Religion Dispatches
…ng our own motives and aspiring to reduce harm and suffering for the greatest number of those at risk.” Ven. Thanissaro Bhikkhu, another notable teacher and translator in the Theravada tradition, disagreed vehemently with Bhikkhu Bodhi’s position, writing a lengthy letter to Inquiring Mind in which he outlined various objections. “The common view—that murderous force is an unfortunate but necessary last resort—is what has caused so much money, tim…
Read More…ump was clearly the winner, but beyond that, it gets hard to award points. Most of the candidates “won” in the sense that they didn’t flame out and/or eat a live baby on television, and most of them got off a good line or two. Carson didn’t get a lot of speaking time, but he used a bit of humor (“I’m the only one to take out half of a brain, although you would think, if you go to Washington, that someone had beat me to it”) and thoughtfulness to d…
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…cs every year are moving here to be a part of a form of Catholic life that most of the Church left behind half a century ago.” Along just 35 miles of U.S. Highway 90, between Spokane and the well-kept, lakeside tourist town of Coeur d’Alene, there are more than 3,000 people attending Latin Mass each week. Among them we can see the full spectrum of lasting reactions to the modernizing reforms of Vatican II, including the new Mass. Father Gordon and…
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…that it’s always deep reading and a capacity to write clearly that matters most. His achievement reminds me of other significant historical works by “uncredentialed” scholars : T.J. Stiles on Cornelius Vanderbilt and George Armstrong Custer, James Bradley on racialized imperialism, and (most creditably) Douglas A. Blackmon on the significance of black convict labor. The issues that Lehmann takes on here could not be more urgent for people construc…
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…olicy imposes a penalty on the free exercise of religion that triggers the most exacting scrutiny.” The Court further held that Missouri’s stated reason for the policy—to avoid potential Establishment Clause violations—was insufficient. The Court’s opinion stands in stark opposition to earlier religious funding decisions, and especially its 2004 opinion in Locke v. Davey. In Locke, the Court upheld a state scholarship program that prohibited recip…
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…e “evangelical frenzy” of the fans lining the block. At first Riley stayed mostly at the periphery of the crowd, shooting sarcastic looks to the camera and lobbing one-liners about the seemingly religious ecstasy of the “glassy-eyed” consumers being ushered in by a team of Apple’s blue-shirted “preachers.” Entertaining as these loose comparisons might be, it was what Riley did next that caused a brief media flurry and garnered coverage by MSNBC, B…
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…use allegations have been steadily declining since the 1980s. Even so, the most recent diocesan audits found just seven credible allegations of abuse in 2010. In 1975, according to the John Jay report, there were more than 300 incidents of abuse. Still, over the past several months, dangerous weaknesses in the Charter have become painfully clear. In February, a Philadelphia grand jury found “substantial evidence” of abuse committed by thirty-seve…
Read More…voting for an upgrade in Palestine’s status at the United Nations, to the most recent—an allegation that, if Jesus were alive today, he would probably be lynched by hostile Palestinians. Nobody at the embassy seems to know who’s writing and posting these very ugly statements—and they’d prefer it stay that way; a spokesperson notes that in addition to government staff, everyday Israelis can post, too. (Which sounds like a disaster for any governme…
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…and democratic state—including its many internal challenges. What I found most fascinating, however, were the categories “People of Jewish background” and “People with a Jewish affinity.” The first includes those “who have a Jewish parent or were raised Jewish but identify with a religion other than Judaism.” In contrast, “People with a Jewish affinity” are those with no Jewish parent and who aren’t Jewish by religion, yet consider themselves Jew…
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…“firebrand” by Bloomberg News, while the New York Times says he uses “the most bellicose language,” second only to Trump. In Washington, Cruz is known for his showmanship, inflexibility and lack of teamwork—of which he is proud. He refused, for instance, to vote along with his party to extend the debt limit, and when this earned him the exasperation of his colleagues, he gleefully recounted their anger and “red-faced name calling” in his autobiog…
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