February 19, 2012 | 9:28 pm

The Methodist rift over gay marriage

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

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World Methodist Council and museum of Methodism, Lake Junaluska, NC. Photo by Wikipedia/Pollinator

The United Methodist Church is a hold out among mainline Protestant churches, the big denomination that has not changed the church’s stance on same-sex marriages or ordaining gay clergy. Homosexuality has been an increasingly divisive issue for churches, and has led to a lot of splintering. (Here’s a primer with links to other relevant posts.) And the United Methodist Church is certainly feeling the pressure.

This story from the New York Times Bay Citizen project reports on the recent protest by one Methodist minister, the Rev. Karen Oliveto, of San Francisco’s inability to issue marriage certificates to same-sex couples because of the ongoing Prop. 8 litigation. Matt Smith reports:

Methodist clergy members like Ms. Oliveto have led a growing pastoral revolt against those teachings — she has performed more than 50 “holy union” ceremonies for same-sex couples. And in her church’s liberal California-Nevada conference, 114 pastors from Northern California have signed a petition declaring they are willing to perform holy union ceremonies for same-sex couples, and thus risk being defrocked for violating church rules. More than 1,100 United Methodist pastors nationwide have signed the pledge. In response, 2,700 conservative pastors have signed a letter criticizing those pastors’ stance.

The United Methodist Church defends the church’s current position that homosexuality is “incompatible with Christian teaching.” “It’s holistic, it’s human, it’s fair, it’s respectful, and from my perspective, it’s biblical,” Maxxie Dunnam told Smith.

This is not the first time that Methodist ministers have openly defied the church’s position on homosexuality, and the church does not appear to be changing course. Some have been sanctioned for performing same-sex ceremonies, but that has been the exception.

All this begs the question: What turn will the same-sex debate take in the UMC? Will the denomination eventually change its stance, leading to breakaway churches, or will it hold the line and either sanction ministers who defy the church or keep turning a blind eye?

February 19, 2012 | 8:53 pm

Fear of halal meat a presidential campaign issue in France

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

France's presidential candidate Marine Le Pen during her presidential convention in Lille Feb. 19. Photo by REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

Imagine a key issue in the 2012 U.S. presidential election being a fight over whether Americans were unwillingly being forced to eat kosher food. That is basically the situation in France, where far-right leader Marine Le Pen is stoking anti-immigration fears by claiming that she has proof that all meat in Paris is halal and that distributors have been lying to consumers.

Reuters reports:

“This situation is a real deception and the government has been fully aware of this situation for months,” Le Pen told reporters on the sidelines of the conference. “All the abattoirs in the Paris region sell halal meat without exception.”

The main meat industry association, Interbev, denied the allegation saying the vast majority of the meat in Paris is not slaughtered under halal or kosher practices. “While some halal and kosher meat does find its way into other distribution channels, that doesn’t affect the quality of the product in any way,” the association’s president Dominique Langlois told France Info radio.

Incredibly, people actually care about this. Moreover, it’s OK for a French presidential candidate to run on a platform that stokes fears about the Others.

Then again, this shouldn’t be that surprising coming from France. Much of Europe is divided over immigration issues and the far right has capitalized on concerns about the Islamization of Europe. And France has been right in the middle of it.

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February 18, 2012 | 11:03 pm

Street preacher loses case against University of Tennessee

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Joe Johnson and John Ward Pedestrian Mall, The University of Tennessee. Photo by Wikipedia/Zereshk

If you’ve spent considerable time on a college campus recently, you’ve probably seen a street preacher. At UCLA, they tend to frequent Bruin Walk, the main pedestrian walkway through campus. Crowds tend to congregate but, in my experience, they’re not really there to hear the message so much as they are to gawk and incite.

One campus you probably wouldn’t see that is University of Tennessee in Knoxville. That’s because though many public universities, like UCLA, are generally open to the public and only require a use permit for special facilities and locations, UT does not permit outside speakers on campus unless they are sponsored by a student organization.

John McGlone, a Christian who wanted to spread the good news at UT, recently challenged the policy with a federal civil rights action, claiming that the policy violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments. But a federal district court judge disagreed, ruling that the policy was content-neutral and not overbroad:

The policy applies indiscriminately to all visitors who would conduct a speech on campus. Furthermore, there is nothing in the language of the policy that encourages selective application of the policy by the Dean of Students; whether a speaker has obtained sponsorship, and whether the university can make the “physical arrangements” necessary to accommodate the speaker in light of time and space limitations, are the only criteria upon which the university evaluates a request to speak on campus.

More on McGlone v. Cheek, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18820, at LexisNexis. Hat tip: Religion Clause.

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February 18, 2012 | 8:46 pm

Judaism as a public, rather than private, concern

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Interesting recent Q&A at Rosner’s Domain with Leora F. Batnitzky, Chair of the Department of Religion at Princeton University and author of “How Judaism Became a Religion: An Introduction to Modern Jewish Thought.” One topic of conversation, how Judaism is heavily politicized in Israel and depoliticized in Israel.

An excerpt:

How does the Jewish State change the relations between religion, nationality and culture in the Jewish world? Are we witnessing two contradictory interpretations of Judaism - namely, Israeli Judaism and Diasporic Judaism?

I do think we are witnessing two different, though perhaps not entirely contradictory, forms of Judaism in Israel and the diaspora.  I’d say they are two sides of the same spectrum.  Put far too simply, Judaism is highly politicized in Israel and highly depoliticized in the diaspora.  In Israel, Judaism is matter of public, national concern, while in the diaspora Judaism is largely relegated to the private sphere.  However, these two forms of modern Judaism do share important features with one another (which is why they remain on the same spectrum).

First, Israel is a modern nation state.  Arguments about the role of Judaism in Israeli public life as well as controversies over the power of religious authorities in Israel take place within the framework the modern state which, in theory at least, protects individual rights as well as the rights of minorities.  So long as Israel remains a democratic state, there will always be a productive tension between highly politicized forms of Judaism and the political reality of the state.

Second, the largest diaspora community in the world today exists in the United States, which is different from the modern European context that gave birth to the idea of depoliticized Jewish religion.  In the U.S., religion enters public discourse in many messy ways.  This can make some forms of American Judaism less private, and more public.

More here. Read it.

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February 17, 2012 | 5:32 pm

Siri-like Android app gives racist responses

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

ChaCha’s Iris app for Android has run into some serious problems. Beyond the fact that some people are offended by it’s apparent anti-abortion stance, the app gives some pretty racist responses. Like this one:

“Why are Jews so greedy?” The Verge asked of ChaCha.

“It is said that the Jews love money. This stereotype has it’s [sic] roots somewhere in the Holocaust. It is not true with all Jews.”

More from the Huffington Post here. ChaCha has reacted to public criticism by tweaking its app.

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February 16, 2012 | 11:53 am

Saudi writer faces execution over Twitter posts about the Prophet Muhammad

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

There have been a lot of entries, but here’s a horrifying addition to the Don’t Insult Islam’s Holy Prophet file: A Saudi writer faces execution in his native country for insulting Muhammad on Twitter.

Hamza Kashgari, a 23-year-old newspaper columnist, was detained upon arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and has been deported by Malaysian authorities. His crime? Tweeting this on the occasion of Muhammad’s birthday last week, via the AP:

“I have loved things about you and I have hated things about you and there is a lot I don’t understand about you.”

“I will not pray for you,” he added.

Somehow, that is blasphemy worthy of death.

Andrew Brown of the Guardian opines that Kashgari likely “will not be executed, if he makes a sufficiently grovelling apology, though he will certainly be punished cruelly for something that is not a crime in any civilised society.” But his fate remains unknown.

As for Saudi Arabian authorities, not only are they telling other countries to butt out of the situation, which is ripe for human rights violations—they’re also theatening Kashgari’s supporters.

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February 15, 2012 | 4:42 pm

Jeremy Lin giving God all the credit

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Jose Calderon and Jeremy Lin during the first half of their NBA basketball game in Toronto Feb. 14. Photo by REUTERS/Mike Cassese

I have a little more self-control than Sportscenter, which means that half of the content on this blog will not be related to Jeremy Lin. But after sharing Monday what Lin’s success and character has meant to Asian Americans, in particular Asian American Christians, I had to mention this piece from the San Jose Mercury News. Here’s the headline that Lin’s hometown paper gave to this local boy done good: “Exclusive: Jeremy Lin says faith in God triggered ‘Lin-sanity’.”

Oh yes. Here’s an excerpt of that exclusive:

What the country sees is a Cinderella story, Lin’s meteoric rise from the NBA Development League to unstoppable star. But for Lin, it’s a story of faith, the beautiful struggle he’s now convinced he can win. Most importantly, it’s a story of how he’ll be completely fine if he doesn’t.

“I’m not playing to prove anything to anybody,” Lin said. “That affected my game last year and my joy last year. With all the media attention, all the love from the fans (in the Bay Area), I felt I needed to prove myself. Prove that I’m not a marketing tool, I’m not a ploy to improve attendance. Prove I can play in this league. But I’ve surrendered that to God. I’m not in a battle with what everybody else thinks anymore.”

It took some time, some rough nights, long prayers and countless Bible studies. Lin confided in his pastor, Stephen Chen.

“It was hard. I could make him no promises,” Chen said. “To trust what God is doing is definitely a lesson that Jeremy is continuing to learn and not to trust in his results.”

Read the rest here. His continues to be an incredible story—and not just for Asian Americans and not just for Christians.

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February 15, 2012 | 4:07 pm

Matisyahu Beard.0: the Jewish reggae star is bringing the beard back

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Matisyahu and son, via his Twitter.

It’s been years since Jewish reggae artist Matisyahu was Lubavitch. And in December he dropped the Chasidic label, too. That came with a clear symbolic act: he shaved his glorious beard.

At the time he said:

I felt that in order to become a good person I needed rules—lots of them—or else I would somehow fall apart.  I am reclaiming myself.  Trusting my goodness and my divine mission

Fans were concerned that this was an indication of personal spiritual struggles. Maybe they’ll take peace in this news: Matisyahu is bringing the beard back. That much can be seen from the image (right) that he tweeted.

So why the change of heart? Did Matisyahu just need a change of pace? Or is he indicating another spiritual shift?

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February 14, 2012 | 12:39 pm

Losing faith in religion blogs*

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Since The God Blog started almost five years ago, countless great religion blogs have launched. Some, like the DMN religion blog, are not what they used to be. Others have stopped posting altogether.

In the past two weeks, we lost a pair of good ones. (Update—add Belief Beat to the list.) First, the Seeker, which had already gone through one major transition, went looking elsewhere. Then yesterday it was Nicole Neroulias’ Belief Beat. Now today, Gary Stern of Blogging Religiously says that he’s “signing off”:

I’m too busy covering education these days to give this blog anywhere near the attention it deserves. Plus, I’ve been off the religion beat long enough that I no longer have the insight or sources to offer a “New York point of view” on religion news.

I know some people found this blog from my “Faithbeat” Twitter account. I set up that account while I was still covering religion full-time (and when I was writing a weekly column called “FaithBeat.”) I linked the Twitter account to my blog—but also intended to Tweet religion news. But then I lost the religion beat and the Twitter thing never got going.

The end of Blogging Religiously is even sadder if you think about how this reflects on ongoing changes in the news business.

It used to be that every newspaper had a weekly religion page and many had multiple reporters assigned to the religion beat. Then, just as religion pages were dying, newspapers (about a decade late) discovered blogs and many encouraged religion reporters to start religion blogs. When those papers later killed their religion beat, they often still had a newly assigned reporter who could keep up the religion blog.

But as Stern’s story shows, even that’s not sustainable in many situations.

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February 13, 2012 | 10:10 am

Jeremy Lin: Asian American Christian basketball star

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Jeremy Lin at the 2010 Golden State Warriors open practice. Photo by Wikipedia

Like so many Americans, I’ve been caught up in Lin-sanity. The numbers being put up by Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin are jaw-dropping.

And don’t call him Tim Tebow 2.0. He’s no gimmick; he’s a true point guard who absolutely savaged the Lakers on Friday night. The only real comparisons between Tebow and Lin are the time they’ve been eating up on Sportscenter and their openness about their Christian beliefs.

It’s been impossible to avoid race in the whole Jeremy Lin story. Announcers and commentators love to mention that he has a great basketball IQ—after all, he went to Harvard. But part of the subtext is: We didn’t know Asian Americans played sports. (Like Timothy Dalrymple in talking about Asian American stereotypes, I was pretty embarassed for the Knicks’ announcers in the above video.) Even when the stereotypes are absent, the simple fact is that Lin is one of only a few Asian Americans to play in the NBA.

That’s why Michael Luo of the New York Times writes that for an Asian American “the chants of “M.V.P.!” raining down on Lin at the Garden embody a surreal, Jackie Robinson-like moment.”

But to Luo, Lin’s Christianity is just as meaningful as his race. Luo writes:

The last time I felt anything resembling this was Yao Ming’s first season for the Rockets. I experienced a similar mix of pinch-me-am-I-dreaming befuddlement and chest-thumping pride when I traveled to Houston to do an article on him and heard an arena crowd singing his name, on Chinese New Year, no less. And, yes, I followed Tebow’s extraordinary ride this season, in part because of his faith. More than anything, though, I found the fierce emotions he incited on both sides of the religious divide depressing.

The feelings the Lin phenomenon instill in me are orders of magnitude greater because he is an Asian-American, like me, whose parents were immigrants to this country, like mine. He grew up, like me, in the United States, speaking English; his Chinese, like mine, could use improvement. He went to my alma mater. And, yes, he is a Christian, too, but with a brand of faith, shaped by his background, that I can relate to much better than many I have seen in the public arena.

(skip)

In the midst of his stellar run last week, I couldn’t help but reflect on Lin’s journey. A Bible verse that he has cited as a favorite came to mind, encouraging believers that “suffering produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us.”

Read the rest here.

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February 12, 2012 | 10:04 pm

Meet the folks who are preparing for the apocalypse

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Doomsday Preppers. Photo by National Geographic Channel

Speaking of the end of the world, I’m sitting down to watch National Geographic’s “Doomsday Preppers.” I’m definitely not prepared—for the end of the world or for some of the apocalyptic scenarios I expect to encounter in this show. Supervolcano, anyone?

Who are the doomsday preppers? The Wall Street Journal reports:

The show looks at more than a dozen Americans who have turned building bullet-proof shelters, stocking up on several years’ worth of canned goods and mapping evacuation routes into a kind of pricey game of one-upmanship. Whoever wins may be the last man (or woman) standing – literally.

But in another sense, the preppers don’t think of what they do as a weekend pastime. They see an end coming – be it because of a depletion of all the world’s oil or a shifting of the planet’s axis or a meltdown of the stock market. As a result, they simply follow the old scouting motto: Be prepared.

“These are not just a handful of people living in the mountains. They’re everywhere,” says Michael Cascio, National Geographic Channel’s executive vice president of programming.

One line that I heard in the first five minutes of the show—and that I expect to hear again—was: “Some people think I’m crazy. I hope they’re right. I hope I am crazy. That would be the greatest thing in the world.”

I just hold out hope that I won’t have to worry about the end of the world. After all, I survived Y2K, Harold Camping and “2012”—not to mention the first six weeks of 2012.

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February 11, 2012 | 12:48 pm

If the world was ending ...

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

New trailer for “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World”.

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