Religion & Theology
Tariq Ramadan in Montreal: Defining Ethics in Terms of Religion

Spencer Dew. Nov 20, 2009

Controversial Muslim Scholar Tariq Ramadan, banned from travel to the United States, spoke in Montreal last week at the annual convention of the American Academy of Religion. In a question-and-answer session he answered accusations of “doublespeak.”

The Anti-Gay Highway: New Report Details Mutually Beneficial Relationship Between US Evangelicals and African Antigay Clergy

Kathryn Joyce. Nov 18, 2009

A new report documents the trend of evangelicals like Rick Warren exporting sexuality issues to Africa, whose clergy, in turn, support the minority antigay view in mainline denominations, weakening them. The author of the report speaks with RD at length about what he found. 

Spinning Ft. Hood

Hussein Rashid. Nov 11, 2009

RD associate editor Hussein Rashid scrutinizes a cross-section of reactions to the Ft. Hood massacre, from those eager to blame Islam to a number of Muslim-Americans. 

Bad Religion Leaves Big Bruises: When Christians Threaten Health Care Reform

Peter Laarman. Nov 9, 2009

Two strands of Christianity battle against a bill ensuring that all Americans are cared for. One prefers John Locke to Jesus while the other has its issues with women. 

A Daily Utopia: Creating Our Moral Values Every Day

Anna Peterson. Nov 5, 2009

The author of a new book talks to RD about the radical that lies beneath our everyday practices, whether ethics requires religion, and the “education of desire.”

Beautiful Dreamers: A Documentary Asks “What is God”?

Nathan Schneider. Nov 5, 2009

Peter Rodger traveled through twenty-three countries in three years asking the same question to everyone he met, and filming, gorgeously, the results. Turns out the question—“What is God?”—reveals more than a person’s faith.

Hitchens Debates Conservative Evangelical: Nothing Happens

Eric Reitan. Nov 4, 2009

A new documentary called <i>Collision</i> follows the collegial debate between new atheist Christopher Hitchens and conservative evangelical Doug Wilson. Spoiler alert: Neither budges and both gloat to the respective choirs they’d been preaching to. Is this the best we can do?

Religion is Not about Belief: Karen Armstrong’s The Case for God

Brian McGrath Davis. Nov 3, 2009

Of all the monotheisms, Christianity has come to depend the most on the idea of belief, or doctrine. But there is a strong countertradition, now submerged, that insists that any time we say we know who God is, or what God wants, we are committing an act of heresy.

Suicide Bombers and the Prozac God: A Review of Dying for Heaven

Bruce B. Lawrence. Nov 2, 2009

A new work advancing a radical theory of the motivation behind suicide bombers is almost bizarrely off the mark. Stitching together thought and observation from disparate and often dissonant sources, Georgetown theology professor Ariel Glucklich’s book would be laughable were he not a consultant to the defense community.

Good Hair, Good God! The Divine Politics of African-American Hair

Anthea Butler. Nov 2, 2009

Chris Rock’s new documentary scrutinizes the politics and pathos of black hair care: from the beauty salon to the hair show, and from chemical relaxers to the Indian hair that fuels the hair weave industry. 

Decomposing Humanism: Why Replace Religion?

Austin Dacey. Oct 29, 2009

Humanists are right to think that there is more to life than atheism, but wrong to think that they are the ones to provide it.

Reverend Billy For Mayor: Is He For Real?

Nathan Schneider. Oct 28, 2009

Performance artist or man of God? Agitator or politician? The Church of Life After Shopping’s Reverend Billy has a choir and a congregation like a preacher—does he have to be a “real” clergyman to minister to the masses?

Smelling a Secular Funk: Debating the Power of Religion in The Public Sphere

Anthony Petro. Oct 28, 2009

A supergroup of philosophers gathered in New York last week to talk about religion and public life, about the “centrality of the catastrophic” in today’s political context, and about considering the “uncommon” as opposed to “common ground” as a basis for ethics.

Mother (Nature) Will Eat You: Lars von Trier’s Antichrist

S. Brent Plate. Oct 28, 2009

Von Trier’s terrifying rumination on the triad of “pain,” “grief,” and “despair” reminds us that, in contrast to the pronouncements of politicians on what is natural and normal, in nature eating one’s young is not too far out of the ordinary—especially in times of stress.

Atheists Gather in Burbank: A Humanist’s Response

Anthony B. Pinn. Oct 27, 2009

An atheist convention, attended by premier nonbelievers Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett, inspires some reflections on the virtue of a positive, productive humanism, rather than the anti-theism that dominates the discourse.

The Good Bishop Is Right—The Time for Church Debates on Homosexuality is Past

David Gillespie. Oct 25, 2009

Retired Episcopal bishop John Selby Spong has declared that he will no longer argue about the status of gay and lesbian people in the church. “There is no middle ground,” the bishop says, “between prejudice and oppression.” So much for “love the sinner, hate the sin.”

Mormonism’s Black Issues

Joanna Brooks. Oct 25, 2009

While many Mormons would like to forget the Church’s history of discrimination against blacks, an Apostle’s recent statements comparing the post-Proposition 8 Mormon backlash to the Civil Rights-era harassment of black voters have brought that painful past back into the spotlight.

Prison as Resurrection

Caleb Smith. Oct 23, 2009

While it’s clear that prisons in this country are a disaster and a scandal, a new book delves into the system’s religious roots and the belief in the spiritual benefits of disciplinary isolation. 

 

Vatican’s Come-Hither to Anglicans: A Theological Scandal

Mary E. Hunt. Oct 22, 2009

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

Kenny Smith. Oct 22, 2009

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? 

  1  2  3  4  5  6  7   Next Page»