tradition

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Religion, TECHNOLOGY

Online Christian pilgrimage: How a virtual tour to Lourdes follows a tradition of innovation

The Catholic Church held what is being termed as the first online pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France. Earlier this spring, for the first time in its 162-year existence the shrine was closed as part of measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus. This online pilgrimage included many elements of the actual journey such as traditional prayers and communion, but recreated for a virtual experience. Prayers and services were offered in both English and Spanish. Participants were shown scenes of the healing waters, taken on a virtual tour of the cave and heard music that is part of the normal, in-person experience. As a scholar of the Bible, Judaism and Christianity, I know the importance of pilgrimages. But rituals have often been adapted in the face of difficult c...

John Lewis and C.T. Vivian belonged to a long tradition of religious leaders in the civil rights struggle

20Jul

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

POLITICS, Religion

John Lewis and C.T. Vivian belonged to a long tradition of religious leaders in the civil rights struggle

With the deaths of Rep. John Lewis and the Rev. Cordy Tindell “C.T.” Vivian, the U.S. has lost two civil rights greats who drew upon their faith as they pushed for equality for Black Americans. Vivian, an early adviser to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., died July 17 at the age of 95. News of his passing was followed just hours later by that of Lewis, 80, an ordained Baptist minister and towering figure in the civil rights struggle. That both men were people of the cloth is no coincidence. From the earliest times in U.S. history, religious leaders have led the struggle for liberation and racial justice for Black Americans. As an ordained minister and a historian, I see a common thread running from Black resistance in the earliest periods of slavery in the antebellum South, through the c...

Vigilantism, again in the news, is an American tradition

10Jul

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS

Vigilantism, again in the news, is an American tradition

It’s a contentious time in the U.S., with a pandemic, racial equality, police violence and a presidential election all occupying people’s attention. Given all that stress, it can seem like people are taking the law into their own hands more often. In recent weeks, there have been confrontations over removing monuments to the Confederacy, clashes over the use of face masks, attempts to protect – or intimidate – Black Lives Matter protesters and even a renewed interest in “citizen’s arrests.” Some of these events have turned tragically violent and deadly. These events show Americans moving beyond differences of opinion and free speech into private displays of force. Their participants may be trying to enforce their own ideas of what the law is, or protect property or defend their communiti...

Are religious communities reviving the revival? In the US, outdoor worship has a long tradition

10Jun

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Religion

Are religious communities reviving the revival? In the US, outdoor worship has a long tradition

Religious communities have been forced to find alternative ways to worship together during the coronavirus pandemic. For some that has meant going online, but others have turned to a distinctly non-digital practice steeped in this history of the American religious experience: outdoor worship. Prayer sessions in parking lots and services in green spaces formed part of an improvised response to the lockdown by religious leaders and they may now be part of the plan as the United States emerges from the crisis. Indeed, a team of clergy and scientists have issued a new guide suggesting, among other recommendations, that baptisms could take place in “flowing streams, lakes or in beach settings.” So are brick-and-mortar houses of worship essential? It is a question that states and courts, incl...