In an odd article that attempts to situate Anne Rice’s very public proclamation that she is leaving the Catholic Church within the larger context of American Christianity, Los Angeles Times religion reporter William Lobdell makes two apparently contradictory claims:
American Christianity is not well, and there’s evidence to indicate that its condition is more critical [...]
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Reuters reports that “specialists” in prayer writing and ritual are doing a booming business in Iran. The whole business — or commodification of prayer — reminds one of the prayer and dispensation trade that existed in the Catholic Church for hundreds of years, and which so incensed Martin Luther:
In Islamic Iran where clerics rule, [...]
Tags:Catholic Church·dispensations·doctrine·Imam·intercession·interpretation·Iran·Islam·Islamic law·legitimacy·magic·Martin Luther·Mullah·Muslim·prayer·prayer sellers·prayer selling·ritual·sharia·Stanley Fish·superstition·supplication
It was with great sadness that I read a recent article in the New York Times documenting the pillaging and destruction of Mesopotamian archaeological sites in Iraq. Although these Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian sites — and previous excavations — receive scant attention outside small groups of antiquities scholars, they are of critical importance to our [...]
Tags:Akkad·Akkadian·anthropomorphic deities·anthropomorphism·Babylon·Babylonian·Christianity·city-states·cosmology·earliest religion·Enlil·heavenly order·Iraq·Islam·Judaic·Judaism·Mesopotamia·Mesopotamian·monotheism·Muslim·polytheism·Samuel Noah Kramer·Sumer·Sumerian·Sumerian pantheon·temples·The Sumerians·Ubaid·Ubaidian·Ur·ziggurats
Whether or not you like Christopher Hitchens, one thing is certain: he can turn an incisive phrase. At his best, Hitchens writes with an acerbic aplomb that can be charming; at his worst, he is downright nasty.
With the latter Hitchens in mind, I have not yet been able to bring myself to read his jeremiad, [...]
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While we are on the topic of India, I came across this article in The Hindu discussing the Dalai Lama’s visit to India. This statement really caught my eye:
[Indian] Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan said that protection of human rights was an intrinsic feature of the Indian civilization, which recognized the world as a family [...]
Gallo-Roman Temple Complex Discovered
August 19th, 2010 · No Comments · Archaeology and Religion, History of Religions, Pagans and Polytheism, Ritual and Religion
Over at The Guardian, Pierre Le Hir reports on the discovery of an “enormous religious site” or temple complex in the French countryside near Le Mans, which during the first through third centuries common era (C.E.) was known as Vindunum. As viewers of HBO’s spectacular but short-lived series “Rome” and readers of Julius Caesar’s Commentarii [...]
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Tags:Celtic·Celtic gods·celts·Commentaries on the Gallic Wars·Commentarii de Bello Gallico·exclusivism·Gallic·Gallic gods·Gauls·intolerance·Julius Caesar·Le Mans·Mars Mullo·Mithras·Muslim·mystery cult·Obama·pagan pantheon·pagans·Persian deity·Pierre Le Hir·religious site·ritual offerings·Roman·Roman gods·Rome·salvage archaeology·syncretic·syncretism·temple complex·tolerance·Vindunum