Religion Dispatches
…nt to get to some core non-physical identity, some materially transcendent spirit, some individuality that is more about the myth of modern individualism than about anything religious. Therein they miss the (religious) point. And this is where I will go on record to suggest that Darren Aronofsky is one of the greatest living religious filmmakers. I confess, I’ve been a fan since his first feature length film, π (alternatively titled: Pi: Faith in…
Read More…ficial state letterhead as follows: “My response to your letter of February 19, 1976, is—kiss my ass.” Baxley’s response falls right in line with Sikh traditions. Sikhs of the 18th century banded together to resist bigots who terrorized and oppressed minority communities. Because Sikhs staunchly insisted on standing up against injustice and inequalities, the rulers of the day focused on persecuting Sikhs such that their numbers dwindled into the l…
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…l (Dallas Statement) opened the floodgates for critiques on CRT. In Article 1 it reads: We deny that Christian belief, character, or conduct can be dictated by any other authority, and we deny that the postmodern ideologies derived from intersectionality, radical feminism, and critical race theory are consistent with biblical teaching. We further deny that competency to teach on any biblical issue comes from any qualification for spiritual people…
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…ld her He was preparing, “to pour out from heaven the ferocious fire of my spirit” on the West Coast of America—a “fresh new breath upon California” and not, Alec insisted, a mere repeat of the 1906 Azusa Street Revival. She said God promised a “cleansing” of Los Angeles and its “gatekeepers of the media and the entertainment industry.” And she warned the city of San Francisco, “overwhelm[ed]” by “the weight of sin,” that it would be “brought to y…
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…courts for more than a decade. We used the internet to regroup and grow in numbers. The Church even developed its own web-based resources to acknowledge and address its own controversies—historic and contemporary. This, we thought, was a good sign. A sign that might not need to fear losing our membership, our place, in a cherished tradition, just for having and voicing questions, doubts, and differences. We told ourselves to not to be afraid. And…
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…rusalem took a bulldozer and went plowing through a score of cars, killing numbers of people. Judgment—you can’t miss it.” Wasilla Bible Church is now promoting a September 13 Focus on the Family event called Love Won Out, a workshop on how to cure homosexuality through prayer [see pdf]. From 2006 on: Juneau Christian Center, Pastor Mike Rose Once Palin was elected governor, she affiliated with a third church, where she attends services while in t…
Read More…lifornia Supremes have now spoken and have backed completely away from the spirit of their decision of one year ago—the decision arguing persuasively that the principle of equal rights under law applies to gay people, too. Now these same justices say that the people of California have a perfect right to decide core constitutional issues via plebiscite. In oral arguments earlier this year, Chief Justice Ronald George—the principal author of the fir…
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…God a policeman? A scapegoat? His discoveries, if anything, fall into the spiritual-but-not-religious sensibility that has been ascendant in popular culture for the last half century or so. Religion, with all its tribalism and corrupt leadership, is pretty much bad. God, or spirit, and the power of individuals to decide for themselves, are good. As he crosses the border between Kenya and Tanzania, at one point, he discovers, having felt no tremen…
Read More…also functions in African American religious experience as a tool to give spiritual support in times of tremendous loss and to celebrate the spirit of a deceased person. This is clearly evident in the New Orleans jazz funeral, which is a dramatic musical performance that expresses both the grief and joy embedded in the African American funeral.” Smith’s book is taking a place on my bookshelf next to one of my favorite cultural studies books of al…
Read More…ecumenical apology. So why is Pope Francis’ visit with a relatively obscure 12th-century sect notable? There are two main reasons. First, there’s the Waldensians’ historical importance as a precursor to the 16th century Protestant Reformation. Like the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre of the century before or the many tales of martyrdom recounted in John Foxe’s Acts and Monuments the plight of the Waldensians would become a touchstone for many Prote…
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