background preloader

Theory of religion

Facebook Twitter

Sci-Fi Writer William Shunn: The Book of Mormon Is a Lot Like Lord of the Rings. In 2003 the World Science Fiction Convention was held in Toronto, Canada. Many of the world’s leading science fiction authors appeared, but one author who couldn’t make it was William Shunn. He’s been banned from Canada since 1987. “They gave me what’s called a departure notice,” Shunn says in Episode 176 of the Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast.

“Which is basically a polite deportation, where Canada comes to you and says, ‘We’d really appreciate it if you left the country by, say, March 12th. OK, can you do that? This stems from an incident in which, as a young Mormon missionary, Shunn called in a fake bomb threat. “They ended up giving me more money than I’d paid in the fine,” he says, “so I made a very small profit of about $150 Canadian.” Shunn recounts the adventure in his new memoir, The Accidental Terrorist, a book he’s been working on for almost 20 years. “Nobody wanted a book that had ‘terrorist’ in the title,” he says. “This was a religion that was made for America,” he says.

Faith & Reason - Cathy Lynn Grossman's blog at Religion News Service. From Our Blogs. Timothy Snodgrass Homepage.

Akheida

The horse. The serpent. History of witchcraft. Shamanism. Contemporary christianity. Gods. Google Play. The 'Splainer Archives. The Soncino Books of the Bible set 14 volumes - Judaism.com. Grace Communion International. Grace Communion International (GCI) is an evangelical Christian denomination based in Glendora, California, United States. Within a few years after Armstrong's death in 1986, the succeeding church administration completely reversed the denomination's doctrines and teachings to be compatible with mainstream evangelical Christianity, while many members and ministers left and formed other churches that conformed to many, but not all, of Armstrong's teachings. In 2009, the church changed the name The Worldwide Church of God adopting its current name.[1] The GCI is a member of the National Association of Evangelicals, and has 50,000 members in 900 congregations in about 100 countries.[2] History[edit] Beginnings[edit] Although his views were rejected by the local congregation, he gained a growing following of his own, chiefly through his World Tomorrow broadcasts and the Plain Truth magazine.

Armstrong's church was both authoritarian and totalitarian in its treatment of the membership. Frank S. The Breakthrough Human Rights in the 1970s. The Paleo Diet and the American Weight Loss Utopia, 1975–2014. Grace Communion International. Grace Communion International (GCI) is an evangelical Christian denomination based in Glendora, California, United States.

Within a few years after Armstrong's death in 1986, the succeeding church administration completely reversed the denomination's doctrines and teachings to be compatible with mainstream evangelical Christianity, while many members and ministers left and formed other churches that conformed to many, but not all, of Armstrong's teachings. In 2009, the church changed the name The Worldwide Church of God adopting its current name.[1] The GCI is a member of the National Association of Evangelicals, and has 50,000 members in 900 congregations in about 100 countries.[2] History[edit] Beginnings[edit] Although his views were rejected by the local congregation, he gained a growing following of his own, chiefly through his World Tomorrow broadcasts and the Plain Truth magazine. Armstrong moved to Pasadena, California. Armstrong taught a strict doctrine of tithing to the members. Ecotopia.

Ecotopia: The Notebooks and Reports of William Weston is a seminal utopian novel by Ernest Callenbach, published in 1975. The society described in the book is one of the first ecological utopias and was influential on the counterculture and the green movement in the 1970s and thereafter. The author himself claimed that the society he depicted in the book is not a true utopia (in the sense of a perfect society), but, while guided by societal intentions and values, was imperfect and in-process.[1] The book's context and background[edit] Callenbach’s concept does not reject high technology (or any technology) as long as it does not interfere with the Ecotopian social order and serves the overall objectives. Members of his fictional society prefer to demonstrate a conscious selectivity toward technology, so that not only human health and sanity might be preserved, but also social and ecological wellbeing. Plot summary[edit] Values exemplified in the novel[edit] Impact[edit] Reception[edit]

Herbert W. Armstrong and the Mesopotamia Project - theTrumpet.com. In 1968, doors opened in the Middle East for Herbert W. Armstrong to become involved with archeological programs. Relationships were developed with Dr. Benjamin Mazar, President Zalman Shazar, cabinet ministers, and individuals from Hebrew University, which enabled the work through Ambassador College to serve in support of these activities.

By March 1975, Ambassador International Cultural Foundation was established as the official humanitarian arm representing the associated activities supported by the Worldwide Church of God and Ambassador College. The Bulletin of Oct. 21, 1977, underscored this by reporting that the “Hebrew University professor of comparative religion accompanied Herbert W. In 1976, the first expeditionary team was assembled to start at summer’s end. Not to lose the value of the planning and preparation already undertaken, ucla, John Hopkins University and the Syrian Department of Antiquities began talks.

Under Mr. He was greeted at the airport by ucla Prof. Why I am a Jew | Elliott Hamilton. A few months ago, my best friend recommended Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’ “A Letter in the Scroll.” I finally got around to reading it this weekend on a train to New York City, and I had a difficult time putting the book down. In a couple hundred words, Rabbi Sack’s journey to understanding his own identity helped me construct my own reasons for strengthening my connection to the Jewish people. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign up!

So I asked myself the following question: What has kept me Jewish? I did not have the easiest Jewish upbringing. My love for Israel augmented in my first trip in the summer of 2009, where I laid my eyes on the Kotel for the first time, walked the same streets as our people did over 3,500 years ago, marched through the Negev with sand flowing between my toes, and walking on the Temple Mount. Since then, and more so now than ever, I dedicate myself to defending the Jewish people.

But why? So why am I a Jew? PhysRepBoccaletti2000.pdf. Sydney-2006.pdf. Taylor & Francis Online :: Radical Islamism and Totalitarian Ideology: a Comparison of Sayyid Qutb's Islamism with Marxism and National Socialism - Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions - Volume 8, Issue 1. The term ‘Islamism’ describes the wide range of attempts to revive Islam's political legacy after the end of the Caliphate of Constantinople in 1924.

The end of the Caliphate also brought an end to the traditionally close union between religion and politics in Islam, and is considered by many Muslims as a highly disturbing loss. The movements which aim at a revival of the union of Islamic belief and politics range from those who have adopted a gradualist strategy of ‘Islamisation from below’, which may involve the formation of a political party and the participation in elections (like the ‘Party of Justice and Development’, AKP, of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey), to those who follow a dominantly violent strategy. This paper focuses on those movements which start off with a radical critique of liberal western political thought and, by means of a life‐or‐death battle against ‘the West’, are determined to build a radical Islamic society obedient to the laws of the Qur'an. 6. 7.

Taylor & Francis Online :: The Sacralisation of politics: Definitions, interpretations and reflections on the question of secular religion and totalitarianism - Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions - Volume 1, Issue 1. 10. Taylor & Francis Online :: Nazism and the revival of political religion theory - Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions - Volume 5, Issue 3. Nazism%20and%20Christianity.pdf. Will Smith's son Jaden steps out in a woman's dress. By Karen Mizoguchi for MailOnline Published: 14:16 GMT, 10 April 2015 | Updated: 15:26 GMT, 10 April 2015 Jaden Smith has always taken interesting fashion risks - what else do you call zebra-print harem pants and plaid print belts?

But the 16-year-old actor's new move is one of his most daring. The son of actors Will and Jada Pinkett Smith wore what appeared to be a black woman's dress over a pair of distressed denim shorts during an outing in Calabasas, California on Thursday. Scroll down for video Is that a dress? Jaden - who has been linked to both Kylie, 17, and Kendall Jenner, 19 - donned a long sleeve little black dress which he styled with a white crocheted sleeveless top. Underneath his eclectic frock were dark colored cutoff jean shorts for a unique androgynous look. The older sibling of Willow Smith accessorized his getup with cheetah print high socks, black and white Nike Flyknit sneakers and a black backpack over his shoulders. Bigotry, the Bible and the Lessons of Indiana.

Photo THE drama in Indiana last week and the larger debate over so-called religious freedom laws in other states portray homosexuality and devout Christianity as forces in fierce collision. They’re not — at least not in several prominent denominations, which have come to a new understanding of what the Bible does and doesn’t decree, of what people can and cannot divine in regard to God’s will. And homosexuality and Christianity don’t have to be in conflict in any church anywhere. That many Christians regard them as incompatible is understandable, an example not so much of hatred’s pull as of tradition’s sway. Beliefs ossified over centuries aren’t easily shaken.

But in the end, the continued view of gays, lesbians and bisexuals as sinners is a decision. It disregards the degree to which all writings reflect the biases and blind spots of their authors, cultures and eras. It ignores the extent to which interpretation is subjective, debatable. Most parents of gay children realize this. Christendom. Christendom[1][2] has several meanings. In a cultural sense, it refers to the religion itself, or to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity. In its historical sense, the term usually refers to the medieval and early modern period, during which the Christian world represented a geopolitical power juxtaposed with both paganism and especially the military threat of the Muslim world.

In the more limited and traditional sense of the word, it refers to the sum total of nations in which the Catholic Church is the established religion of the state, or which have ecclesiastical concordats with the Holy See. In a contemporary sense, it may simply refer collectively to Christian majority countries or countries in which Christianity dominates[1] or nations in which Christianity is the established religion. Terminology and usage[edit] There is a common and nonliteral sense of the word that is much like the terms Western world, known world or Free World. History[edit] ... Google Alerts - Monitor the Web for interesting new content. What's So Terrible About Idolatry? - Questions & Answers. Question: Why is Judaism so intolerant of idolatry? I don't mean massive temples with human sacrifices. What about a civilized idolater, in the privacy of his own home. With a job, a family, a mortgage, donates to the World Hunger Fund and Greenpeace -- and instead of one G-d, he just happens to have two or three or even several dozen, all lined up on the dashboard of his car.

Why does Judaism make a cardinal sin of it, demanding total eradication of idolatry in every corner the world? As long as it doesn't hurt anyone else, what's so terrible? Answer: There are many ways to answer this, but let's take a historical perspective. Where did those values come from? Now, this gives any scholar a meaty problem to solve. All except for the Jews. There's got to be some explanation. The classic answer is that once there was a man named Abraham, from Ur of the Chaldees -- the original seat of civilization. Now, tell me, does any rational scholar really believe such a scenario? The Jew's Double Standard - Chassidic Thought. A time to kill, a time to heal A time for war, a time for peaceEcclesiastes 3:3,8 Double standards are supposedly unethical. Yet Judaism -- the ethos contained in the Bible and expounded by the sages of Israel -- abounds with double standards. In fact, these double standards are at the heart of how we live and what we have taught the world -- and at the heart of what makes an ethical person.

One example of an ethical double standard is the different ways in which we regard tragedy, depending on who is the victim. When something bad happens to myself, the Torah tells me to trust in G-d's help, justify His ways, and examine my ways for what I might have done wrong so that I may learn a lesson from what occurred. Which are precisely the things I'm not supposed to do regarding someone else's troubles. Another Jewish double standard -- also relating to a difference in how we treat ourselves and how we treat others -- is the potential/actuality question. Judaism is not an idea. Jewish Deadheads: A Cultural Demographic Story - Lawton - 2015 - Journal of Popular Music Studies. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies - Abstract - Sarah Stewart (ed.): <i>The Everlasting Flame: Zoroastrianism in History and Imagination</i>. xix, 259 pp. London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2013. £45. ISBN 97.

James R. Russell (2015). Review of 'The Everlasting Flame: Zoroastrianism in History and Imagination' Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 78, pp 202-204. doi:10.1017/S0041977X14001220. 09596410.2015.1021617?journalCode=cicm20# Search Results. New Search » Sign up / Log in Deutsch Corporate edition Skip to: Main content Side column Download Subscribe to this page via RSS Download Download search results (CSV) Page %P Close Plain text 1 Result(s) within Daniel Stein Kokin Relevance Newest First Oldest First between is not a valid date range.

Article Polemical Language: Hebrew and Latin in Medieval and Early Modern Jewish-Christian Debate This article explores medieval and early modern Jewish-Christian polemic rooted in the specific properties of the Hebrew and Latin languages and argues that such discourse constitutes a neglected and significa... Show only accessible Refine Your Search Content Type Article 1 Discipline Social Sciences 1 Subdiscipline Religious Studies 1 Language English 1 Over 8.5 million scientific documents at your fingertips Our Content Other Sites Help & Contacts Legal © Springer International Publishing AG, Part of Springer Science+Business Media Privacy Policy, Disclaimer, General Terms & Conditions.

Idol Theory. TOM CLARK: Rites of Spring: Fire. The Kurdish Spring: struggle, resistance, renewal: image via Dilba @DilbaKurd, 24 March 2015 I Newroz In praise of... Nowruz: As western nations celebrate the coming of spring, other cultures are observing an ancient festival of renewal: The Guardian, 20 March 2011 In western cultures, today is the spring equinox –- the long-awaited moment that marks the end of winter, when the days begin to stretch out noticeably and the nights to shrink. But in countries and cultures across the Middle East and central Asia, notably Iran, 21 March is Nowruz (or Nawroz, in Kurdish, or Norouz or Nauroz or several other variant spellings that shift from city to city across Asia), the ancient festival of the new year.

Kobani, Syria. Like Easter in countries with a Christian tradition, the religious and the pagan have merged into a single anniversary marked with symbols of new life, such as decorated eggs and spring flowers. Festivals only endure when they are capable of reinvention. Sad.

Rabbis & Scholars

Of Wood and Bone: Crafting Living Things. Idol Theory. Curses as Divine Authenticator: The Wrath of Moses in the Book of Numbers | Ancient Curses. Nordic Witchcraft in Transition: Impotence, Heresy and Diabolism in 14th-century Bergen. Hecatedemeter | Undermining the Patriarchy Every Chance I Get. And I Get a Lot of Chances (Copyright Preserved) The Case for Polytheism: Steven Dillon: 9781782797357: Amazon.com: Books.

Rabbis Allow XMas Trees in Kosher Israeli Hotels. Christian Zionist Leaders Unite with Messianic Christians to Focus on Evangelizing Jews in Israel - Jewish Israel. Martin Buber: The Life of Dialogue. Religion online. Free Sweden.net Home Education - Religion - Karl Marx and the Marxist Religion (CCMW) Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Sacrifice - Wikisource, the free online library. Venezuela's Chavez exalted as father and martyr by followers. Untitled. Table of Contents — April 2013, 1 (1) 206. List of Works. Pagan Religions. Review: Ronald Hutton on Pagan Religion.

The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles. Eileen Gardiner, editor; Hell-On-Line: Jewish, Hell Texts, Christian Hell Texts, Judeo-Christian Hell Texts. Unavailable in your country. Unavailable in your country. Unavailable in your country. Fundamentalism, Sectarianism, and Revolution: The Jacobin Dimension of Modernity - S. N. Eisenstadt. Power, Trust, and Meaning: Essays in Sociological Theory and Analysis - S. N. Eisenstadt. An Error Occurred Setting Your User Cookie. Untitled. Sample Chapter for Schafer, S.: Children in Moral Danger and the Problem of Government in Third Republic France. 1176. Aaron Garrett, European Journal of Philosophy March 2012, Vol. 20, No. 1, The Review of Metaphysics (Philosophy Documentation Center) American Post-Judaism: Identity and Renewal in a Postethnic Society - Shaul Magid.

Is Religion the Problem? Sample Chapter for Schafer, S.: Children in Moral Danger and the Problem of Government in Third Republic France. One God, One Revelation, One People: On the Symbolic Structure of Elective Monotheism. Polemical Encounters: Esoteric Discourse and Its Others. Richard J. Bernstein, Jan Assmann’s Moses the Egyptian, Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal (Philosophy Documentation Center)

Contested-Knowledge-II-studiehandleiding-20132014.pdf. Lingua Romana: Volume 2, Issue 1, Collins. Translations of Monotheisms | Benslama | S. Problems of Transhumanism: Atheism vs. Naturalist Theologies. Untitled. Bohleber%20Sandler%20Conf%202009.pdf. Eisenstadt_2000_MultipleModernities.pdf. Bohleber%20Sandler%20Conf%202009.pdf. Richard J. Bernstein, Jan Assmann’s Moses the Egyptian, Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal (Philosophy Documentation Center)

OhioLINK ETD: Berry, Damon T. Copernican Cosmotheism: Johann Jacob Zimmermann and the Mystical Light  »  Brill Online. Untitled. Martin Kavka, Levinas Between Monotheism and Cosmotheism, Levinas Studies (Philosophy Documentation Center) In Samuel's Image: Child Oblation in the Early Medieval West | Monastic Matrix. From Text to Tradition: A History of Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism - Lawrence H. Schiffman. Semitic Papyrology in Context: A Climate of Creativity : Papers from a New ... Technology and Apocalypse in America—Blog—The Appendix.