Category: Timely

Oversimplification 3, 2, 1

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From Andrew Khouri’s “Getting the Story Right in Egypt,” a recent post at The Scoop, Diane Winston’s website at USC’s Annenberg School for Journalism:

But on Thursday, the Muslim Brotherhood—Egypt’s largest opposition group and a perennial Mubarak foe—announced it would join the large demonstrations that were planned after prayers on Friday. A Muslim Brotherhood spokesman called it “the day of the intifada.”

That is how an article appearing in Friday’s New York Times set the stage for what was no doubt a pivotal moment in Egypt, with thousands taking to the street, where they would face tear gas and baton-wielding security forces. The piece examined how religious factions, which have played little role so far, would affect the protest movement.

Cue oversimplification of religion in 3, 2, 1…

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Ugandan Anti-Homosexual Violence

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At the last minute Friday night, Brenda Namigadde, an activist from Uganda, was granted a reprieve by the UK from deportation.  She had already boarded a plane bound for Uganda.

Targeted by the Ugandan paper Rolling Stone as a lesbian, along with one hundred other gay and lesbian activists — one of which, David Kato, was brutally killed last week — Namigadde is in danger should she return to her home country.

For more on Namigadde and the Rolling Stone (not affiliated with the U.S. magazine) article and on Uganda’s “kill the gays” bill and the influence American religious organizations have had on anti-homosexual violence there read here, here, here and here. Continue Reading →

Haitian Spirits: A Photo Essay by Les Stone

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introduction and curation by Abigail Ohlheiser

They’re women and men (but mostly women) bathed in light, bathed in water, eyes to the sky, some touching and wearing crosses. They’re possessed by spirits, dancing on dirt floors, fire in their mouths. Vodou in Haiti is like Catholicism, but not. Karen Brown wrote in her evocative book, Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn, that “Vodou Spirits, unlike the Catholic saints whose names they borrow, are characters defined by contradiction. The Vodou spirits represent the powers at work in and on human life.” Continue Reading →

Religious Leadership and Violence Prevention after Tucson

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by Joshua Stanton

This month, it became clear that Americans must do more to prevent violence. A congresswoman was shot in the head in what seems to have been a politically motivated assassination attempt – only surviving by luck or miracle. Six others have died and many more were wounded. our country is in a state of mourning.

Of significant note, American religious leaders from myriad groups have stepped up to comfort families, visit the wounded, pray for victims, and speak out against the event. Though beautiful and important, these efforts are not enough. Religious leaders – and future ones such as myself – must also work actively to prevent violence.  In fact, they are ideally situated to do so.

Some religious leaders have blamed the outbreak of violence on the fact that Jared Loughner – the assailant – was an atheist. Yet these rationalizations smack of deflection and a desire to avoid answering more essential questions about why violence takes place in our society – questions that religious leaders cannot in good conscience shirk. Continue Reading →

Happy Birthday, KJV!

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Elissa Lerner: The King James Bible is celebrating its 400th birthday this year, and judging from the British press, it looks like the festivities will be around all year, although mostly in England. For all you King James enthusiasts out there (and really, who’s into the ASV these days anyway?) here are some choice insights and exhibits about the impact of this tome on our society. Continue Reading →

Satan: Literarily and Literally

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Two stories, a song and a link:  For years I’ve been dabbling with a series of short stories about Satan.  In my drafts I call him Coldcheek.  He’s a dapper guy who only comes out at night, grudgingly enjoys his job of ushering souls to the next world with a kiss, is immortal (of course) and smells of gardenias.  He can travel through space (quickly) but not time. He’s got a clap-trap memory and he can delay your death but not forever.  And, as with most immortals, he’s incredibly patient (and very good in bed).

It’s nothing new, really.  Everybody from Flaubert to Pushkin, from Hawthorne to Ibsen has featured Satan as a character in their works.  Recently Saramago did it (and deliciously called him Pastor).  My friend Steve Moramarco and his band Hill of Beans did it for the rousing song, “Satan, Lend Me a Dollar.” Continue Reading →

Religion and the Definition of Death

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From The Lancet:

An intense debate has been rekindled in orthodox Jewish circles on whether brain-stem death is compatible with the definition of death by the Halacha—the collective body of Jewish law. Last week, the UK’s Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks caused widespread consternation among physicians when he issued an edict stating that he and his rabbinical court—the London Beth Din—reject the legal and medical definition of death and only accept the traditional halachic definition of cardiorespiratory failure. This apparently regressive interpretation comes at a time when all countries are discussing the most effective ways of encouraging organ donation in an attempt to deal with growing waiting lists for transplantation.

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By Association

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An excerpt from a letter written by Justin Lee, Executive Director of The Gay Christian Network.  (Read more about Philip Yancey here.)

Since we announced that bestselling Christian author Philip Yancey would be addressing the GCN conference in 2011, questions have been flying, online and offline. “Is Philip Yancey pro-gay?” some have asked. “What are his views on homosexuality?” “Why would he agree to speak to this conference?” “Why would GCN invite him in the first place?”

Some have criticized me for extending the invitation, thinking an evangelical author like Philip is surely far too conservative to speak to a group like ours. Others have strongly condemned him for accepting the invitation, saying he’s condoning sin. Some have even called for other Christians to disassociate with him.

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