April 30, 2011 | 4:25 pm

Believe in an angry God? You’re less likely to cheat

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

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From the Department of No Kidding (and via the Los Angeles Times):

A new study on the link between one’s view of God and willingness to cheat on a test is the latest example of social scientists wading into the highly charged field of religion and morality.

The study, titled “Mean Gods Make Good People: Different Views of God Predict Cheating Behavior” was peer reviewed and published earlier this month in the International Journal for the Psychology of Religion.

In line with many previous studies, it found no difference between the ethical behavior of believers and nonbelievers. But those who believed in a loving, compassionate God were more likely to cheat than those who believed in an angry, punitive God.

“The take-home message is not whether you believe in God, but what God you believe in,” said Azim Shariff, a psychologist at the University of Oregon. Shariff conducted the study with psychologist Ara Norenzayan, who had been his doctoral advisor at the University of British Columbia.

I don’t exactly agree with Shariff’s characterization of the findings. It’s not what God you believe in. (Even if it was, the correct interrogative would be “which.”) But it is about the qualities you believe God has.

April 29, 2011 | 7:18 pm

Indiana to block funding for Planned Parenthood

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

The GOP congressional effort to stop federal funds from going to Planned Parenthood failed (for now), but Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels vowed today to sign a bill that will halt about $2 million in federal funds from going to Planned Parenthood in his state.

The Christian Science Monitor reports:

Apart from eliminating the group’s funding, the bill includes other requirements that would give Indiana some of the strictest abortion laws in the country. The restrictions include a ban on the procedure following the 20th week of pregnancy unless the woman’s life is in jeopardy and requiring abortion providers to tell women seeking abortions that life begins at conception, that the procedure is linked to infertility, and that fetuses can feel pain at 20 weeks or earlier.

In a statement, Daniels said he plans to sign the bill in “a week or so from now” when it reaches his desk.

But legal questions remain, primarily because the law would deny the use of Medicaid at Planned Parenthood. “Medicaid law is pretty clear: You cannot unplug a provider because they’re providing a constitutionally protected service,” says Betty Cockrum, executive director Planned Parenthood’s Indiana chapter.

She says the organization plans legal action and is even looking into the possibility of filing a lawsuit seeking an injunction against the bill before it is officially signed by Daniels. Ms. Cockrum says making the bill law will constitute an unlawful act.

No real surprise from Planned Parenthood. The question is: What would the courts do with this type of restriction on abortion?

States are allowed to add restrictions to abortions—like waiting periods—but those restrictions can’t be so burdensome as to make abortion infeasible. (i.e. charging abortion doctors such exorbitant licensing fees that no one in the state would offer abortions and so women in some communities would have to drive hundreds of miles across state lines to see a doctor who would perform an abortion.) I doubt this halting of federal funding is going to put Planned Parenthood out of business. But we’ll see what they argue.

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April 29, 2011 | 9:25 am

Report: Archbishop of York on people wanting to ‘test the milk before they buy the cow’

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Much as I have been bored by the Royal Wedding buzz, how could I avoid a post related to Will and Kate’s big day? Especially when the Archbishop of York says this, according to the London Telegraph:

“We are living at a time where some people, as my daughter used to say, they want to test whether the milk is good before they buy the cow,” he said. “For some people that’s where their journeys are.

“But what is important, actually, is not to simply look at the past because they are going to be standing in the Abbey taking these wonderful vows: ‘for better for worse; for richer for poorer; in sickness and in health; till death us do part.’”

As you could imagine, some of Dr. John Sentamu’s colleagues are criticizing his words. And not because that’s the princess he’s reportedly talking about. They think he was a bit soft on Anglican doctrine.

Read the rest here. No mention in the story of Kate’s dress.

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April 28, 2011 | 11:17 am

Lawrence O’Donnell takes on Birther leader Orly Taitz

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

This story is lacking a religion angle, but here’s a follow-up to yesterday’s post about President Obama releasing his birth certificate. It seems that so-called Birther Queen Orly Taitz wasn’t satisfied. She went on Lawrence O’Donnell’s show on MSNBC and the above pissing match ensued.

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April 27, 2011 | 10:56 am

Remnick: Taking Trump and the Birthers to task

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Poignant commentary this morning from David Remnick about Donald Trump, who says he is challenging President Obama, taking credit for getting Obama to finally release his birth certificate. Remnick writes on The New Yorker News Desk blog:

What is truly disturbing is the game Trump has been participating in, the conspiracy thinking he was playing with. And here the polls—to the extent that they can be taken as hard fact—tell a disturbing story, in which no small part of the country has believed in a variety of tales about Barack Obama. There is the birther fantasy; the fantasy that Bill Ayers wrote “Dreams from My Father”; the fantasy that the President has some other father, and not Barack Obama, Sr.; the fantasy that Obama got into Harvard Law School with the help of a Saudi prince and the Nation of Islam. There is a veritable fantasy industry at work online and in the book-publishing industry; there are dollars to be made.

The cynicism of the purveyors of these fantasies is that they know very well what they are playing at, the prejudices they are fanning: that Obama is foreign, a fake, incapable of writing a book, incapable of intellectual achievement. Let’s say what is plainly true (and what the President himself is reluctant to say): these rumors, this industry of fantasy, are designed to arouse a fear of the Other, of an African-American man with a white American mother and a black Kenyan father.

Other intellectual luminaries, like Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck, see this move as just another trick from the wily Obama.

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April 26, 2011 | 9:09 pm

Bieber and Christian rockstars

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Interesting op-ed in the NYT about Christian references in music and Justin Bieber. David W. Stowe writes:

THE teenage music phenomenon Justin Bieber is arguably the most popular Christian in the world. In interviews he talks about growing up in an evangelical church, about how he prays several times a day, about his belief in angels and his opposition to abortion.

Where you won’t hear Mr. Bieber talk about faith very often, however, is in his songs. That may in part be his choice, but it’s also a reflection of a split in popular music between the secular and the godly. Despite being a rare bright spot in an industry facing difficulties, music with explicit religious content has been largely segregated from non-religious pop music, both in terms of radio stations and audiences—so much so that it even has a name, contemporary Christian music.

This wasn’t always the case. For much of pop music history, religious themes had an uncontroversial place at the top of the charts, a presence most clearly felt in the late ’60s and early ’70s. But over the next decades, the politicization of faith, relying in part on the surge of youth into the country’s churches, turned religious themes into a forbidden zone for secular musicians.

Not surprisingly, Stowe didn’t call up Pastor Steven Anderson.

I’ve written a bit about Christians and music and Christian music before (start here and here). Bieber is obviously a pop culture phenomenon, and not just a Christian pop culture legend.

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April 26, 2011 | 12:36 pm

Report: Syrian crackdowns have left at least 400 dead

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

It seems like in 2011 you can basically pick a month and there will be a new embattled despotic regime in the Mideast that is trying to violently squash a populist uprising. The latest: Syria.

Via Haaretz:

Syrian security forces have shot dead at least 400 civilians in their campaign to crush month-long pro-democracy protests, the Syrian human rights organization Sawasiah said on Tuesday.

The group, founded by jailed human rights lawyer Mohannad al-Hassani, said the United Nations Security Council must convene to start proceedings against Syrian officials in the International Criminal Court and “reign in the security apparatus”.

“This savage behavior, which is aimed at keeping the ruling clique in power at the expense of a rising number of civilian lives, calls for immediate international action beyond condemnations,” Sawasiah said in a statement sent to Reuters.

Read the rest here.

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April 25, 2011 | 5:11 pm

Report: Former N.J. governor who is gay isn’t joining priesthood yet

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Remember when Jim McGreevey, the former New Jersey governor who came out as gay while in office and then resigned after an alleged affair, said he was joining an Episcopal Seminary? That was four years ago, so he should be about to join the priesthood, right?

Don’t count on it. Not according to the New York Post:

Church leaders, who have long embraced gay parishioners and clergy, were bothered by McGreevey’s bitter divorce, sources told The Post.

“It was not being gay but for being a jackass—[McGreevey] didn’t come out of the whole divorce looking good,” said a source with the Episcopal Diocese of Newark.

Some leaders also were wary of McGreevey’s sudden embrace of their faith after his scandal and feared the church was being used, the source added.

After resigning as governor, “he was sort of looking for every angle to make a complete redo of his professional life,” said another church source. “He ran to the church for some kind of cover, which isn’t fully appropriate. Even if he’s a good guy, he should wait five to 10 years to get over his issues.”

Read the rest here. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, other newspapers report on this.

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April 25, 2011 | 12:53 pm

Did JDL extort Tupac with death threats?

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Now here’s an odd story: According to the FBI, the Jewish Defense League made death threats to Tupac Shakur, among other rappers, in an effort to extort “protection” money from them. Who knew OGs were looking protection from the OG Ois?

The JDL… have been extorting money from various rap music stars via death threats,” the FBI file on the case states. The report then goes on to describe how the group would make the death threats, and then call the rap star and offer protection for a fee.

According to the documents, Shakur was a victim of this scheme, as was another late rapper, Eazy-E.

Although the documents refer to the JDL extortion scheme, they don’t make a direct connection between the group and the murder of Shakur.

The FBI files were released as part of the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts.

That’s from Haaretz.

In case you’re not familiar with the JDL, here is the profile of former JDL head Irv Rubin, who died in jail after being arrested for allegedly scheming to blow up an LA-area mosque and the office of U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, who is Arab American. Rubin’s widow and son are still around, though the JDL has really fallen into the background since Rubin’s death.

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April 24, 2011 | 2:49 pm

Easter Sunday returns to the Hollywood Bowl

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

The Greenbergs didn’t make it to Bel Air Presbyterian’s Easter service at the Hollywood Bowl this morning—the consequence of this being L.A. and my forgetting we would need a ticket. But I did get mentioned a Patch.com story about the service’s return after taking last year off because finances were lacking.

Here’s a brief story about Easter’s resurrection at the Bowl, via KPCC:

The Hollywood Bowl hosted its first sunrise service on Easter Sunday 90 years ago. The sunrise tradition continued until last year, when organizers suspended it because they couldn’t raise enough money.

“we actually stepped in and helped financially two years before that,” Brewer said of Bel Air Presbyterian. ” But then we couldn’t last year because the expense for ourselves and the economy kind of fell off the ledge.”

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Brewer adds that the non-denominational service attracts people who don’t usually observe Easter.

“Many of our Jewish and Muslim and Hindu and Buddhist friends, and just even L.A. pagans, they’re curious about this Christian thing,” says Brewer. “They don’t feel safe going into a church because they’re afraid you’re gonna jump them and baptize them. But, they like coming to the Bowl. Because it’s such a beautiful setting and they get to see what this Christian thing is all about.”

I wonder how many pagans really show up for the Easter service. I’m not calling my pastor a liar. Certainly not. But I have to imagine the numbers of non-Christians or at least non-Easter-Christians has to be awfully small.

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April 23, 2011 | 5:35 pm

Pakistani Christians keep Easter on the down-low

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

As an American, it is difficult to imagine needing to be a bit discrete about Easter celebrations. But that’s the case in a Pakistani town where a Muslim mob killed nine Christians and torched dozens of their houses in a 2009 pogrom.

Reuters reports:

A few days before Easter, which Christians believe marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days after his crucifixion, bare-foot children played cricket in the town’s dusty alleys while some men chatted on a bench under a tree. “If we celebrate it with a fanfare, we fear somebody might get annoyed and attack us,” said Khalid Anjum, 45, the owner of a small snooker hall.

The only sign of the approach of Easter was a few young men rehearsing hymns in St. Mary’s Catholic Church. “Fear is there but we cannot give up our religion,” said Wilson Rafiq, the leader of the group of singers, who plays a traditional drum set known as a tabla.

Read the rest here.

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April 22, 2011 | 4:36 pm

The Last Supper not Jesus’ last?

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Here we go. We’ve come to expect these types of stories every year. It’s a Holy Week history scandal, only this one isn’t that scandalous; it’s more historical revisionism.

Here the Los Angeles Times reports that the Last Supper might have actually been Jesus’ second-to-last supper, according to a British researcher. The LAT reports:

Colin Humphreys, a scientist who previously explored the Exodus of the Old Testament, believes his studies show that Holy Thursday — the day that Jesus gathered his disciples for the famous supper, according to tradition — was actually a Wednesday.

Humphreys also believes he has resolved a longstanding disagreement over whether the Last Supper was a Jewish Passover Seder: It was, he says.

Humphreys’ book, “The Mystery of the Last Supper” (Cambridge University Press), was published Thursday, a day that many Christians observed as one of the holiest of the year. That’s a mistake, according to the researcher, a professor of materials science at Cambridge University who has made a sideline of biblical research.

“The Last Supper was on Wednesday, April 1, AD 33, with the crucifixion on Friday, April 3, AD 33,” Humphreys writes. He believes that his research not only definitively establishes the dates, which have eluded most scholars, but that it resolves an apparent conflict within the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ last days.

Read the rest here and check out Humphreys’ book here.

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