http://www.religionnewsblog.com Religion news about religious cults, sects, world religions, and related issues Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:33:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23768/positive-thinking http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23768/positive-thinking#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:59:51 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23768 Americans have long prided themselves on being "positive" and optimistic — traits that reached a manic zenith in the early years of this millennium. Iraq would be a cakewalk! The Dow would reach 36,000! Housing prices could never decline!

By the mid-'00s optimism wasn't just a psycho-spiritual lifestyle option; it had become increasingly mandatory.

Two years into the Great Recession, it's time to face the truth...]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23768/positive-thinking/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23762/book-of-genesis-illustrated-r-crumb http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23762/book-of-genesis-illustrated-r-crumb#comments Sat, 10 Oct 2009 11:27:54 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23762 How do we read R. Crumb's "The Book of Genesis Illustrated"? It seems a contradiction: a sober reconstruction by a man who admits he "[does] not believe that the Bible is 'the word of God.' " And yet, the further we get into this electrifying adaptation, the more it all makes sense.

If you remove divinity from the equation, "Genesis" becomes a human creation -- "a powerful text," in Crumb's words, "with layers of meaning that reach deep into our collective consciousness, our historical consciousness, if you will." These stories are sacred, then, not because they were handed down by any deity but because they speak to the elemental conflicts that drive us as women and men.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23762/book-of-genesis-illustrated-r-crumb/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23717/harry-potter-medal http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23717/harry-potter-medal#comments Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:05:30 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23717 A memoir by George W Bush's former speechwriter claims that Bush administration officials objected to giving JK Rowling a presidential medal of freedom on the grounds that her Harry Potter books "encouraged witchcraft".

Latimer, whose memoir Speech-Less: Tales of a White House Survivor was published last week by Crown in the US, says that the "narrow thinking" of "people in the White House" led them "to actually object to giving the author JK Rowling a presidential medal because the Harry Potter books encouraged witchcraft".

See also: Harry Potter is converting Christian critics, Christian themes abound in Potter and How the boy wizard won over religious critics -- and the deeper meaning theologians now see in his tale]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23717/harry-potter-medal/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23643/lost-symbol http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23643/lost-symbol#comments Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:10:27 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23643 While the fictional story lines about conspiracy and the Catholic Church in "The Da Vinci Code" caused an uproar among some Catholics and drew censure from the Vatican, a senior representative of the Freemasons in Australia called "The Lost Symbol" the work of a "terrific novelist."

"We are very pleased, there is nothing in this book that will offend my organization. It does give us the opportunity to open it up a bit," said Greg Levenston, Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory for the Freemasons.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23643/lost-symbol/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23628/masons-brace-for-new-dan-brown-novel http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23628/masons-brace-for-new-dan-brown-novel#comments Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:03:17 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23628 With Dan Brown's newest novel, The Lost Symbol, hitting bookstores Sept. 15 -- much of it rumored to revolve around Masonic myths -- the Masons are in pre-emptive damage-control mode, Religion News Service reports.

Small wonder, since The Da Vinci Code -- which Brown claimed to be historically accurate -- was full of errors.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23628/masons-brace-for-new-dan-brown-novel/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23620/cartoonist-gets-religion http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23620/cartoonist-gets-religion#comments Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:25:21 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23620 The influential comics artist Robert Crumb, best known for such outré works as "Keep On Truckin' " and "Fritz the Cat," is exploring a surprising new topic in his latest work: the Bible.

Over at Beliefnet, Rabbi Brad Hirschfield wonders whether Crumb's work will be heavenly or heretical?]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23620/cartoonist-gets-religion/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23607/philip-pullman-scoundrel http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23607/philip-pullman-scoundrel#comments Wed, 09 Sep 2009 10:22:24 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23607 Philip Pullman, the children's author, is set to cause controversy with a new book - called The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ - denying that Jesus was the son of God.

Publisher Jamie Byng said that Pullman's book, which will be published next Easter, "strips Christianity bare and exposes the gospels to a new light".]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23607/philip-pullman-scoundrel/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23107/taqwacores http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23107/taqwacores#comments Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:44:51 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23107 Five years ago, young Muslims across the United States began reading and passing along a blurry, photocopied novel called “The Taqwacores,” about imaginary punk rock Muslims in Buffalo.

The novel is “The Catcher in the Rye” for young Muslims, said Carl W. Ernst, a professor of Islamic studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Springing from the imagination of Michael Muhammad Knight, it inspired disaffected young Muslims in the United States to form real Muslim punk bands and build their own subculture.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23107/taqwacores/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/21795/uncensored-bible http://www.religionnewsblog.com/21795/uncensored-bible#comments Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:28:05 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=21795 Most believers would say the Bible is the word of God, or at least a divinely inspired book written by divinely inspired men.

But what if the Bible had been mistranslated or censored to remove the tawdry bits about pimps, cross-dressers or, ahem, a Brazilian wax as punishment?]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/21795/uncensored-bible/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/20321/frank-schaeffer http://www.religionnewsblog.com/20321/frank-schaeffer#comments Thu, 10 Jan 2008 11:50:31 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/20321/frank-schaeffer http://www.religionnewsblog.com/20321/frank-schaeffer/feed 0