Monthly archive August, 2010
“Ground Zero Mosque” Update. Oh my!
For more commentary on the proposed Muslim community center in Manhattan, don't miss Hendrick Hertzberg at The New Yorker; Jonathan Sarna's history of when shuls were shunned at The Forward; Stephan Salisbury maps the spread of hatred across the U.S. at AlterNet; and for an astounding (and rather comical), "I'll believe what...
Jesus Died for This? Book Launch
Sort your recipes! Becky Garrison's launching her new book, Jesus Died for This?, with a potluck at Radical Living, a Christian community in Brooklyn.
Date: August 28, 2010
Time: 4pm-7pm
Location: Radical Living, 32 Hart Street, Brooklyn
RSVP: jesusdiedforthis@gmail.com
Ordained Into the Abstract:
What does “Anglican” Mean?
In Christopher Armstrong's brief history of U.S. fundamentalism, he cites that in the 1970s, “the movement began a tectonic shift from protecting theological truths in infra-denominational fights to guarding 'Christian morality' in a nation specially chosen by God.” As part of this shifting, terms like “evangelical” (Good News) and “Christian” (follower of Jesus Christ)...
A Ground Zero Mosque Update
Star Parker gets incensed by the New York Times' claim that "the attacks of September 11 were not a religious event" and writes that building a mosque at Ground Zero is "obviously provocative."
But, for some reason, as Little Green Footballs rightly notes with cynicism, the mosque at the Pentagon wasn't.
Matthew Yglesias says,...
Afghanistan: A Hit Close to Home
A more personal note: My sister writes this morning to tell me that her friend, Glen Lapp, a resident of our home county, Lancaster, and an aid worker for the Mennonite Central Committee, was killed in the Taliban ambush in Afghanistan last week. Glen had been in Afghanistan for nearly two years and was...
Aren’t Mormon Vampires Sexy?
Jana Reiss wonders why Robert Pattinson, the star of the vampire-glorifying Twilight movies, won't cop to Mormon themes in the blockbusters. Don't Mormon movies earn money? Aren't Mormons sexy enough to bust the box office? Pattinson, in a cover interview for this month's GQ, says that Mormon themes are just something respectable...
Shari’a and Women’s Rights in Afghanistan
by Najam Haider
This article is part of an ongoing series that will examine what Shari’ah is, how the media often get it wrong, and how it’s being used to create fear of Islam and Muslims and to justify continued military defense of “American values.”
Not Your Mama’s Fundamentalism
Chris Armstrong recently posted at his blog, Grateful to the Dead, a brief history of fundamentalism in America. The entry was originally written for the Encyclopedia of Religion in America which came out last month. Here's an excerpt from his post introduction:
The basic argument of what follows is this: Fundamentalism in America changed after...
They’re Into Old Stuff
The American Center for Law and Justice, Pat Robertson's blunt-weapon answer to the American Civil Liberties Union, headed by the creepy and ubiquitous Jay Sekulow, is not just about preserving antiquated social mores anymore. Long enforcers and defenders of "traditional values" like women baring all the kids God gives them and carrying slippers to...
Discrimination Pays
Got a strong hatred for a faith other than your own? Forget finding tolerance; find a book agent! Richard Bartholomew writes today that a new book, Islam is of the Devil, has hit the shelves. Its opportunistic author, Terry Jones, is pastor of Dove World Outreach in Florida. Yes, the same church that sponsored,...
