Hariḥ Ōm and Namaste (customary greeting of Hindus). This being my first post on ‘State of Formation’, I would like to express my great pleasure in being amid this crowd of intellectu...Read More
In high school, I learned a powerful song in my youth group that I have experienced in worship many times since. One section of the lyrics went, “Rising up like a phoenix from the fire, brothers and...Read More
“If you can’t control your own house, how will you be able to control the White House?” – Michelle Obama, 2007 presidential campaign speech The word “economy” descends from the ancient Gr...Read More
When Valentine’s Day rolls around each year, why do you celebrate? I was sitting in class the other day and I glanced over at a fellow student’s daily planner. She was looking at the follo...Read More
“A woman is acquired [in marriage] in three ways…by money, by document, or by intercourse.” This is how the first mishnah in the tractate Kiddushin begins. In just this sentence alone we gain a ...Read More
I attended the 2009 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne, Australia. I was amazed by the preponderance of sacred fashion statements (the hats!), the number of New Age practitioners from ...Read More
The Freudian take on religion, that it is all about sex, or more precisely all about repressed sexual urges, is hardly new. Nevertheless, it was somewhat startling when renowned sociologist of relig...Read More
I recently received an email from the fine editorial staff at State of Formation informing me that I am officially a lapsed contributor and my posting account might be deleted. This is very true. I ha...Read More
The next five posts from Claremont Journal of Religion will be on the topic of Political Theology. Here is a piece from the first of them. “Moving well beyond Schmitt and even Rosenzweig, to T...Read More
Last month, Discovery Channel launched a new TV series called Amish Mafia. It takes place in Lancaster County of Pennsylvania and purports to offer a behind the scenes look at a group of Amish thugs w...Read More