ReligionDispatches - Stories

Capricology: Week 3: Apotheosis, Anyone?

Diane Winston, Anthea Butler, Henry Jenkins, Salman Hameed — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

More on the sci-fi TV show that imagines monotheists rebelling against a polytheist society, speculates about the nature of the human soul, and asks, “Can you be free if you’re not real?”

Religious Practices on Trial in Arizona: The Problem With “Experts”

Johnny P. Flynn — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

New Age guru James Arthur Ray was arrested in Arizona last week, charged with manslaughter in the deadly miscarriage of a sweat lodge ritual. The news lit up with “expert” analysis, but none of it was from Indian religious leaders or practitioners. What does “expert” mean in this context?

The Tebow Superbowl Ad: Offense, Defense, or Interference?

Louis A. Ruprecht — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:00:01 PST

The Tebow family are in the missionary business, and the ad they produced for Focus on the Family used their son’s football stardom to good effect. But what were they really selling?

Christian Imperialism in Haiti? Missionaries, Theo-tourism, and the Invasion of the Global South

Michelle Gonzalez Maldonado — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

The disaster in Haiti has brought attention to the ways that aid and ignorance sometimes come as a package.

Religion Dispatches Turns Two

The Editors — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

We’re working hard, burning that birthday candle at both ends, but we wanted to stop, take note, and say thank you to our readers and our writers, and to everyone who has helped us reach this milestone.

Missionary Imposition: Idaho Baptists Charged With Kidnapping 33 Haitian Children

Anthea Butler — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:00:01 PST

Had the inexperienced Idaho missionaries read so much as Haiti’s Wikipedia page they would have learned that the nation has a history of slavery, colonialism, and missions that warns against attempts to remove Haitian children from their home.

Christopher Hitchens, Religious in Spite of Himself?

Eric Reitan — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

In a recent interview with a Unitarian minister, the Vanity Fair columnist seemed to be nibbling at the edges of what can only be described as spirituality, leading our author to wonder whether Christopher Hitchens isn’t the best of the New Atheists for his willingness to reject atheistic dogmas.

Religious Leaders Urge Obama to Condemn Ugandan Anti-Gay Bill at Prayer Breakfast

Sarah Posner — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

Obama is scheduled to address the National Prayer Breakfast, organized by ‘The Family,’ which has ties to the ‘kill-the-gays’ bill in Uganda. Religious leaders, including a member of the president's faith-based Advisory Council, are calling on the president to condemn homophobia and offer an alternative, inclusive prayer event.

The ‘Evolving’ Story of Teacher Who Burned Cross into Student’s Arm

Lauri Lebo — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

More than a year after a high school student’s arm was burned by a Christian schoolteacher, John Freshwater, the story continues to change. While the family has settled with the school the Dennis family suit against Freshwater awaits trial while Freshwater has launched a counterclaim.

Capricology: Week 2: The Soul of a Robot

Henry Jenkins, Diane Winston, Salman Hameed — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

Can a mechanical body have a personality? How about multiple personalities? Caprica asks these tried and true sci-fi questions, but then takes a leap into questions of terrorism—and sexual identity.

RDPulpit: Obama Missed the Hope in State of the Union Address

Daniel Schultz — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 23:00:01 PST

In this adapted excerpt from his forthcoming book, RD contributor Daniel Schultz asks whether the president’s State of the Union address will foster hope, ‘newness,’ and faith or just reinforce the base assumptions about power and the economy.

When Mormons Mobilize: Anti-Gay Marriage Prop. 8 Effort ‘Outed’?

Joanna Brooks — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:00:01 PST

New documents introduced in the challenge to Prop. 8 reveal that the LDS Church sought to create “plausible deniability” in its role in supporting the Yes on 8 campaign. Why would the LDS hierarchy want to deny Mormon involvement?

How Does an Atheist Come to Believe in God?: An Interview with Jacob Needleman

Lisa Webster — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:00:01 PST

RD’s senior editor sits down with philosopher Jacob Needleman, whose autobiography What is God? describes his journey from young Ivy-educated professor and atheist, to talk about fundamentalism, atheism, separating the sacred from religion, and why listening is the first step of every ethics.

Something Borrowed, Something Blue: Avatar and the Myth of Originality

S. Brent Plate — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:01 PST

Avatar is now officially the top-grossing movie of all time, but that’s not because it shows us something entirely original (in 3D no less). Like all good myths, it is a mashup: a mix of well-tested stories, presented in an unfamiliar way.

No Garden to Get Back to: Understanding Post-Avatar Ecological Depressive Disorder

Ryan Croken — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:01 PST

It may be only a movie, but it is turning significant segments of its audience into eco-radicals. We can go ahead and dissect the film’s weaknesses, but as our planet dies, and politicians fail, is this really how we want to talk about the most influential ecological parable of our time?

Angry Voters, Right-Wing Populism, & Racial Violence: People of Faith Can Help Break the Linkages

Chip Berlet — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:00:01 PST

We are in the midst of one of the most significant right-wing populist rebellions in US history as illustrated by the Tea Party and Patriot movements. Will religious and progressive activists provide a voice and outlet for populist fear and anger or will these dispossessed voices find a home among the potentially violent elements of the far right?

Speaking of Family: When Children of Queer Families Talk About Their Lives

John Blevins — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:00:01 PST

The New York Times has reported that almost a quarter of a million kids are being raised by gay parents. What does their testimony mean for the state of the national (and international) discussion on same-sex marriage?

Capricology: Television, Tech, and the Sacred

Anthea Butler, Salman Hameed, Henry Jenkins, Diane Winston — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:01 PST

Welcome to the first installment of our ongoing coverage of television’s latest contribution to the cultural intersection of science and religion, with bonus themes to include: the body, artificial intelligence, paganism, original sin, immigration, and race. Join Diane Winston, Anthea Butler, Salman Hameed, and Henry Jenkins every week as they delve into deep exegesis of Caprica.

Welcome to the (New) Gilded Age: Supreme Court Delivers the Goods to Corporations

Peter Laarman — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 20:00:01 PST

The Supreme Court struck down a century of regulations limiting corporate money in politics, clearing the way for a new Gilded Age. In the original Gilded Age (which inspired the Social Gospel movement), opposition was galvanized by a strong anti-corporate Christianity. Where's the religious opposition now?

Losing Old Gods, Finding Nature

Bron Taylor — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:00:01 PST

Ten questions for Bron Taylor, whose latest book Dark Green Religion holds that traditional religions are gradually being replaced by more sensory forms of spirituality which promote more sensible, ecologically adaptive behaviors.

Top Five (Less Sensational But More Dangerous) Things to Remember About Pat Robertson

Mark Hulsether — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:00:01 PST

Sure, it’s easy to poke fun at Pat Robertson for his 2,000-pound leg press claims or to scold him for his vile Haiti comments, but Robertson thrives on the ‘persecution.’ Our list spins the Robertson moral differently and shows just why he’s been a truly dangerous figure.

Yearning For A God We Can Live With

Benjamin Weiner — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:00:01 PST

Two new books, one offering a vision of interfaith, universal religion, the other a model of a radically transformed Judaism, attempt to wrestle God into the everyday. Against the ascendancy of the so-called New Atheism, both writers argue for a God who transcends “god-management systems” and whose primary claim on us is through our own spiritual longing.

The Myth of “Voodoo”: A Caribbean American Response to Representations of Haiti

Dianne Diakité — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:00:01 PST

Notwithstanding Haiti’s Christian character, the Haitian personality, if there is one, has been nurtured by a Vodou civilization that any responsible treatment of the subject must disentangle from the Western world’s manufactured “voodoo” culture.

Haiti and the Push for Theological Questions

Paula M. Cooey — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:01 PST

Preachers and public figures have often used natural disaster as an occasion to opine about God’s justice, or lack thereof. Or to make the definitive case against a divine order. But Haiti deserves to be addressed on its own terms, and in relation to the needs of those still suffering.

Coakley v. Brown: Democrats Search (For) Their Souls

Peter Laarman — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 12:00:01 PST

On the eve of the vote for Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat, we contemplate the gulf between the incoherent story offered by the president’s party, and the compelling narrative—about systems of oppression, and the perils of a deeply entrenched status quo—of prophetic religion.