In the News: How to talk about what we need to talk about?
A round-up of recent religion news. Continue Reading →
Tag: Iraq
The Great God Pan Still Lives
Ed Simon reviews Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms: Journeys into the Disappearing Religions of the Middle East
by Gerard Russell. Continue Reading →
In the News: Saints, Slavery, Celibacy, and more!
A round-up of the week’s religion news. Continue Reading →
The Reformation Will Be Televised: On ISIS, Religious Authority and the Allure of Textual Simplicity
The religious fundamentalism of ISIS is not evidence that Islam needs a Reformation, but that one has already occurred by Suzanne Schneider. Continue Reading →
In the News: Captain America, Serpents, Google’s Gods, and more!
A round-up of recent religion and media stories in the news. Continue Reading →
Erbil to Aleppo: Kurdistan, Islam and the Syrian War
Jenna Krajeski reports from Iraqi Kurdistan, where young Kurds are crossing the border to fight in Syria. Continue Reading →
Osama Bin Laden, Dead
Typing this, I hesitate. Is this a mere death? An assassination? A murder? And if not the latter, why not? Mass murderers and perpetrators of genocide have been brought to trial, yet the U.S. now abandons established paths of justice. They’ve “taken him out.” Have we already tried bin Laden in our media, determined him guilty beyond doubt, not worthy of justice except the justice that we see in death? Continue Reading →
Preaching Against the Wars
The Proper 29 Project, created by Mennonite pastor Mark Villegas and named for Reign of Christ Sunday (November 21, also known as Proper 29), asks pastors to “address the violence in Iraq and Afghanistan” in their sermons. Writes Anna Groff at The Mennonite:
Villegas is pastor of Chapel Hill (N.C.) Mennonite Fellowship and a columnist for The Mennonite. He informed all the pastors he knows about the project–many of which are Mennonite. As of Nov. 4, several Mennonite pastors told him they would participate.
Some of the non-Mennonite pastors told him they would receive negative response if they preached about this issue.
“It’s hard here in North Carolina,” said Villegas on Nov. 4. “Our economy is tied to the military-industrial complex. Preaching about the suffering cause by U.S. forces in Iraq hits too close to home in a state that has such a high military population.”
Learning from Iraq's Struggle for Religious Tolerance
Three months after elections in Iraq, a new Prime Minister has not yet been selected to form a new government. Accusations of fraud still surround the election and Ayad Allawi’s secular (but Sunni-dominated) coalition is struggling against the Shiite opposition, led by Nouri al Maliki, to keep a grip on its narrow margin of victory. Many continue to call for a vote recount. Optimists have noted that the political wrangling has at least not devolved into violence. Continue Reading →
Learning from Iraq’s Struggle for Religious Tolerance
Three months after elections in Iraq, a new Prime Minister has not yet been selected to form a new government. Accusations of fraud still surround the election and Ayad Allawi’s secular (but Sunni-dominated) coalition is struggling against the Shiite opposition, led by Nouri al Maliki, to keep a grip on its narrow margin of victory. Many continue to call for a vote recount. Optimists have noted that the political wrangling has at least not devolved into violence. Continue Reading →