NEWS: Guns and God in Kentucky

Approximately 180 people attended recently a gun celebration at the New Bethel Church in Louisville, Kentucky, a state where residents may carry firearms in most places, including churches. Ken Pagano, the Assembly of God pastor, spoke from the pulpit and proclaimed that America would not exist “but for a deep-seated belief in God and firearms,” eliciting a wave of amens from the pews. Though he did not call the meeting a worship service, he did bless the congregation of gun toting attendees and deliver a prayer.

Pagano and many who were in the audience see themselves as heirs to a long American tradition of religious pioneers gathering in churches to fight what they see as unjust political oppression. Some of the attendees, who see their right to bear arms under threat, likened the event to that of founding fathers resisting British taxation without representation. After the recent murder of Dr. George Tiller in his Wichita, Kansas church (see Cara Burnidge’s June 20 post below: “New Wave of Christian Terrorism?”), many of those present at the celebration also agreed on the subject of self-defense. “If the pastor’s in there,” one churchgoer said, “and he’s got a concealed weapon and somebody comes in and starts shooting people, he can take him out. That’s his right.” Read more here.

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NEWS: American Catholic Nuns Being Investigated?

Nuns in the United States are not what they used to be. Before the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, most—if not all—nuns lived in convents, wore habits, and worked in traditional jobs, like teaching at Catholic schools. These days, however, you can find many an American nun who does not live in a convent, does not wear a habit, and does not have a job traditional to nuns. Several nuns have begun to pursue more professional careers while others have become activist nuns, advocating the ordination of women or allowing priests to marry. With these changes afoot, the Vatican has decided to investigate American nuns. While some Catholics insist that such an investigation is routine and nothing to fuss over, others denounce it as an unwarranted doctrinal inquisition.
Read more here.

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NEWS: Hollywood Tackles Stoning of Women in Iran

While Iranian authorities have wasted no time accusing foreign powers, including United States, of plotting the recent protests in Iran, a new American film has taken issue with stoning of women in Iran. Last week saw the release of The Stoning of Soraya M., a movie adopted from the 1994 novel of the same name by French-Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam. The film, which stars The Passion of the Christ’s Jim Caviezel and the Oscar-nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo, harshly criticizes Iran’s legal system denouncing what it portrays as mistreatment of women in a patriarchal society. The movie, which won the Audience Award at Los Angeles Film Festival and was the runner-up for the Audience Choice Award at Toronto Film Festival, has been criticized for its graphic violence and giving a rather unbalanced portrait of the Iranian society, as well as for implying that the only solution to the problem is foreign intervention. Having said that, the film could not be more relevant to troubled Iran whose stoning victims are mostly women. Although stoning is not prescribed in the Koran, it is practiced as a penalty for adultery in many Islamic countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Somalia, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. Read full story here.

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[xix] A term which in Islam denotes illicit sexual relations and covers the concepts of both adultery …
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NEWS: Adapting Sacred Text for Same-Sex Unions?

Next week, Episcopal bishops will request revisions to the Book of Common Prayer, adapting the text for blessing same-sex marriages. Despite visible support for the queer community—including the 2003 election of openly gay bishop V. Gene Robinson in the Diocese of New Hampshire—all three Episcopal rites of marriage currently acknowledge only heterosexual unions.

Bishops from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire intend to petition the General Convention during its triennial meeting, held 8-17 July in Anaheim, CA. Since the six American states have recognized the legality of same-sex marriage, these bishops find the Book of Common Prayer in conflict with their states’ definitions of civil marriage.

The requested revisions must be approved by two consecutive meetings of the General Convention. Episcopal clergy could begin using the rites in 2012. If approved, these revisions would be the first to the Book of Common Prayer since 1979. While proponents applaud further steps toward sexual equality, dissenters fear furthering the rift between the U.S. Episcopal Church and the larger Anglican Union.

Full story available here.

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NEWS: Jehovah’s Witness parents overruled by Georgian President

Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in having blood transfusions. It is seen as a violation of a scriptural mandate given in the New Testament book of Acts when Jesus’s apostles advised the Saints of Antioch to “keep abstaining from things offered unto idols and from blood,” with the promise that if they did, they would prosper and enjoy good health (Acts 15:29). Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili, however, does believe in the value of blood transfusions. When a Jehovah’s Witness couple in Georgia recently refused a blood transfusion for their daughter, who had suffered severe burns to her back, President Saakashvili overruled their religious beliefs and ordered doctors to go ahead with the transfusion. See story here.

While the Jehovah’s Witness ban might have its roots in scripture, the church also provides what they view as scientifically reasoned arguments to back it up, such as statistics that show potential dangers involved in the acceptance of foreign blood into one’s body. The official Jehovah’s Witness website emphasizes that they are not opposed to medical treatment per se, but feel that only bloodless medicine and surgery are the type of care that is approved by God, and further, that it may even present a new standard of care that is beginning to be recognized by some professionals. Meanwhile, blood transfusion continues to carry the endorsement of institutions such as the American Medical Association, despite some recognized risks.

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NEWS: Anti-Semitic Group’s Adopt-a-Highway Renamed for Rabbi Heschel

Last year the National Socialist Movement, an anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi group, adopted a half-mile section of Missouri’s highway to remove litter. Like other organizations that volunteer to pick up roadside trash — including controversial hate groups such as the white separatist National Alliance in Kentucky (whose founder influenced Timothy McVeigh) and the anti-immigrant San Diego Minutemen — the NSM received the customary Adopt-a-Highway sign. In response, however, the state’s Department of Transportation is renaming the stretch after the well-known Jewish theologian, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who escaped Nazi Germany and became a civil rights leader in the United States.

The Jewish Community Relations Bureau/American Jewish Committee proposed the idea and NSM members, who demand that all Jews, non-whites, and gays leave America, are unhappy. Cynthia Keene, a sergeant in the chapter, called the measure “childish.” This is not the first instance of the state fighting free speech with more free speech. Years ago, Ku Klux Klan members won a freedom-of-speech case against Missouri and their own Adopt-a-Highway sign, upsetting many residents. Officials countered by renaming the road after Rosa Parks, the prominent African-American civil rights figure. The latest renaming, already approved by the state legislature and supported by the governor, should take place this summer. Read the full story here. Update: Heschel’s daughter is opposed to this renaming. Read more here.

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NEWS: The Death of Immortality?: Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett

Historian Anthea Butler takes on the task of considering Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson’s iconic status, while considering the fan as someone who ascribes an almost divine status; each icon contains the very essence of a decade. Her article, “When The Gods Die: Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett Take the ’70s With Them,” frames each celebrity within the context of devotion and a legacy now immortal. Of course, when icons die we often find ourselves considering our own mortality. She suggests that fans (perhaps subconsciously) do not believe an icon can die – we tend to immortalize the person. Fawcett “transcended her looks” becoming a talented actress. Jackson, according to Butler, “became a god.” This article suggests that in songs such as “We are the World,” “Man in the Mirror” and “Another Part of Me” all represent a desire for utopia – that there is a focus on a “quasi-religious, humanistic vision of all peoples loving each other.” Despite his rather complicated life, various allegations, and legal problems, Jackson “reached more people than the average religious figure.” Butler discusses the pop icon’s childhood religion as a Jehovah’s Witness, his later conversion to the Nation of Islam, and his final decision to become a Muslim, thus showing, according to Butler, an “interior struggle…to find the peace he so often sang about.” She argues that while he will never be considered a theologian, he could be considered a sort of “pop theologian” as he struggled with his humanity as “half man, half child.” The article brings Jackson down to earth as Butler focuses even on Jackson’s dancing, suggesting that in dance “he became transcendent, divine.” The article concludes by pointing us to the larger-than-life legacies of both Jackson and Fawcett, reminding us that a celebrity icon (their cultural impact) never truly dies. Read the article here.

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NEWS: Violence Within the Church of Scientology

After the founder of the Church of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, died in 1986, David Miscavige took over leadership of the movement. Recently, Miscavige has come under attack by news media and former Church staff, who allege that Miscavige constantly displayed bizarre and violent behavior. Miscavige allegedly beat those who worked under him. The Church denies these allegations. These reports come in the wake of new information on the death of Lisa McPherson, who died while under the care of the Church in 1995. Over the past year and half, there have been numerous anti-Scientology protests around the world, with protesters holding signs like “Religion is free. Scientology is neither.” Read more here.

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NEWS: Iran’s Religious Appeals

On Friday, June 12, 2009, Iranians took to the polls to elect a new president. Despite the strong presence from challenger Mir Hussein Moussavi and his supporters prior to the election, incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner on June 13, 2009. In the two weeks since the election, Iranians have been embattled in disputes over the legitimacy of the election, the future of Iran, and the future of the Middle East. Most recently, Neil MacFarquhar of the New York Times discussed the way in which both sides use religious rhetoric to proclaim their fulfillment of the Islamic Revolution. With Moussavi’s supporters shouting “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great,” from the rooftops each night, there appears to be competing notions of how to continue the Islamic Revolution in Iran. MacFarquhar asserts the significance of this Islamic rhetoric but also recognizes that these religious appeals are limited in their scope and do not correlate necessarily to a demand for a complete regime change. For more: read here.

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NEWS: How Do We Raise Our Children to Be Spiritual?

In NPR’s Speaking of Faith, Krista Tippett interviews Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso in an interview piece titled “The Spirituality of Parenting.” When considering religious uncertainty and the pluralism of American culture, coupled with the importance of providing our children with a spiritual foundation, Rabbi Sasso asks the question “how do we teach their souls?” She suggests that children are “little theologians,” asking big questions — something rather unexpected for parents unprepared to provide answers. According to Rabbi Sasso, children are actually comfortable without a clear answer, and tend to accept the mysteries of life. She suggests that children have ideas about God by age five, born with an innate sense of spirituality. The challenge for parents is straightforward: children do not always have a sense of language to give voice to what they are thinking or feeling. Rabbi Sasso considers what “language” ought to be used when children learn to express deeper spiritual questions. She discusses various “containers” of religion, moments to make concrete what is abstract. The spiritual nurturing of children is of primary concern in this interview. But while spiritual, the kind of nurturing tends toward the practical. That is, Rabbi Sasso suggests that familial responses, tradition, and ritual all serve to teach children significant life-lessons about human connectedness, helping them to learn the importance of questions rather than answers.  Listen to the interview here.

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