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History and Religion

2025-09-22T18:56:29-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Beat Zen Movement: When Zen Became Cool

Last updated on: September 22, 2025 at 6:56 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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The Beat Zen movement was one of the more unlikely developments in all of Western cultural history. It began in the U.S. in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Americans were still recovering, physically and emotionally, from a long and brutal war with Japan. At the same time the Cold War was becoming tangible. Americans were called to rally around Christianity (with an occasional nod to Judaism) to stand against “godless Communism.” American popular culture retreated into comfortable “Ozzie and... Read more

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2025-09-10T16:42:30-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

St. Nicholas, the Church That Rose from the Ashes of 9/11

Last updated on: September 10, 2025 at 4:42 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was a plain, whitewashed church that stood in the shadow of the South Tower of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, New York City. On September 11, 2001, the church was destroyed when the massive South Tower collapsed. This is the story of how the little church was rebuilt into a uniquely beautiful national shrine. The St. Nicholas congregation was formed by Greek immigrants in 1916. Originally, the congregation held services in the dining... Read more

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2025-09-02T05:51:16-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Ancient Origins of the Great Flood Story

Last updated on: September 2, 2025 at 5:51 am By Barbara O'Brien

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The Great Flood that covered the world is one of the oldest — and most widespread — stories of early human civilization. The basic outlines of this story can be found in a number of ancient texts. The Noah’s Ark story from Genesis, chapters 6-9, is just one example. There are legends from many early civilizations in which a man is warned by a god that a great flood would cover the earth. To prepare, the man builds a boat... Read more

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2025-08-04T08:52:49-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Statue That Survived the Hiroshima Bomb

Last updated on: August 4, 2025 at 8:52 am By Barbara O'Brien

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The statue stood on Hijirigaoka, a hill overlooking the Japanese city of Hiroshima. When the first atomic bomb fell on August 6, 1945, the statue was only a mile from the epicenter of the blast. Everything around it was obliterated. But the statue, of the revered Buddhist priest Shinran (1173-1262), remained intact. And it still stands today, but not in Japan. Today Shinran’s bronze eyes keep watch over a block on Riverside Drive in Manhattan, New York City. And here... Read more

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2025-08-03T20:18:40-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Why Cambodia and Thailand Are Fighting Over a Hindu Temple

Last updated on: August 3, 2025 at 8:18 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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Preah Vihear, also called Prasat Ta Muen Thom, is a Hindu temple complex at the heart of a long-standing border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand. The temple, which has long been in ruins, recently became news on April 24, when new fighting broke out over the old dispute. On April 26 U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he had persuaded the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia to begin ceasefire talks immediately. This announcement appears to have been premature, since robust... Read more

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2025-07-21T10:35:30-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

What Became of the Conversos of Spain?

Last updated on: July 21, 2025 at 10:35 am By Barbara O'Brien

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Conversos were Jews in Spain and Portugal who were forcibly converted to Catholicism in the 14th and 15th centuries. Often the alternative was death. After conversion the conversos were still subject to mass violence, discrimination, and investigation by the Inquisition. Even though there were risks, it’s known that many conversos still practiced Judaism in secret. And, understandably, many Jews left Spain. Those who hadn’t already left were expelled in 1492 But what became of the conversos who remained? I recently... Read more

Jewish

2025-07-03T10:07:49-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Dalai Lama’s 90th Birthday and What Happens Next

Last updated on: July 3, 2025 at 10:07 am By Barbara O'Brien

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His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama will be 90 years old on July 6, 2025. Celebrations of this auspicious event have already begun. I am not aware that the Dalai Lama has any particular health problems other than growing more frail. He may have a few years left. But his passing, when it comes, will not just be a sad day for Tibetan Buddhists. It will set off a messy power struggle between the government of China and Tibetan Buddhism... Read more

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2025-06-27T12:16:12-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Ten Commandments: Back to School?

Last updated on: June 27, 2025 at 12:16 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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The crusade to enshrine the Ten Commandments in U.S. public schools reached a couple of landmarks in the past few days. Last week a panel of three federal appellate judges found Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law unconstitutional. A few hours after the Louisiana ruling was announced, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a nearly identical bill into law in Texas. This week lawsuits to stop the Texas bill are being filed. And many of these lawsuits are being filed by religious people, including... Read more

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2025-06-12T16:48:35-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Religious Orientation: Are You Intrinsic or Extrinsic?

Last updated on: June 12, 2025 at 4:48 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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Intrinsic and extrinsic are the two orientations measured in the Allport Religious Orientation Scale. Also called the Intrinsic/Extrinsic Scale (I/E), the Religious Orientation Scale was published in 1967 by psychologists Gordon Allport and J. M. Ross. Rather than measure beliefs or practices, the ROS measures attitudes, intentions, and motivations. The scale explains how different people following the same religious tradition can follow it so very, well, differently. The scale proposes that people connect with, or orient themselves toward, religion in... Read more

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science and religion

2025-06-06T10:21:25-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

U.S. Supreme Court Blocks Catholic Charter School

Last updated on: June 6, 2025 at 10:21 am By Barbara O'Brien

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A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling has stopped Oklahoma’s plan to fund a Catholic charter school. I wrote about St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School nearly two years ago, when Oklahoma announced the state would subsidize a school providing sectarian religious instruction with taxpayer dollars. As explained in the earlier post, for a very long time such funding would have been considered an obvious violation of the U.S. Constitution. And it still is, apparently, but just barely. Justice Amy... Read more

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