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RDPulpit: Religious Right Censors Austria’s Gay Jesus

By Kittredge Cherry

…rtist himself calls a “homosexual orgy,” celebrates the union of flesh and spirit—the same idea that Jesus embodied when he passed bread to his disciples and said, “This is my body” (Mark 14:22). Hrdlicka, an atheist and anti-war activist who personally witnessed the effects of Nazism and violence, often employs biblical imagery, especially the suffering of Christ, a central theme in his art. The rest of his exhibit, titled “Religion, Flesh and Po…

What Should the Vatican Say to the (Last Generation of) Nuns?

By Peter Manseau

…rs of the religious communities that once built, staffed, and embodied the spirit of the Church in America. Coming as it does in the wake of the rebuke delivered last month to the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the censure of Sister Farley’s book Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics, is enough to make one wonder if there are doctrinal risks taken simply by being Catholic while female. It’s easy to understand the Vatican’…

Desecration of Graves at Burr Oak Cemetery in Illinois: Why’s it So Disturbing?

By Gary Laderman

…relationships and responsibilities to the dead. Not only in terms of their spiritual value in the afterlife, though that is obviously an element; not only in terms of the therapeutic value of the peace of the grave, though this too is relevant; not in only terms of the economic value of fees paid to working professional and responsible parties, though of course this is an indisputable component. But all of these combined—in other words, the total…

A Dismayed Democrat Reads the Bible

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…ing it’s not the physical body that is raised, he goes on to speak about a spiritual body. And as he tries to explain what a spiritual body is, he uses images of continuity that are at the same time image of radical discontinuity. So, the physical body is like a seed. The spiritual body is like a full-grown plant. Obviously, there is continuity, but the difference in appearance is enormous between a tree and an acorn. He does say there is continui…

Sean Feucht’s New Year’s Rockin’ Superspreader Revival is a ‘Tepid and Meager’ Effort at Racial Reconciliation

By Isaiah Murtaugh

…lliam J. Seymour was suddenly flooded in what they believed to be the Holy Spirit. On New Year’s Eve, worshippers will gather here again, in the courtyard of the next-door Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, to pray for another revival. It’s the latest stop on a nationwide “worship protest” campaign, led by Sean Feucht, a worship leader, failed congressional candidate, and would-be revivalist. Feucht’s Let Us Worship events have become…

Can a Pig Heart be Kosher?

By Ari Stillman

…who’s to say that it’s really more far-fetched than a big invisible man in the sky? But then reality kicks in. Proto-religion didn’t account for everything. That’s when scholars and theologians alike must seek the spirit of their texts to pronounce new judgments. If the day comes when I need an organ and getting one from a pig is my best bet, I’ll gladly take it. But I also like bacon, so take that as you will….

Sacrifice, Suffering, and Rick Santorum

By Ivan Strenski

…and sacrifice of Rick Santorum more than a little self-centered—a kind of spiritual egoism. I feel that this should not be about him; it should be about Isabella. But, who has asked of her in the media? Does anyone care about how she “sacrifices” so mutely, so uncomprehendingly—when not even capable of considering the choice? While high-minded theological rationales enrich Rick Santorum’s life story, what have Catholic theologians to say about ho…

Hulu’s ‘Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia’ Shows That We Can No Longer Ignore Connections Between Religion and Drugs

By Hollis Phelps

…use the drug ritually for its perceived medicinal value to treat a host of spiritual, psychic, and physical ailments. According to Queen Mother of the Waters, Iboga heals because it “reveal[s] all that’s inside you.” The episode in particular focuses on its use to treat a man addicted to Tramadol, an opioid pain medication. The elaborate, multi-day purgative ritual he participates in, which includes the ingestion of copious amounts of Iboga, may s…

Honey Boo Boo and the Sweet By and By

By Carrie Allen Tipton

…rasp the paradox of how this music can exert such a powerful aesthetic and spiritual hold over him (and by extension, over others) when its host culture opposes his ethical values on so many fronts. Writing himself visibly and self-consciously into the study allows for an empathetic, nuanced, yet honest rhetorical stance reminiscent of Randall Balmer’s tone in Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory. To mix religious metaphors, Harrison kicks a couple of sa…

Religious Affiliation, ‘Mankind’: India’s Anti-Corruption Activist Leads Second Freedom Struggle

By April L. Bogle

…ie. India could be an absolute provider for the world—of youth, education, spirituality, cuisine—but it doesn’t have integrity,” she said. Of every 100 rupees collected by the Indian government, Bedi says only 16 go to the common man. The rest is lost in graft. She wants to raise this amount to 90 and put the money into the country’s infrastructure: schools, universities, roads, and bridges. The Lokpal Bill was set to come up for parliamentary vot…