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Vatican’s Come-Hither to Anglicans: A Theological Scandal
While the Catholic Church is touting its warm welcome to conservative Anglicans, it’s also a simple union of those who reject gay and women’s ordination.
Atlanta Falcons “Defend the Dome”: Football, Religion, and Existential Power
The Atlanta Falcons, defenders of the Georgia Dome, “fought, harassed, stuffed, smothered, and smacked” their way to victory last week. What is it about football that brings out such primal intensity in its fans?
The Conservative Bible Project: Looking for Conservative Diamonds in a Liberal Dung-Hill
Andy Schlafly, son of Phyllis, wants to claim the Christian scriptures for conservatism. Why rewrite the Bible? Well, as everyone knows, Jesus is a pretty liberal dude. And everyone knows that “young girl” in Greek was really a euphemism for “bimbo.”
Slouching Towards Lake Wobegon; Searching for Meaning in the Google Cloud
Has the shift from sociability to social-networking left Garrison Keillor clinging to his Wobegone Lutherans of yesteryear? What of the glaring problems of those “simpler times?”
Weird Testament: The Bible Gets the R. Crumb Treatment
Legendary underground comics artist R. Crumb has produced a surprisingly reverent Book of Genesis. For real grotesquerie, you need to look back to the Bible of Basil Wolverton, an evangelical illustrator whose work dwelt on the bizarre and violent.
You Are More Than Your Brain: A Revolutionary Theory of Consciousness
Science tells us that our minds, our consciousness, our very selves, reside in our physical brains. But what if this model, relying as it does on a seventeenth century understanding of mind and matter, is outdated? Philosopher Alva Noë proposes a revolutionary alternative.
The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right
President Obama averages 30 death threats per day, preachers pray publicly for his death, and right-wing pundits speak openly of military coups. Dave Neiwert, author of The Eliminationists, gives some insight into the relationship between extreme rhetoric and acts of violence.
Harry Potter Gone Bad: Lev Grossman’s The Magicians
The characters in this adult, anti-fantasy novel of hope (and magic) lost appear to teach the lesson that Harry Potter probably ended up hating himself, and life, after the end of book seven. But would a less dour novel have been so highly praised?
Is the Boson Particle “Hated by God”?
Two eminent physicists have hypothesized that the Higgs boson might be hated by God to such an extent that if one occurred it would go back in time and stop itself from being made.
A Pagan Republican Comes Out of the Broom Closet
Aspiring New York City councilman Dan Halloran is a practicing Neopagan, more specifically a Heathen, devoted to the religious practices and beliefs of early Northern Europe. But the oddest thing of all, to many people, is that he’s not an anti-war, enviro-activist, free-loving liberal—he’s a Republican.
Art as Religion, Museum as Temple
For the Greeks, museums were sacred places dedicated to the muses. How is it that the Catholic Church got into the pagan shrine business?
“An Ambassador For Judaism”: Madonna, Kabbalah, and Religion in Israel
When Madonna visited Israel last month with her boyfriend Jesus in tow, Israeli leaders from across the political spectrum were so eager to bask in her aura (or light Sabbath candles with her) that obvious ironies were ignored. Or, as one rabbi put it, simply: “Thank God for Madonna.”
Mennonite in a Midlife Crisis (of Faith)
Poet and writer Rhoda Janzen rebounded from a series of overlapping crises by going home to her Mennonite family—and lived to tell the (surprisingly funny) tale.
New Age Tragedy in Sedona: Non-Indians in the Sweat Lodge
Wealth creation guru James Arthur Ray is under investigation for criminal negligence in the deaths of two participants in a sweat lodge last week. Is this the inevitable result of outsider appropriation of a sacred ritual, or is the story more complex? Our writer, whose own tradition includes the sweat lodge ceremony, explains the nuances.
Barbara Ehrenreich’s Bright-Sided Explores the Dark Side of Positive Thinking
A new book reveals the historical roots and conservative uses of the positive thinking movement, showing how it encourages victim-blaming, political complacency, and a culture-wide flight from realism.
Bright-Sided Recalls Mark Twain’s Travails
Barbara Ehrenreich’s new book on the dangers of Positive Thinking recalls Mark Twain’s obsession with the 19th century’s most famous mind-over-matter exponent: Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy. Are critics just jealous?
Lars von Trier is the Antichrist Best Film Director in the World
In the great tradition of Socrates and Kierkegaard, Lars von Trier realizes that his role is to enable the audience to ask questions and confront themselves.
National Association of Evangelicals Supports Immigration Reform, But Elsewhere Discord Reigns
Major religious leaders support immigration reform while a think tank argues that “loving thy neighbor” is relative. When we remember that real people’s lives are at stake, the moral landscape becomes clear.
Patron Saint of AIDS/HIV To Be Canonized
Father Damien de Veuster was a Belgian priest who ministered to a community of exiles on the island of Molokai. He has been, for many years, the unofficial patron saint of AIDS/HIV, a disease that has a history of misunderstanding akin to that of the illness he himself died of—Hansen’s disease, or leprosy.
Burying the Future: Youth Violence in Chicago
The problem of children slain in urban America is usually considered an inner-city crisis, isolated from the larger social sphere. But once you know about it, or see it up close, you see it everywhere.