https://politicalresearch.org/ The latest research related to hinduism en https://religiondispatches.org/2023/02/06/jokes-chatgpt-chooses-which-religious-traditions-and-figures-deserve-respect-and ChatGPT is all the rage. It even drives some people into a rage. It does some remarkable things, it does some outrageous things, it does some absurd things. Most things it does badly, such as tell you how to build… Mon, 06 Feb 2023 12:28:42 EST Robert M. Geraci 1855ed91-1864-4e29-9194-89b56ce07424 https://religiondispatches.org/2018/07/03/what-we-saw-eyes-koko-talking-gorilla-1971-2018 Inherit the Wind’s creationist protesters may have held signs reading “I’m not descended from a monkey,” but the reality is that apes permeate our myths, religion, and literature precisely because it’s so obvious we’re related. Darwin may have provided the mechanism, but our own eyes tell us that there’s something eerily human in the eyes of our closest simian ancestors. Tue, 03 Jul 2018 10:39:38 EDT Ed Simon bbba0ea9-8367-4165-9751-a7e66ccc6b68 https://religiondispatches.org/2018/06/19/hindu-american-community-finally-coming-around-pride-month Even though Hindu scriptures embrace queerness and gender fluidity, Hindu temples have generally been reluctant to wade into discussions about sexuality. Tue, 19 Jun 2018 11:51:22 EDT Murali Balaji 738c80da-2869-4c08-9da9-406215816f4e https://religiondispatches.org/2018/05/22/trump-big-fan-hindu-force-thousands-nepalis-back-disaster-zone When most Americans think of the Hindu community here, they tend to conflate Hindus with Indians, up to a third of the Hindu population in the U.S. is not from India and close to 40 percent of the Indian-American population… Tue, 22 May 2018 11:39:55 EDT Murali Balaji cdd8ec5b-999a-4e85-8945-3c2b754a38bb https://religiondispatches.org/2017/08/14/challenging-both-homophobia-islam-and-populist-bogeyman-homophobic-muslim-and-more Taken together, several articles published this week challenge populist portrayals of the “homophobic Muslim” as a threat to Western values in various countries, while also challenging conservative Muslim teachings that queerness and Islam are incompatible. In the Guardian, Moustafa Bayoumi… Mon, 14 Aug 2017 10:00:10 EDT Peter Montgomery 6d519c21-6dba-43bb-a073-260ecc864c3d https://religiondispatches.org/2016/08/07/pope-denounces-gender-colonization-indonesian-court-considers-islamist-request There are reportedly a record number of openly lesbian, gay, and bisexual athletes competing in this year’s Olympics, which the Washington Blade’s Michael Lavers wrote are getting under way “against the backdrop of rampant anti-LGBT violence.” According to news reports… Sun, 07 Aug 2016 12:46:43 EDT Peter Montgomery 97d7a2a5-612e-4aae-93a5-bc95a73411b5 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/06/05/mormons-fight-marriage-equality-mexico-catholic-church-italys-anti-gay-nra-nigerian Scott Lively, an American who has promoted anti-gay policies around the world, recently argued that, if elected, President Donald Trump should apologize to the world for “Obama’s attempt to force the fascist LGBT agenda on everyone” and should follow Russian… Sun, 05 Jun 2016 01:28:28 EDT Peter Montgomery 2723cccc-6cce-473a-a869-9b78eb7b1de2 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/03/19/country-georgia-considers-constitutional-marriage-ban-hindu-nationalist-leader-surprises U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power addressed the Obama administration’s promotion of LGBT human rights around the world in an address to a Human Rights Campaign gathering. Georgia: Constitutional Marriage Ban Proposed; LGBT Rights Issue in Relations with… Sat, 19 Mar 2016 12:50:50 EDT Peter Montgomery 0a073019-d25e-4116-8bae-b883ed699309 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/02/11/bindi-isnt-indie Et tu, Beyoncé? #ReclaimtheBindi wants to challenge cultural appropriation of traditional symbols. Thu, 11 Feb 2016 03:41:52 EST Yesenia Vargas 03195ec3-556b-4012-99ca-09b42bc2f5df https://religiondispatches.org/2015/08/19/arrests-made-murders-atheist-bloggers-bangladesh-intl-response-violence-remains-anemic Authorities in Bangladesh announced yesterday that three men suspected of the brutal machete murders of bloggers Avijit Roy and Ananta Bijoy Das have been arrested. But the violence against secular and minority-rights activists continues. Hindu writer Niloy Neel was murdered… Wed, 19 Aug 2015 12:24:42 EDT Murali Balaji 5c74c35c-e4ec-4af9-88d2-d31950419592 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/05/15/ministries-presence-report-nepal American Christians in earthquake-ravaged Nepal—but not evangelism as usual. Fri, 15 May 2015 05:50:10 EDT Cathleen Falsani 019bba33-67ae-4611-8161-60b604449e78 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/04/17/six-overlooked-gems-future-world-religions-report The Leftovers: Hot HBO Drama or Hot New Religious Trend? Fri, 17 Apr 2015 01:51:20 EDT Timothy King 8acec562-8c74-4bba-802e-6cfb97154d5f https://religiondispatches.org/2015/02/26/pat-robertson-warns-yoga-will-have-you-speaking-hindu Pat Robertson, the notorious and influential television evangelist and founder of the Christian Coalition of America, is not new to the yogaphobic maelstrom that has been brewing for as long as Western Europeans and North Americans have been familiar with… Thu, 26 Feb 2015 03:03:08 EST Andrea R. Jain c3f21e05-55a2-47c2-a79a-741f73265ab9 https://religiondispatches.org/2014/12/15/claiming-yoga-india Modi’s recent efforts are mired in inaccurate myths of yoga’s static essence and Indian origin. Mon, 15 Dec 2014 06:00:03 EST Andrea R. Jain ed68997c-0dcc-43b9-9d75-fa7637ac30b2 https://religiondispatches.org/2014/05/23/bobby-jindal-hypes-his-christian-cred-liberty-u Over the past few months, Louisiana Governor Piyush “Bobby” Jindal has been making aggressive moves to prepare himself for a 2016 presidential bid. In addition to rejecting a Medicaid expansion (and in the process denying healthcare to hundreds of thousands… Fri, 23 May 2014 03:46:59 EDT Murali Balaji b2762063-5f59-484a-87c5-61a1a8ae2907 https://religiondispatches.org/2014/04/04/five-flood-stories-you-didnt-know-about The Flood story forces us to grapple with the deeply impersonal forces of the universe that are set against human civilization. Fri, 04 Apr 2014 02:37:54 EDT Ingrid Lilly ad190fc2-17d7-4919-bf40-333815b24e9a https://religiondispatches.org/2013/12/11/global-lgbt-recap-mandela-and-equality-elton-john-defies-russian-ban-fake-healing-aids From India to China to Africa, events this month leave no doubt that the struggle for LGBT rights has gone global. Wed, 11 Dec 2013 07:22:22 EST Peter Montgomery 6dbe153f-d644-496c-9c38-b9503c166dab https://religiondispatches.org/2013/10/01/does-religion-condemn-homosexuality Religions are richly variable in their organizations, belief systems, rituals, and practices. This is true across cultures and history. Grand statements about what “all religions” say or believe about anything—especially about such a complex phenomenon as human desire and sexuality—are… Tue, 01 Oct 2013 02:02:51 EDT Michael Bronski d576c749-c751-4239-b07f-380dd776d016 https://religiondispatches.org/2013/01/03/whats-islamophobia-and-do-i-have-it I’m not arguing that Islamophobia is racist, or that Islamophobes are racists, because that’s not quite what’s happening. For one thing, Islamophobes embrace ex-Muslims like Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and racists wouldn’t (indeed couldn’t) do the same. But consider the similarities: the Islamophobe must assume Muslims suffer some sort of pre-Islamic inferiority, sufficient to explain how some (largely non-white) people—actually, a lot of people—not only fell for Islam in the first place, but then stayed down. How long do enforced ideologies last? Nazism: twelve years. Communism: some decades. Islam: Fourteen centuries and counting. Thu, 03 Jan 2013 05:12:16 EST Haroon Moghul 5c9bd624-c760-4213-a627-7843eb136cfb https://religiondispatches.org/2012/10/01/yoga-incompatible-catholic-faith Fear of a yoga planet, part MMCXVII. Mon, 01 Oct 2012 06:03:28 EDT Evan Derkacz dcf3b478-2283-4d2e-93ae-d213a9bfb44c https://religiondispatches.org/2012/07/09/caste-first-christ-second-some-indian-christians Church leaders have had to admit that Christianity in India is tainted by caste—a strange argument for American Christians, especially evangelicals, who pour millions of dollars into missionary work in India. Mon, 09 Jul 2012 08:26:22 EDT Megan Sweas 66ad84ba-5b7f-42d8-bb68-ae685afa120d https://religiondispatches.org/2012/05/16/eat-pray-kill-basic-brutality-eating When it comes to the consumption of meat, our human hands have long been dirty. This isn’t a discouragement to stop striving for the good. But a moral proposal that promises to wash our filthy fingers spotlessly clean—in seconds flat—is suspect. Because they will still be dirty. The pressing moral question, of meat, becomes: given that human hands are obviously soiled, what can be done with these polluted tools? Wed, 16 May 2012 06:06:34 EDT Beatrice Marovich 6611ea50-be3b-4cef-88ce-3be9dcec5110 https://religiondispatches.org/2011/09/14/whats-om-how-women-are-transforming-yoga At first, Michael McIntyre admits, he wasn’t sure why they weren’t making a documentary on yoga, as opposed to women and yoga. I wondered the same thing. Isn’t the stereotype of men that they are even more out of touch with their bodies than women; overscheduled and torn between conflicting demands that don’t allow a minute for introspection, contemplation, or the stillness from which groundedness is born? All these reasons are why the film claims women should do the practice. But Michael came to believe that they were documenting something momentous, and women were leading it. “As a man going to classes taught by men, I was getting the practice, but not the phenomenon,” he said. “ Women are taking it to the next level.” Wed, 14 Sep 2011 11:44:19 EDT Meera Subramanian 8963eb65-b61f-41fd-b651-5ae9b9f6cd9f https://religiondispatches.org/2011/08/09/nonviolence-muslim-style-ghaffar-khan-tahrir-square While many books will no doubt be written about the momentous events that are unfolding in the Middle East, many of them will doubtless leave out the prehistory. By exploring the rich tradition of nonviolent resistance in the Muslim world—from Palestine and Pakistan, to Kosovo and the Maldives—Amitabh Pal dispels the oft-repeated misconception that what we are witnessing in the Arab Spring is without precedent. Tue, 09 Aug 2011 09:34:40 EDT Eric Stoner 6ff8d7f2-f3fc-4a4a-81a4-6f216f00e2fb https://religiondispatches.org/2011/07/15/pastafarian-rights-israeli-rosa-parks-orthodox-jewish-pi The week in religion… Fri, 15 Jul 2011 08:01:30 EDT Michael J. Altman 907ebe1d-4748-434b-ac4f-8faac9d45c3e