d r a f t More quotes for my Swedes in Roger Williams’ Garden project — Two disturbing historical parallels in print this week, both suggesting that America faces a more difficult crisis -- more accurately a series of cascading crises -- now than it did in the runup to the Civil War. It's hard to know … Continue reading Historians, including Ken Burns, cite historical parallels between today, the slavery crisis of the 1850s and the anti-Semitism of the 1930s
Uneasy with St. John’s bias against ‘the Jews’ in an age of religious pluralism? Here are a couple of ways to deal with it
Christ Before Pilate, Hans Holbein the Younger, ca. 1538-40 (Wikimedia Commons) Now comes Jim McDermott SJ, associate editor of the Jesuit magazine America, and suggests -- in the headline, no less -- "The Gospel of John has been used to justify anti-Semitism—so we should stop reading it on Good Friday." To which I say: Amen, … Continue reading Uneasy with St. John’s bias against ‘the Jews’ in an age of religious pluralism? Here are a couple of ways to deal with it
Paraphrase of Talmudic scholar who fled the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE hits home in another time of apocalypse
Screen grab from my Facebook news feed, Oct. 29, 2021 Here's something that's been on my mind for quite a while now. I started writing something on it when the this meme popped up in my Facebook "memories." It's a paraphrase of a saying in the Talmud by a second-century Jewish sage whom I'd never … Continue reading Paraphrase of Talmudic scholar who fled the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE hits home in another time of apocalypse
Notes on a scientific study on spirituality — how doing good does you good; also Jewish-Christian relations, book of Hebrews
When I taught mass comms at Benedictine, I used to tell the kids sometimes you can do pretty darn well for yourself by doing good. I thought it fit our mission as a faith-based college, and, besides, I believed it. Now comes Lisa Miller, a psychologist at Columbia Teachers College, with a study offering scientific … Continue reading Notes on a scientific study on spirituality — how doing good does you good; also Jewish-Christian relations, book of Hebrews
A query that went nowhere: On David Brooks, the prophet Jeremiah, a French jurist, ‘creative minorities,’ cultural diversity, UNESCO and ‘reciprocal creolization’
Excerpts from a query: Sent Thu, Jul 22, 8:32 PM -- it doesn't matter who I sent it to, and I have no plans to fool around with a free-standing article, but Mireille Delmas-Marty's concept of "reciprocal creolization," a process of cultural blending that involves dialogue and mutual respect for differences, fits in so well with … Continue reading A query that went nowhere: On David Brooks, the prophet Jeremiah, a French jurist, ‘creative minorities,’ cultural diversity, UNESCO and ‘reciprocal creolization’
Tucker Carlson’s ‘replacement theory’ rhetoric, white Christian nationalism and the Jan. 6 insurrection at the US Capitol
Let's connect some dots that could help bring a couple of disparate strands of my immigration history project together. (Spoiler alert: I think some of the difficulties Swedish Lutheran immigrants experienced in the 1850s were similar to those confronting Buddhist, Hindu or Sikh immigrants today, and I think the "great replacement theory" of today is … Continue reading Tucker Carlson’s ‘replacement theory’ rhetoric, white Christian nationalism and the Jan. 6 insurrection at the US Capitol
Supreme Court’s drift to right-wing fundamentalism alarms ACLU, Jewish temple in Philadelphia
Editor's (moderator's) note. In early November the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case brought by a Catholic Social Services of Philadelphia seeking to opt out of the city's requirement that social service agencies serve clients irrespective of race, creed or sexual orientation. It was one of the very first cases heard after … Continue reading Supreme Court’s drift to right-wing fundamentalism alarms ACLU, Jewish temple in Philadelphia
‘Judeo-Christian values’ and the religious right — Notes & Quotes
John G. Turner, "How the dream of a Judeo-Christian America shaped the culture wars," review of Imagining Judeo-Christian America by Healan Gaston, Christian Century, March 4, 2021 https://www.christiancentury.org/review/books/how-dream-judeo-christian-america-shaped-culture-wars. Excerpts (verbatim): [...] When pluralists spoke of Judeo-Christian America, they leaned on civic definitions of American identity, definitions that stressed a commitment to a shared set of … Continue reading ‘Judeo-Christian values’ and the religious right — Notes & Quotes
‘This is a harvest … of things sown’: White nationalist violence at the Capitol Jan. 6, in El Paso in 2019 and the South in 1958
Clinton (Tenn.) High after 1958 bombing. UT-Knoxville Digital Collections. As we build to a national reckoning on extremist violence, and the former president's role in stirring it up, I'm clearing the decks -- OK, more accurately, going through the random stuff saved to my hard drive -- for an ambitious rewrite of my paper on … Continue reading ‘This is a harvest … of things sown’: White nationalist violence at the Capitol Jan. 6, in El Paso in 2019 and the South in 1958
Christian nationalism: Notes & quotes
Jonathan Davis, "Christian nationalism and the looming death of religious liberty," Baptist News Global, Aug. 13, 2018 https://baptistnews.com/article/christian-nationalism-and-the-looming-death-of-religious-liberty/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIt8aRy6T_7gIVHimzAB3bdAG3EAAYASAAEgJlBfD_BwE#.YDSUaRNKjm1 According to the Christian Nationalist Alliance, Christian nationalism “upholds the belief that politics is just as capable of saving souls as other forms of Evangelical outreach.” Let that soteriological statement sink in – the saving of souls … Continue reading Christian nationalism: Notes & quotes
Ordinary Time 