LSD and the Rabbis: Conclusion

Logo Timothy Leary

Shalom Goldman As a culturally and politically aware New York City teenager, I knew that there was a buzz among bohemians and literati about LSD use. That in the early 1960s artists, musicians and poets were using psychedelic drugs was not exactly news. And that some of these artists were Jews (in a city a quarter of whose population was Jewish) was not exactly news either.

Religion and DragonCon

Kali in Parade

Eric Reinders Every Labor Day weekend, more than fifty thousand people gather in Atlanta to talk about, and dress up as, their favorite fantasies. Naturally, there is religion in all this. It’s mostly Christianity, although not always.

LSD and the Rabbis: Part II

Reb Zalman

This article is Part II in a three part series. Click here for Part I and Part III. By Shalom Goldman In utilizing intoxicants to heighten individual religious experience, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi was influenced by the emerging zeitgeist of the early 1960s, a zeitgeist that the Esalen Institute of Big Sur, California, did much to develop and promote. […]

The New God of Football

Oklahoma Sooners pray for victory against Oregon Ducks on Sept 16, 2006

By Saadia Faruqi The NFL made headlines yet again earlier this week for imposing a penalty on Muslim football player Hussain Abdullah and then promptly retracting the penalty and issuing an apology. Most people like myself heard of the apology before the penalty and had to backtrack to find out exactly what occurred on Monday night. […]

The Power, Meaning, and Challenge of a Statement: Reflections on Steven Sotloff

By Hussein Rashid For a CNN piece, Daniel Burke asked me for some quick thoughts on the statement released by American journalist Steven Sotloff’s family, after he was murdered by ISIS. The family’s statement, along with the comments made by Barak Barfi, who delivered the statement, contain many layers of meaning. It is not just […]

The Weight of the Guru: A Review of Kumaré

By Anandi Leela Salinas In Sanskrit, the term guru is defined as: “important,” “valuable,” “respectable,” and “heavy,” in addition to the definition that finds more currency in 21st century America: spiritual teacher in a general “Eastern” tradition. There have been a number of recently published works analyzing the role of the transnational spiritual guru in modern […]

The Christian cross, Texan identity, and “Tex-ianity”

"Christian Cowboy"

  By Ken Chitwood Crosses come in various shapes, sizes, and colors. They are ubiquitous in homes across the United States and pepper the abodes of people throughout the world. Odds are, you have one hanging in your home whether you are religious or not. The art of the cross is a wide and diverse […]

LSD and the Rabbis

"Reb Zalman in celebratory prayer at Baker’s Beach, California.”

This article is Part I in a three part series. Click here for Part II and Part III. By Shalom Goldman The reactions to the death last month of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi may be a sign that the conversation about psychedelic drugs and American religion is moving into a new stage. On July 8th that “Old Grey Lady,” the […]

Halal Hysteria and Secularity

"Halal Kitchen" by 12th St David

By Hasan Azad Do Muslims belong in the West? This is the real question behind the recent halal hysteria in Britain. This is also the question behind previous—and, no doubt, future—questions about the headscarf (hijab), about the face veil (niqab), about Muslim men, about Muslim women, about Muslims and homosexuality (which is prohibited according to […]

Godswap

A. David Lewis Jason Aaron, the current writer of Thor: God of Thunder comic book series for Marvel Comics, posted the following to Twitter on July 17: Aaron’s comment came in the wake of Marvel announcing plans to feature a female Thor starting with a new Issue #1 in October. Over a forty-eight-hour news cycle, mainstream […]