There was an interesting story on the radio the other day — in which a Roman Catholic bishop in the Philippines described how they’re now ringing church bells every evening to raise awareness about the brutality of the ongoing drug war in his country. Give it a listen (go here if the embed doesn’t work): What caught my ear, and prompted me to bring this story to the attention of my Theory of Religion seminar the other day, was how […]
Tag: Prayer
“They’re Not All That Evangelical”
Maybe you saw my post the other day on how the way we define and use the category religion can create the very thing that we then set about to examine — failing to see that it wasn’t a naturally occurring item in the world, and thus in need of study, but was our creation to begin with. The example was the way we define so-called evangelicals, understanding them as doing something that involves “faith” as opposed to “politics” and […]
Points of Contact
Do you know that painting? It’s detail from Norman Rockwell’s 1951, “Saying Grace,” which sold for $46 million a couple years ago. It came to mind after an exchange that I had over on Twitter the other day, in which I wrote the following: The painting nicely illustrates the point — that classification is the trace of a social situation in which difference and similarity are being worked out. For, to break it down to it’s simplest, I’d argue that […]
Take a Knee
The Freedom From Religion Foundation has drawn attention to what it argues is unconstitutional behavior at Clemson’s football program, led by Coach Dabo Swinney (pictured above, reportedly praying after a 2011 victory over Auburn). […]
“Let Us Bow Our Heads…”
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments for why public meetings, such as the Greece, NY, town council pictured above, ought either to be allowed or disallowed from opening with prayer. What do you think? Learn some background on the case here. See item C on an agenda from one of Greece NY’s recent town meeting here (PDF). Interested in a report on how the arguments before the court went…? (Photo from the LA Times‘ editorial on the case.) […]