Religion Dispatches
…40-year interval between Stephen Levine’s previous book of poetry and his latest—that’s quite a span. In the interim, he’s not remained silent. Indeed, you may recognize his name as a bestselling spiritual author. If you’ve read any of his books, you might have noted how poetic his prose is: its awakening quality of mind, and openness of heart. So, when a reader once complained to the author how his book Who Dies? made no mention of what poets wr…
Read More…In the latest Bloggingheads.tv Slate‘s David Weigel and I discuss the political implications of the Republican assault on reproductive rights in Congress, a possible GOP “truce” on abortion in the 2012 primary, and the internal conservative movement culture wars, from the inclusion of gay groups in the conservative coalition, to what I’ve taken to calling the “Islamophobia Industrial Complex.”…
Read More…tist church in Grand Rapids Michigan, is the author of numerous books. His latest, “Love Wins: [A Book About] Heaven, Hell and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived” is a provocative, thoughtful, and ultimately generous meditation on meaning, and life, and afterlife… And you probably shouldn’t read it if you don’t want to feel better. Pastor Bell, great thanks for being with us on State of Belief Radio. [RB]: You’re great. It was a good time. Th…
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…olence of the barbarous acts that were committed.” This incident marks the latest, and perhaps most spectacular, in a line of attacks on the image. Piss Christ, as the photo is commonly referred to, was among the first shots fired (or first casualties suffered, depending on your perspective) in the culture wars of Reagan-era America. In 1989, Republican senator Jesse Helms denounced the photo, characterizing Serrano as “not an artist” but a “jerk….
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…ever, given the prospective role—which actually now looks more and more like an obligation—that this Karmapa could play going forward, this latest incident may have served a significant purpose….
Read MoreBack in 2009, I called Sarah Palin’s Going Rogue promotion the “bus tour of destruction,” noting that her “worldview is not about creation and building,” but about “destruction and dominion.” For dominion to take place, I wrote, “the current order, especially the Democrats’ version of government order, has to fail. What most liberals, Christians included, don’t understand, is that destruction paves the way for a new order ordained by God accordin…
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…those he believed were Islamist terrorist sympathizers. In many ways, this latest act of religious hatred, carried out in the name of cultural purity, signals the febrile acceptance of Osama bin Laden’s invitation to reignite the medieval holy war between Islam and the Christian West. While the violence is similar, any similarity is tactical, not substantive. The instances Breivik approvingly cites (say, the war in Bosnia) pre-date al Qaeda’s prom…
Read More…that in the individual states now facing budget crises—Minnesota being the latest example—the dynamic is exactly the same as in Washington DC: Everyone must sacrifice to balance the budget except for the only people in society who have continued to do very well during the Great Recession: the top 20 percent and the top 5 percent in particular. My question is why there is still no significant religious component in movements like US Uncut, which or…
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…he languid, almost unbearable restraint of the music, particularly on this latest recording, constantly strains against the mythically dark stories of the characters’ individual lives. The understated, even mannered, songs tell hyperbolic character tales. In “Tennessee,” a girl-gone-wrong song, a gentle guitar and swaying melody gives voice to a character who learned to sing hosannas on my knees, was corrupted by the feel of whiskers on her cheek,…
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…intellectual reasons, LGBT activists are loathe to base our rights on the latest scientific or pseudo-scientific data. This strikes me as wise. But as I talk about these issues with folks in the “movable middle,” I’ve noticed that the reluctant allies, semi-supportive family members, and more-or-less-convinceable moderates come to pro-gay conclusions for the reasons Lady Gaga identified: because gay people are born that way. So it does matter, po…
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