Religion Dispatches
…lities, the rulers of the day focused on persecuting Sikhs such that their numbers dwindled into the low thousands. The regime literally put prices on the heads of Sikhs, offering to pay citizens who helped wipe out the whole community. In fact, Sikhs remember two particular periods in the 18th century as “The Lesser Holocaust” and “The Greater Holocaust.” According to Sikh historians, the state issued an official declaration in 1739 that the enti…
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…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…
Read More…iduals, especially youth, is born of political gain and agendas rather the spirit of Christ.” In words that may need to be eaten in a few more decades, Terry Fox, senior pastor of Summit Church in Wichita, Kansas, tells One News Now that it’s gays and lesbians who owe religious people an apology for their “perversion.” “It shows [Get Equal] think[s] they have become an accepted organization in America, which I would beg to differ with them,” the p…
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…on who is the perfect image of that Father. (The ambiguously-gendered Holy Spirit hovers in the wings.) The Virgin Mary brings the maternal back into the theological picture, one might say, especially in so-called Alexandrian traditions that emphasize the union of human and divine natures in Christ in such a way that Mary may be seen not only as the mother of the human but also the “God-bearer” or “Theotokos.” However, Calvinist and other Reformat…
Read More…rsity, and instead casting his life and presidential aspirations in deeply spiritual terms. Perry said he spent many nights in his 20s pondering his purpose, “wondering what to do with this one life among the billions that were on the planet,” but that God’s answers were revealed to him in due time. No surprise on either count. Liberty University, after all, was founded as a Christian alternative to secular “elite” universities, and speaking at th…
Read More…practices. Muslim reformers of all stripes seek to take Islam back to the spirit of the Prophet Muhammad, the embodiment of moral truth and good character—however differently they interpret him. This historical tendency is often picked up by Muslim-majority nations, who pursue similar ends through modern means. These nations try to take the lead in shaping the return of Muslims to more ‘authentic’ expressions of their faith. Often this meant Ira…
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…ay to demonstrate their fidelity to Allah; Rastafarians smoke cannabis for spiritual sustenance; the ancient Aztecs engaged in human sacrifice to appease the gods. Likewise, Republicanity is rife with ritual acts of the sacred variety. One of the most recent examples is the signing of yet another pledge, “The Marriage Vow—A Declaration of Dependence on Marriage and Family,” drafted by The Family Leader, an Iowa-based organization. Signing pledges…
Read More…: the candidate won’t be campaiging at this church, she just happens to be running for president. As to whether his church will invite other candidates, Beroth writes, “We trust the Holy Spirit to lead us when planning elements in our services. That is our barometer of who we ask to be a part of our services, events and outreaches.”…
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…undocumented—and therefore disenfranchised. Do you think that any kind of spiritual awakening—or religious awakening, since people so often distinguish the two—is requisite for grassroots organizing? The book’s last chapter discusses a couple of passages in Walden where Thoreau refers to the “sleepers,” the ties beneath the railroad tracks, as human beings. His point is that the people and goods riding the trains do so on the backs of workers. Th…
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…lted. The people who gathered at Reliant Stadium are not just Rick Perry’s spiritual army, raised up, as Perry and others imagine it, in the spirit of Joel 2 to sound an alarm and prepare the people for Judgment Day. They are the ground troops the religious right set out four decades ago to create, and duplicate over generations, for the ongoing culture wars. One part of that army is people like Perry himself, supported by religious right politica…
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