Julia Galef reports for Religion Dispatches on philosopher Keith Parsons’s decision to quit doing philosophy of religion. In September, Parsons, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, had announced on the The Secular Outpost.
here & there
Announcements, events, and opportunities related to topics of interest to TIF readers are posted here. Additionally you may find round-ups of news items and brief commentary on current events.
For a listing of all of the events announcements, click here.
For a listing of announcements regarding books, click here.
here & there
Representing the unrepresented
by Justin ReynoldsThe religiously “unaffiliated”---atheists, agnostics, nonconformists, the unchurched and the uncertain---are underrepresented in Congress, notes Richard Blow today in The New York Times. Citing a recent Pew Forum poll, he notes that 16 percent of the nation refuses to identify with any particular faith, while only 1 percent of Congress claims no religious affiliation.
January 10, 2011
here & there
Tune in to Frequencies
by John D. BoyThe Immanent Frame, in cooperation with the award-winning religion magazine Killing the Buddha, is launching Frequencies, a project curated by Kathryn Lofton and John Lardas Modern seeking to commence a "collaborative genealogy of spirituality." The curators have begun circulating a call for artworks to be included alongside a series of texts in prose and verse that will be published over the course of one-hundred days during the spring of 2011 on the project website. Artists working in visual media are asked to submit their work to the curators by March 15, 2011, who will pass it on to a panel for evaluation by March 30.
January 11, 2011
here & there
Conference: “Secularism in the Late Modern Age”
by Charles GelmanOn January 28-29, the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia will host a conference on "Secularism in the Late Modern Age: Between New Atheisms and Religious Fundamentalisms." Speakers include: Manuela Achilles, Rajeev Bhargava, José Casanova, Jocelyn Cesari, Daniel Doneson, Silvio Ferrari, Barbara Herrnstein Smith, Slavica Jakelić, Adam Lipszyc, Ekaterina Makarova, Neeti Nair, Christopher Nichols , Abdulaziz Sachedina, Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, Kevin Shultz, William Schweiker, George Thomas, Carl Trindle, Stephen White, and Wesley Wildman.
January 11, 2011
here & there
Three myths of American religious freedom
by John D. BoyWriting on the occasion of the National Day of Religious Freedom---observed in the United States on January 16---historian David Sehat, author of The Myth of American Religious Freedom, argues that the story of religious freedom is a "myth" that "distorts the current debate about religion in public life." The notions of church–state separation, religious decline and exceptional liberty---all three of which are central to the narrative of religious freedom in the U.S.---are mythical and foreclose productive discussion about religion in American society, Sehat argues.
January 18, 2011
here & there
CFP: Women, Religion, Conflict and Peace
by Jessica PolebaumThe U.S. Institute of Peace's Religion and Peacemaking Center, Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, and the World Faiths Development Dialogue have issued a Call for Papers for a September 2011 symposium entitled "Women, Religion, Conflict and Peace: Exploring the Invisible."
January 18, 2011
here & there
God, money, and power
by Charles GelmanAt Killing the Buddha, John D. Fitzgerald describes the inside of a little-known conservative Christian college in the heart of New York City.
January 19, 2011
here & there
Changing perceptions of yoga: from crime to co-optation
by Joseph BlankholmIn an article in the Huffington Post, Harvard historian Leigh E. Schmidt relates the Hindu American Foundation's "Take Yoga Back" campaign to the subject of his most recent book, Heaven's Bride, a biography of "idiosyncratic" 19th century mystic Ida C. Craddock. Schmidt uses Craddock as an example of how much the perception of yoga has changed in the past century.
January 19, 2011
here & there
Religious statements by government officials
by Grace YukichRecently, the newly-elected governor of Alabama made headlines by making a public statement in a church following his inauguration, in which he said that only Christians are his "brothers and sisters," and that he hopes that people who are not Christians will become his brothers and sisters (in other words, will become Christians). While we might disagree with the exclusive nature of his religious beliefs, they are hardly uncommon. Still, one wonders why he felt the need to share these private beliefs in a public venue and how he thought they were relevant or helpful in his claim to serve as governor to "all of the people of Alabama," regardless of their religion.
January 20, 2011
here & there
Native American civil religion?
by Richard AmesburyLee Gilmore reflects on the opening blessing at Obama's Tucson speech last week by Carlos Gonzales, who identified himself as a Yaqui and fifth-generation Mexican-American.
January 20, 2011