Religion Dispatches
…r-the-top parody group of hate groups. Even their Web site at godhatesfags.com looks like a deft parody of hate sites. In fact, compare WBC’s Santa attack to a similar piece over at Landover Baptist, an openly stated religious parody site. If WBC’s goal is to turn America against gays and lesbians, Iraq veterans and now Santa, they have been woefully incompetent. However, they do tend to foster more tolerance, and even some acceptance. Ask even th…
Read More
…to eighty percent of all Americans believe in God, an extraordinarily high number compared with other industrialized nations. But what are the characteristics of this God? Do all Americans base their beliefs on a literal reading of the Bible? Is it the same God if some Americans use the term in its personal, theistic sense referring to a transcendent God in heaven and some use it to refer to a pantheistic, immanent power that infuses all of nature…
Read More
…sely chose to ignore it rather than add to the confusion. The real vampire community (as this group has come to collectively refer to itself) is in the strange position of experiencing an unprecedented level of media attention, even as they are often pejoratively characterized as being unable to discern media from reality. Don Rimer, a former police officer and “occult crimes expert” recently claimed that the Twilight novels by Stephanie Meyer hav…
Read More
…linton “called for urgent action by Arabs, Israelis, and the international community to break the cycle of Mideast violence and to move toward a comprehensive peace in the region,” Evans noted. What this really means, according to Evans, is “that Israel would be forced to give up East Jerusalem, and the holy sites beloved by Christians worldwide, as well as most of Judea and Samaria.” Evans also pointed out that Netanyahu would soon be traveling t…
Read More
…ehind series, discussed it on the Rachel Maddow show. Jenkins subsequently complained about how Maddow edited them, so she posted the entire interview (which you can watch at the bottom of this story). The exchange is worth watching in its entirety, but I will offer a brief summary analysis of the duo’s two-step. Jenkins and LaHaye wisely distanced themselves from a bald assertion that Obama is the Antichrist, retreating instead to a somewhat more…
Read More
…is informed by Trinity Broadcasting, the Word Network, and Streaming Faith.com. Just the same, for sociologists and communication theorists who have examined the world of evangelical religious broadcasting, it is predominantly framed as the domain of the white, religious right. This book, then, is my attempt to illumine, unpack, and interrogate the theological and social orientations of prominent black religious broadcasters in order to understa…
Read More
…from Harrisburg. As they sat down at the table, Sneath and Dennis began to compare notes, sharing common experiences. Dennis plopped a large file on the table that details the case and starts flipping through pages. She asked Sneath if she had initially realized how demanding and time-consuming being a plaintiff in a First Amendment case would be. Sneath told her she honestly had no idea what to expect. At first, Jenifer Dennis said she couldn’t t…
Read More
…Second Life is a boon because virtual worlds afford the opportunity to overcome our cultural differences in a new community, formed of people from different cultures and with different beliefs (New World Notes). The opportunity to explore new religious “territory” is aptly seen in the case of the Muslim woman who attended synagogue in Second Life because she had been curious about Judaism but felt too self-conscious to attend a real-life temple se…
Read More
…out her family’s faith, Janzen’s personal takeaway messages are strikingly compassionate. As someone who has long battled my own uncomfortable ties to the organized religion that alienates me from my family, Janzen’s response to her family’s religious conviction strikes me as measured and kind. Instead of wholly rejecting biblical devotion, she questions whether practicing virtue (the type of celibate morality performed by nuns, for example) has e…
Read More…e the presidential election and well before Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade comes the first, albeit relatively kind and gentle, salvo in America’s “War on Christmas.” The Reverend Donald Wildmon’s American Family Association is proud to offer holiday trinkets sure to become a sacred hand-me-down in Christmas-embattled families all across the nation; a new Christmas button, and a glossy sticker, emblazoned with the slogan: “It’s OK to say Merry Chri…
Read More