When Samir Selmanovic converted to Christianity as a young soldier in the Yugoslav army, his — Croatian, atheist and culturally Muslim — family was heartbroken. “They hired top psychiatrists to talk to me,” Selmanovic told a meeting of the Religion Newswriters Association. When that didn’t work, they summoned an imam.
My mother has been in the hospital. Nothing too serious. But a lot of driving back and forth between the hospital and home for me. From now on, until my mom is better, my regular posts will appear just once a week – probably on a Saturday. As usual, there will be additional posts in between. [...]
It was a book. But I dumped it in the garbage anyway. I threw it out the way I would toss out a dead flashlight battery or a slab of moldy cheddar.
Former Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong minces no words: It’s time to ditch the two principle beliefs of Western religion. First,
that God is other. And second, that we are alienated from God, guilty as hell, and in dire need of atonement.
I’m off to a Religion Newswriters Association conference in Minneapolis. Religion and the Obama administration, religion and immigration, and The Case of the Disappearing Hymnal will be among the topics. See you when I get back!
