Social Science Research Council

Eboo Patel at The Faith Divide.

In the latest issue of Social Movement Studies, Deana A. Rohlinger and Jill Quadagno offer an explanation for cooperation and conflict in the US conservative Christian political movement.

Controversy has erupted over a decision by Missouri tax authorities to require yoga centers to collect and pay a sales tax on yoga classes. Yoga instructors argue they should be exempt from the tax “because the lessons include spiritual elements.”

At the Rock and Theology blog, scholars explore “the relationship between ’secular’ rock and ’sacred’ theology, and related matters of faith and culture today.” As part of a larger project on this topic, Tom Beaudoin takes to the blog to reflect on interconnections between culture, music and theology.

A new film by Jennifer Baichwal, Act of God explores the “metaphysical effects of being struck by lightning.”

At The Seeker, Manya Brachear and several guest columnists address the question of whether universal health care should cover spiritual care.

In Commonweal Magazine, Sister X, a religious sister for more than thirty years, writes anonymously about the current investigation of American nuns by the Vatican.

In the New York Times, Robbie Brown reports on a local debate in Georgia over the appropriateness of cheerleaders using biblical language on their banners during public high school football games.

Four of the world’s leading public intellectuals came together yesterday in the historic Great Hall at Cooper Union to discuss “Rethinking Secularism.” In an electrifying symposium convened by the Institute for Public Knowledge at NYU, the Social Science Research Council and the Humanities Institute at Stony Brook University, Judith Butler, Jürgen Habermas, Charles Taylor, and Cornel West gave powerful accounts of religion in the public sphere. The Immanent Frame invites you to respond to the symposium presentations by submitting comments in the space below.

UPDATE: Listen to audio of the event here.

At Georgetown/On Faith, Patrick J. Deneen asks whether a liberal commitment to diversity is really an “intolerable form of tolerance that is hostile to actual diversity.”