http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/ tag:newsweek.washingtonpost.com,2008:/onfaith/undergod/551 Thu, 08 May 2008 11:07:13 -0500 A daily feature on religion and its impact on events and lives. http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.2 http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/05/when_irfan_aleem_found_out.html http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/05/when_irfan_aleem_found_out.html Thu, 08 May 2008 11:07:13 -0500 On a cultural level (not a legal one -- I'm not qualified to tell you about that) the Aleems' divorce raises the same questions as the polygamists about the parameters between the freedom to live life in adherence with God's law and the larger freedoms given to us as U.S. citizens. Claire Hoffman http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/05/germany_and_scientology.html http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/05/germany_and_scientology.html Wed, 07 May 2008 08:46:24 -0500 Ban Scientology? Doesn't that seem kind of extreme? Claire Hoffman http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/05/standards_of_living.html http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/05/standards_of_living.html Sun, 04 May 2008 17:54:51 -0500 The story of the Wheaton professor who is quitting his job this month after two decades because his divorce doesn't pass muster with the evangelical Christian college's agreed upon biblical code for living is a lovely example of the challenges of attempting to institute heavenly laws (or legally binding contracts!) on earth. Wheaton asks its professors and other employees to sign an agreement saying they will uphold biblical standards of behavior and transgressions, the Chicago Tribune reported last week. Rather than be fired, or explain his divorce from his wife of 30 years, Ken Gramm is splitting, saying “I’m accepting the policy as it applies to me because I knew it was in place and I don’t expect anyone to make any exceptions....But in the long run I think the policy is not a good one, because in a sense it’s saying that Wheaton’s standards are higher than God’s. That’s an upside-down world.”... Claire Hoffman http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/05/lsd_and_the_religious_experien.html http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/05/lsd_and_the_religious_experien.html Thu, 01 May 2008 02:08:40 -0500 Claire Hoffman http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/04/guest_blog_post_what_is_religi.html http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/04/guest_blog_post_what_is_religi.html Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:48:51 -0500 Columbia University Professor and author Mark C. Taylor discusses how many of those who attack religion and those who defend it start from a simplistic view of what religion is all about. Claire Hoffman http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/04/new_earth_vocabulary.html http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/04/new_earth_vocabulary.html Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:50:07 -0500 Oprah's "New Earth" comes with its own language -- one that eases viewers into the star's spiritual realm. Claire Hoffman http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/04/the_architecture_of_belief.html http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/04/the_architecture_of_belief.html Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:46:49 -0500 Berlin's Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe by architect Peter Eisenman is one of contemporary architecture's greatest works. I spoke to Eisenman about how the memorial works. Claire Hoffman http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/04/a_week_of_silence.html http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/04/a_week_of_silence.html Mon, 21 Apr 2008 01:03:17 -0500 This will be my last post for a week as I'm going off to Northern California to a six day meditation retreat where I won't talk, read, email, text message or any of the other ceaseless noise that creates the constant buzz of my life. I know it doesn’t make any sense for someone who writes a blog about religion to say this, but I’ve always felt private about my own religious beliefs and practices (or lack of). Still, I feel compelled to briefly tell you what I'm doing and why.... Claire Hoffman http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/04/signs_and_wonders_adoration_an.html http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/04/signs_and_wonders_adoration_an.html Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:28:36 -0500 Maybe deep adoration and remove have a symbiotic relationship? Claire Hoffman http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/04/a_new_earth.html http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/04/a_new_earth.html Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:58:22 -0500 Oprah represents the noisiest and most self-centered face of the American mainstream. Now she has taken on the project of espousing a system of belief that focuses entirely on losing ego and becoming present and aware of the shared nature of consciousness. Claire Hoffman New Earth Oprah http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/04/obama_and_what_he_says_about_f.html http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/04/obama_and_what_he_says_about_f.html Mon, 14 Apr 2008 02:41:31 -0500 Obama's blunder in talking about small town faith to big city people shows how tough it is to discuss religion in general in a country where people believe so many different things and are so sensitive about how their beliefs are perceived. Claire Hoffman http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/04/signs_wonders.html http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/04/signs_wonders.html Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:59:34 -0500 People who have spent their lives praying and meditating are hard to paint as evil, which is the lesson of this week's Signs and Wonders and something the Chinese regime may want to consider. Claire Hoffman Buddhism http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/04/readers_response_whats_in_a_na.html http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/04/readers_response_whats_in_a_na.html Mon, 07 Apr 2008 19:37:57 -0500 Yesterday I wrote a post about the raid of a West Texas compound that belongs to the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. In that post I described the Church as a "polygamist sect of Mormonism." I have received two dozen emails as well as many comments saying that I misunderstood what I was writing about and that these polygamists have nothing to do with Mormonism and my use of the Mormonism moniker was uninformed and incorrect. I appreciate these comments and completely understand how loaded the appellation question and polygamy are in talking about the FLDS. As every news article is quick to point out, polygamy has been outlawed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known by outsiders as Mormonism, since 1890. Those who practice polygamy are banished and, usually, abhorred by members of the mainstream church. But to say that the FLDS should not be considered Mormons, well that is a simplification of a very complex history and if you ask me, truly wishful thinking. I've spoken with former members of the FLDS and they certainly consider their former belief system "Mormon." Its history and its holy books - including the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith's Law and Covenants - are Mormon, and members believe themselves to be carrying out the true covenant of Joseph Smith.... Claire Hoffman http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/04/polygamy_and_intrusion.html http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/04/polygamy_and_intrusion.html Sun, 06 Apr 2008 20:55:59 -0500 The raid of a West Texas religous compound didn't turn into another Waco, but will it be seen as another Short Creek -- the 1953 government raid that ultimately empowered polygamist Mormon leaders such as Warren Jeffs? Claire Hoffman http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/04/signs_and_wonders.html http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/04/signs_and_wonders.html Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:09:48 -0500 Paris Hilton's recent tryst with a saffron-robed spiritual advisor turned out to be just another photo op, but it underscored just how preposterous Hollywood views pious behavior these days. Claire Hoffman