Author Archives: Grant
Giving Sacred Thanks without God
A fellow scholar and a good friend of mine recently pointed me to this article, in which the conservative religious world apparently recycles its concern over the perceived religious vacuousness of Obama, based on the fact that he did not … Continue reading
Garamantes, Ancient Civilizations, and the Material Basis of Knowledge
I was very excited to read in the Guardian about the Garamantes. I had not known of the Garamantes before reading the article, and I am always excited to discover a new civilization. The Garamantes were a pre-Arabic, Berber, urban … Continue reading
Posted in Reflections, Research, Teaching, World Religion
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September 11th Remembrance
I tell my students that I evaluate their work not only on its qualities, but its character. In academic work, that usually means that I need to see that they show a concern for academic virtues like honesty, judgment, and … Continue reading
Posted in Current Events, Reflections
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Eastern Religions and Science
Philip Goldberg argues, over at Huffington Post, that Eastern Religions are more friendly to science then their Western counterparts. The claim is a little simplistic, for sure, but interesting to think about. One only has to think about the many … Continue reading
Posted in Nature and Science, Reflections
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More on beliefnet
Paul Harvey has an additional comment on BeliefNet, re-framing it into the discussion of religion in the marketplace. Studying large media institutions, especially commercial ones like Beliefnet, is a significant contribution to examining religion in America, but I often find … Continue reading
Posted in American Religion, Current Events, Teaching
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BeliefNet
I learned today from the Wild Hunt that BeliefNet has been sold to BN Media. Jason does a good job of identifying some affiliations of BeliefNet’s new owners and the potential shake up this might bring for alternative religions. Honestly, … Continue reading
Posted in American Religion, Current Events, Media
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Learning from Ritual
For the past several months, in addition to coordinating and Online Writing Lab and teaching two sections of Introduction to Comparative Religion, I have been teaching a graduate class for Cherry Hill Seminary called Understanding the Ritual Experience. For those … Continue reading
Posted in Ritual, Teaching
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