Religion Dispatches
…Christians is not reason enough for a divorce and, more often than not, is code for “serious sin.” Pentecostals have a history of being strict about reasons to divorce, adultery being scripturally the only reason to do so. For those who divorce and who have a denominational affiliation through ministerial license, a divorce can mean, at best, additional scrutiny and at worst, stripping of ministerial credentials. Of course, that never has stopped…
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…than thinking about the self as being a language—as being like a computer code that speaks—we think about the self as a cluster of forces. [These forces] make us what we are, and our decisions come from that rather than from this linguistic layer, which is actually constituted by that more fundamental cluster of forces. That’s what I see affect theory doing: upsetting this idea that human beings start with language and that we do what we do becau…
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…n the Vatican, the Pope pays homage to a black Madonna. Runoko Rashidi, an African scholar who travels all over the world, goes searching for black Madonnas. He has historical documentation of Europeans being very connected to paying homage to the black Madonna, whereas here in this country we know little or nothing about that practice. I’m mentioning black men because we have the opposite gender affirming the black female presence at the highest…
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…nel, “videos to make your noggin get bigger,” contains several videos that promote 9/11 trutherism and COVID-19 conspiracy theories. There is a video that features Richard Gage, the founder of the conspiracy group Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, speculating about the financial benefactors from the Twin Towers’ collapse. The theme of an evil new world order run by craven elites is extended in the next verse: I wish politicians would look o…
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…? Why? In addition to Mitch Duneier’s Sidewalk, I would say Eli Anderson’s Code of the Street. It’s such a wonderful example of using the ethnographic method to dig beneath common stereotypes and reveal the social dynamics underlying a supposedly well-understood phenomenon. In his case, he’s looking at the situation of inner-city violence among young African American men. By carefully observing, listening, documenting, and then analyzing, he is ab…
Read More…ll prevalent today. To understand Islamophobia in other parts of the world—South Asia, Africa—I would have had to immerse myself in the history and cultures of those parts of the world, and frankly I am just not familiar enough with those regions to undertake such an inquiry. What are some of the biggest misconceptions about your topic? The biggest misconception is that Islamophobes are only concerned about Muslim extremists. In fact, the most pro…
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…was accomplished hasn’t been talked about. We saw the poll numbers in the African-American community go from like 37 percent affirming of gay 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…
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…by so many church leaders. However, I just had an incredible few weeks in South Africa. I met a lot of great people, saw a lot, and learned a lot about the thousands who gave their lives to struggle against apartheid. I spent a great day with Archbishop Tutu, who is one of my heroes and my friend—that is an enormous blessing. And I have met all the greatest saints. My life has been so unusual, from time in jail and traveling war zones to being wi…
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…(and likely exhausting) tour of the world that took him to remote parts of Africa and Eastern Europe, all over Latin America, as well as throughout Western Europe, Asia, North America, and Australia. It read like good training for being Pope, if you ask me. Weakland was a contemporary and friend of the Jesuit’s beloved leader Pedro Arrupe. It was Rembert Weakland who gave Thomas Merton’s still-warm body the last rites when he died in Thailand. Ben…
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…it from a capitalist economy primarily built upon economic exploitation of Africans, Native peoples, and the environment. While these circumstances benefited white Jews, they were not exempt from the effects of racist science. Nineteenth century racist science, which purported to provide physical evidence for the inferiority or superiority of peoples, was influential in shaping normative ideologies of belonging in the U.S. and political policy. In…
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