Religion Dispatches
…lyptic preacher John Hagee. I would very much like to know whether they co-sign Hagee’s apocalyptic visions. I want to know the same answers about Romney, but not because he’s Mormon. Equally as pertinent to what Romney himself believes is what he thinks his base believes, and to what extent, as president, he’d be worrying about placating them. Remember, he was trying to show Mickelson he believes the same things evangelicals do. He’s running for…
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…Church teaching mandates a separation between sign (i.e. icons, etc.) and signified (i.e. the divine presence), in practice the two often merge. Both Roman Catholic modernizers and Protestant iconoclasts have for the last four hundred years tried to stress the transcendence of God’s presence—the absolute separation between the material and spiritual in the here and now. But sacred immanence continues to influence Catholic religiosity in Mexico an…
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…ars, white cars; trucks, station wagons, sedans; light posts, fence posts, sign posts; and so on. So it is that I learned this at an early age: numbers make us comfortable. They create the illusion that we understand something meaningful about the reality through which we are moving even as they distract us from the mysterious, often hidden, mechanisms propelling us through time and space. Judging by the media excitement over the latest poll ill…
Read More…ns are partnering with Marylanders for Marriage Equality, and are actively promoting their support for Question 6. What’s striking about the Birk television ad, is how, even though Birk is Catholic, it doesn’t mention religion or religious freedom. Amongst marriage equality opponents, such as at a closed door meeting a few weeks ago in Baltimore, religious freedom is a rallying cry (even though the law contains ample protections for religious obje…
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…d spiritual work at such a deep level that it was in his bones. A telltale sign: when Howard began his Judson work, 99% of working clergy had no real feeling for artists, and most were even slightly afraid of them as some kind of alien species. Howard not only loved all artists but he gravitated toward the edgiest and most experimental among them: the outlaws. I think he reveled in the avant garde because he himself was actually part of it: comple…
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…marriage to over 50 percent right after his announcement. I think that’s a sign that in the African-American community, particularly the religious community, they were doing their homework and they, too, were evolving on this issue. I think the president’s coming out about marriage equality gave them cover to go public. It’s not all of a sudden they changed, but it gave them the cover to say, “Me, too, actually.” What’s your opinion of the Republi…
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…esus.” But when Heather and her husband moved away, and a new couple was assigned as pastors to our corps, I took it as an opportunity to step further away from church attendance. My kids are still in the process of sorting out their beliefs. A couple say they are atheists, a couple call themselves Christians—and sometimes they still go to church, which is how Chassé happened to be in attendance on Friday evening when the new pastors, Captains RC…
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…and the ecological. The variety of liturgies and rituals for Tu Bishvat is significant, and inspiring. On the other hand, so what? So a bunch of already-converted liberals get together and reaffirm their commitments to what they already believe. A few will decide that being vegan isn’t enough, and that they’ll stop eating honey as well. Some will sign a petition. Meanwhile, nothing will happen to slow climate change, preserve biodiversity, or save…
Read More…sensus of the synod. Progressive Catholics, however, see it as a win and a sign of progress that there was even open discussion about these issues allowed at the synod. Most encouraging, says Andrew Sullivan, is the new level of transparency under Pope Francis and his decision to include the failed paragraphs and their vote tallies in the final document: And there you see why it is not wishful thinking to believe that something profound has indeed…
Read More…priests in good standing; of mothers of priests’ children being forced to sign confidentiality agreements to get any support at all. These issues—forcing children to bear children, forced child relinquishment, abandonment of children by Catholic priests—were not the main subjects of this hearing, but that they were mentioned is noteworthy because the church’s history of child abuse has taken many forms. And that history is tied intimately to the…
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