http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/ 15 Commentary and analysis from religion experts at Patheos.com en Copyright 2011 Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:25:24 -0500 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=4.2-en http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss John Fea Patheos.com American evangelicals, who have long understood the United States as a thoroughly Christian nation, once interpreted the consequences of their Christian heritage in ways quite different from evangelicals today. http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/03/when_a_christian_america_meant_something_else.html?wprss=onfaithpatheos http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/03/when_a_christian_america_meant_something_else.html Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:25:24 -0500 http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/03/the_rss_feed_for_this_blog_has_moved.html?wprss=onfaithpatheos http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/03/the_rss_feed_for_this_blog_has_moved.html Sun, 13 Mar 2011 20:26:59 -0500 By Marci A. Hamilton The Supreme Court decided this week that the Westboro Baptist Church, led by the Rev. Fred Phelps, could spew hate-filled messages against the military and the United States during the funeral of a fallen soldier. The Westboro "theory" is that contemporary American wars are God's judgment on America for its failure to condemn homosexuals. This is speech that tests the toleration of the overwhelming majority of Americans. It is rabidly anti-homosexual, textbook paranoid, and holier-than-thou all at once. http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/03/the_court_the_preacher_and_the_military.html?wprss=onfaithpatheos http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/03/the_court_the_preacher_and_the_military.html Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:04:00 -0500 By Tim Muldoon A quick glance around the colliding worlds of the blogosphere and academia reveals an interesting datum: many, many people conceive of sexuality in economic terms. Consider the Slate essay "Sex is Cheap" by Mark Regnerus, a sociologist at the University of Texas, who recently co-authored (with Jeremy Uecker) the book Premarital Sex in America. Regnerus argues that young men can enjoy their sex-saturated extended adolescences because they have no incentive to marry or, for that matter, grow up. Regnerus cites the work of other researchers, Roy Beaumeister (Florida State University) and Kathleen Vohs (University of Minnesota), who use the phrase "sexual economics" in their work; and Catherine Hakim of the London School of Economics, who analyzes what she calls "erotic capital." On the web, sources are too numerous to mention, but I'll observe two representative examples: one, from the blog Hooking Up Smart; and the other a http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/03/sex_and_the_anti-economics_of_love.html?wprss=onfaithpatheos http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/03/sex_and_the_anti-economics_of_love.html Tue, 01 Mar 2011 13:13:51 -0500 By Roger Gottlieb Probably not. After all, it hasn't saved the U.S. from having an often aggressive foreign policy and supporting dictators from the Shah of Iran to Mubarak to the clearly wrong side in civil wars in El Salvador and Guatemala. When only about half our voters participate in a presidential election, we can wonder just how much democracy we have anyway. The reason why democracy won't save Egypt, or the U.S., or anyone else is that democracy is not just about voting, independent courts, political parties, or a legislature. There is something more. Democracy is also a spiritual task and a spiritual challenge. Does that sound strange? After all, isn't democracy about elections and constitutions? Laws and civil rights? And isn't spirituality an essentially individual matter--our relation to God or Spiritual Truth, to the awesome nature of the universe or the sacredness of the tree in the backyard? http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/02/can_democracy_save_egyptor_us.html?wprss=onfaithpatheos http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/02/can_democracy_save_egyptor_us.html Fri, 25 Feb 2011 16:01:54 -0500 By Greg Garrett It's Oscar season again, and people are talking about their favorite films, and what those films tell us about ourselves. Cultural critics like me remind us that movies, like other works of popular culture, appeal both because of their own intrinsic artistry and because they resonate with the zeitgeist, the spirit of the times. That is, popular things are popular for a reason. Sometimes the times bring certain works to the forefront; for instance, at the 2008 Oscars, when the movies on offer included No Country for Old Men, Michael Clayton, There Will Be Blood, and The Dark Knight, host Jon Stewart was one of many commentators who theorized that dark times breed dark movie hits. His question "Does this town need a hug?" was as apt a recognition as any. http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/02/the_oscars_2011_seeking_a_social_network.html?wprss=onfaithpatheos http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/02/the_oscars_2011_seeking_a_social_network.html Wed, 23 Feb 2011 13:45:52 -0500 By Brian Kirk I'll admit it. I'm as guilty as the next youth pastor. It is so easy to get preoccupied with the latest teen hot topics--Sex! Drugs! Rock-n-roll! Facebook!--that we sometimes forget the broader world that exists beyond the walls of the high school cafeteria and our cozy youth rooms. Truthfully, sometimes it's just easier to ignore what's happening in the world, particularly when some current events and issues have the potential to alter how our youth see the life of faith. Case in point: the revolution in Egypt in the past several weeks. http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/02/why_the_revolution_in_egypt_could_be_dangerous_for_our_youth.html?wprss=onfaithpatheos http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/02/why_the_revolution_in_egypt_could_be_dangerous_for_our_youth.html Fri, 18 Feb 2011 14:26:38 -0500 By Tim Muldoon In the aftermath of Jesus' death, a frightened Peter and a group of dispirited disciples scattered, lost and unsure of what to do. Their first response was to hide, and only after Jesus' resurrection and ascension did they re-gather during the celebration of the feast of Pentecost and receive the conviction to spread the news with confidence and great joy. Luke the Evangelist describes this new fervor as a gift of the Holy Spirit, which enabled Jesus' followers to speak fearlessly to people of every nation and language, regardless of their immediate success http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/02/faltering_and_leading_the_conservative_movement.html?wprss=onfaithpatheos http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/02/faltering_and_leading_the_conservative_movement.html Tue, 15 Feb 2011 18:04:05 -0500 By Marci A. Hamilton Author, Professor and Patheos Columnist How do the powerless overcome the powerful? Sometimes it is a very basic story. Young David killed the imposing Goliath with no armor and a slingshot. The clergy sex abuse movement started with less, as has the Egyptian movement for democracy. Yet, both show signs of success. http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/02/egypt_can_learn_from_survivors.html?wprss=onfaithpatheos http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/02/egypt_can_learn_from_survivors.html Thu, 10 Feb 2011 14:37:00 -0500 By Frederick Schmidt Columnist at Patheos.com Some years ago now I traveled to Cairo--somewhat unwillingly, I will admit. We had been living in the Middle East. I had been through the Sinai desert on a number of other occasions and I was ready for a break. But it was hard to argue that we should forego a trip that could be "the chance of a lifetime." So, we took a bus across the Sinai desert and spent some time in Cairo. http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/02/cairo_philadelphia_and_self-evident_truths.html?wprss=onfaithpatheos http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/02/cairo_philadelphia_and_self-evident_truths.html Tue, 08 Feb 2011 14:15:31 -0500 By Pat McNamara Author and Patheos Expert By any standard, the Healys were an impressive family. Michael, the father, was an Irish immigrant who became a successful Georgia planter. His children included two nuns, a Coast Guard captain, a bishop, and two priests (one of them a university president). They seemed the quintessential Irish Catholic clan. http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/02/i_no_longer_call_you_slaves_the_healy_brothers.html?wprss=onfaithpatheos http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/02/i_no_longer_call_you_slaves_the_healy_brothers.html Thu, 03 Feb 2011 16:38:54 -0500 By Timothy Dalrymple Columnist at Patheos.com I hate the memory of it. I hate it. I hate how stiff my daughter's body felt in my arms that night. I hate how vacant and soulless her face had become, unmoving save for the veined whites of her eyes as the irises fluttered up under the skull. http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/01/why_we_have_children.html?wprss=onfaithpatheos http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/01/why_we_have_children.html Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:15:50 -0500 By Marci A. Hamilton author, professor and Patheos columnist Headlines around the world this week have reported that Irish broadcaster RTE obtained a 1997 letter from the Vatican that instructed Irish bishops not to report child sex abuse by priests to the police. According to the letter, "the situation of 'mandatory reporting' gives rise to serious reservations of both a moral and a canonical nature." http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/01/the_tangled_web_tightens_for_the_vatican.html?wprss=onfaithpatheos http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/01/the_tangled_web_tightens_for_the_vatican.html Thu, 20 Jan 2011 15:16:57 -0500 By Elizabeth Scalia Patheos.com From her bed in the ICU, where she is making breathtaking progress in recovering from a point-blank gunshot wound to the head, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords understood that her husband Mark Kelly was weary and stressed - worn out in the way only concerns for our beloved can wear us out. And because she loves, too, Gabrielle Giffords demonstrated her comprehension of all her husband is feeling-she expressed her solidarity with him in all of their shared concerns-in the best way she could. http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/01/gabbys_neckrub_love_never_fails.html?wprss=onfaithpatheos http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/01/gabbys_neckrub_love_never_fails.html Tue, 18 Jan 2011 13:35:51 -0500 By Kent Annan Author and Co-Director of Haiti Partners Loving God, We come to you, first, in silence. We mourn those who died a year ago in the earthquake. And we mourn with those who continue to mourn http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/01/one_year_later_a_prayer_for_haiti.html?wprss=onfaithpatheos http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/patheos/2011/01/one_year_later_a_prayer_for_haiti.html Tue, 11 Jan 2011 15:51:03 -0500