Oct

29

Polyamory’s Faith and Family Values

October 29, 2007 | 3 Comments

Have you ever heard of polyamory? ReligionWriter hadn’t until this summer, when a friend became involved with a man who insisted up front that he was simply not monogamous, and that any relationship they had would be based on the principle of multiple love relationships, openly pursued. Indeed, this man seemed very committed to the […]

Oct

26

Islam’s “Fallen Pillar:” Compulsory Charity

October 26, 2007 | 4 Comments

Four of Islam’s five pillars lend themselves to easily to stories and pictures. Whether it’s articles about converts, images of men bent over in prayer (a photographic trope one Muslim journalist refers to as “a**-shots,”) video of pilgrims swirling around the Kaaba as they complete their Hajj, or stories about Muslims breaking their Ramadan fasts, […]

Oct

18

Waiting for Baby vs. Waiting for Death: Reflecting on End-of-Life Ethics

October 18, 2007 | 1 Comment

Should dying Americans have the legal right to end their lives with help from their doctors? In Oregon, they have already had the right for the last ten years, since the state passed its “Death with Dignity Act,” after great controversy, in 1997.
Last week the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life hosted a polite […]

Oct

16

“A Misbegotten Martyr:” Ricky Rodriguez’s Tragic Quest for Justice

October 16, 2007 | 1 Comment

Last week, Don Lattin spoke with ReligionWriter about the evangelical influences behind the sexual theology of The Family International, a religious sect founded by leader David Berg in the late 1960s. Berg’s spiritual step-son, Ricky Rodriguez, was raised to be the group’s leader — Berg prophesied that Rodriguez would eventually sacrifice his life for the […]

Oct

12

The Making of a Twisted Sexual Theology: Q+A on “Jesus Freaks”

October 12, 2007 | 1 Comment

The bizarre, tragic nature of his life began with his conception: Ricky Rodriguez was born as a result of “flirty fishing,” a practice of proselytizing through sex advocated by David Berg, the Jesus-quoting founder of the religious sect now known as The Family International (formerly The Children of God.)
Berg, the son of a well-known Pentecostal […]

Oct

9

The Very First Mormon Presidential Candidate

October 9, 2007 | 1 Comment

Here’s a piece of trivia worth knowing: The first Mormon to run for U.S. President was none other than the founding prophet of Mormonism himself: Joseph Smith, Jr.
While it may have sounded like a stretch when then-Republican Party nominee George Bush named Christ as his favorite political philosopher without explaining what sort of ideas Jesus […]

Oct

3

World Peace Through Sit-Coms: Can Culture Succeed Where “Kinetic Solutions” Fail?

October 3, 2007 | 3 Comments

Just as megachurch pastor Rick Warren argues that churches can succeed where governments fail when it comes to humanitarian work, particularly in Africa, so some policy thinkers have begun to believe that culture can succeed where the current administration cannot when it comes to bridging the Islam vs. the West divide.
This win-through-culture approach resulted in […]

Oct

1

The Power of Someone Else’s Forgiveness: Nickel Mines and 9/11

October 1, 2007 | 2 Comments

As the country marks the first anniversary tomorrow of the Amish school shootings in Nickel Mines, Pa. — where a 32-year-old milk truck driver shot ten Amish schoolgirls, killing five and critically wounding the others — the word “forgiveness” may be the defining theme.
As scholar Donald Kraybill notes in his new book, Amish Grace, […]

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