Religion Dispatches
…boredom? I wonder. Needless to say, to the extent that longevity research promotes ways to alleviate the suffering caused by debilitating diseases such as Altzheimer and Parkinson, they are all very beneficial. However, I also believe that all programs about extension of human life cannot be divorced from the deeper reflection about the purpose of human life. Such reflection seems to be missing from the transhumanist literature. One could object…
Read More
…ate title would you give the book? I often joked that the title should be “Welcome to Insane World” because none of the pieces fit neatly together: “Darwinist”-spouting teachers were preachers’ kids; the “atheist” plaintiffs taught Sunday school; the “activist” judge was a Bush-appointed Republican; and the people labeled “liars” were willing to go to jail for the truth. How do you feel about the cover? We had originally chosen a different photogr…
Read More
…miracles begin. If this seems strangely, elusively, and creepily enticing, welcome to the world of an apostolic movement sweeping the globe with its claims of prophecy direct from God, supernatural revivals and healings, and a quest to mold young people for God’s kingdom by enforced sexual purity, 24/7 prayer, repentance, and fasting. God TV, which acts both as a player in the movement and its gigantic PR machine, beams its programming (which ofte…
Read More
…tually becomes neo-liberal economics. The Reformation was a product of and promoted a communications revolution in terms of print. Conservative Protestants have always been the first to understand the significance of new technologies. I think the reason for that is the Protestant preoccupation with the Word, and they get the Word out however they can. For a long time it was print. In the early 20th century it was radio. By the forties it was telev…
Read More
…community are alive and one day they will tell us about their experiences, unlike the children who died at Mount Carmel. Comments? We enthusiastically welcome any response to this story, or to any of our features. Write to us!…
Read More…resa Kane, then president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, welcomed Pope John Paul II to a gathering of nuns held in the Basilica of the National Shrine in Washington DC. Her gentle and generous welcome caused a stir because she dared to mention, albeit with deep respect, that the other half of the church (read: women) wants to be involved in all of its ministries. Her implicit reference to the ban on the ordination of women and wo…
Read More
…th compassion; to recognize the real pain and discomfort of others; and to welcome them with open arms into the shared project of finding freedom, justice, and power together. That, as I always say, does not mean surrendering core principles or compromising them away. The truth, after all, is the truth. But I would love to see a sign at the next health care town hall meeting declaring WE SHARE YOUR PAIN AND WE NEED YOUR HELP. I would love to see B…
Read More
…a new year at Hogwarts, with Dumbledore in the middle of his heartwarming welcome to students. In this situation, Chuck Bass would light a cigar, take out a flask, tell Dumbledore to get a life, and try to get at least two first-year girls into bed by night’s end—preferably at the same time. Alas, it is not difficult to imagine Quentin, “[the] slacker Park Slope Harry Potter,” and his fellow magician friends (the perpetually bored and drunk) Elio…
Read More…ossible to distinguish, in language, between advocating lynching and being welcomed into the best country clubs. The only label we have is “racist.” So it sounds preposterous to some of us (with systemic views of racism) when someone says that the NAACP raising the issue of racism in the Tea Party “is racist.” It sounds ridiculous to them (with individual views of racism) when we say that current social problems in the United States are rooted in…
Read More…y of prophetic millennialism. Beck, a convert to Mormonism, recalls the strident prophetic voice that distinguished Mormonism from 19th-century Protestant groups. Many Mormons have a long cultural memory of persecution. Though they may welcome their church’s modern emphasis on their similarities to other religionists, I believe there remains a longing in them for the ‘peculiar people’ identity conveyed by the divisive prophetic voice and the histo…
Read More