now I prepare to have my own to…
Read More…ugh Congress, simply adds sexual orientation and gender identity to a long list of categories that are already protected by the current hate crimes law. One of them is a choice people make: their religion. For conservatives to say they will be arrested for preaching against gays and lesbians if these other “choices” are added to the law is preposterous on its face. If the law could be used against what they call “thought crimes” why are we not cha…
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…e planning close to the leader’s vest. Endlessly long male keynote sermons promoting each other, and excessive pruning and posturing by the alpha males is the new liturgy. It is a wonder women don’t get up, rip off our clothes, and streak down the aisle. A Match Made in Heaven And then we get to 2004. Democrats need religion. Progressive religionists need a party. A match made in heaven. But where were the women? Not nonexistent, but few and far b…
Read More…ate going on about what will happen if we go down this path.” CRC’s client list has on it a number of conservative advocacy groups, think tanks, links to the Republican Party, conservative philanthropy funded organizations, and media outfits, and includes Americans for Fair Taxation, Americans for Hope, Growth & Opportunity, the Discovery Institute, the Federalist Society, the Manhattan Institute, L. Brent Bozell’s Media Research Center, the Natio…
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…th their religious scriptures. From public writings like sermons and legal codes, to private writings like journals and letters, these writings all make up what I call the “Mormon archive,” which is a smaller part of the “American archive.” The archive, I argue, is not just a physical and metaphorical space where (race) history is preserved. It is also where (race) history is made. Exploring the “race of the archive,” as I call it, is a way into s…
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…ter woman for GOP politics, or will she be returned to the frozen tundra?* —- *There has been a surprisingly vibrant discussion surrounding the potential redundancy of the phrase ‘frozen tundra.’ The New York Times’ sports pages reported on Lake Superior State University’s eagerly awaited List of “Words Banished From the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness, 2003 edition,” which banished ‘frozen tundra’ for being redundant (…
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…id Horowitz, and Laura Ingraham, most of which have made it to best-seller lists. In a 2002 essay in The American Prospect titled “Hillary Was Right,” journalist Nicholas Confessore characterized Regnery as the “lifestyle press for conservatives, preferred printer of presidential hopefuls, and venerable publisher of books for the culture wars.” Since the advent of the Iraq War, Regnery has added defense of the Bush administration, promotion of the…
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…as untrue, explaining that it was the way she framed her tweet. She made a list of actors who had committed crimes with victims that needed to go somewhere for justice. The implication, he said, was that they were the same. Perhaps. Although an implication is a very different thing than a literal equation. Here are three thoughts about this alleged controversy that might be helpful, the third of which is the most important. First, she did not lite…
Read More…lics as a whole attach less importance to other possible priorities on the list. But among Catholics who say they attend Mass at least once a week, roughly equal numbers cite “standing up for traditional moral values” (65%) and “addressing the sex abuse scandal” (63%) as top priorities for the new pope. By contrast, among Catholics overall 49% say that standing up for traditional moral values should be “a top priority” for Pope Francis. Roughly fo…
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…s believe? Same-sex marriage, euthanasia, immigration, race relations… the list of topics that demonstrate the vast and often heavily contested views of Christians goes on and on. Indeed, it’s much easier to talk about how Christians differ than to identify just what they all agree on, and that may be the point. Perhaps all agree about the life and teaching of Jesus? Or that the New Testament is God’s revealed word? Any investigation beneath the s…
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