Search Results for: Lurhmann New York Times

Tanya Luhrmann: Christian prohibition against premarital sex has its benefits

For reasons best known to the editors of the New York Times, they continue to give Tanya Luhrmann a paycheck (supplementing her funding from the Templeton Foundation) to write an apologetics column on evangelical Christianity.  While refusing to divulge her own religious beliefs (she’s an anthropologist, after all), she tells the rest of us why we … Continue reading Tanya Luhrmann: Christian prohibition against premarital sex has its benefits

Tanya Luhrmann and the decline of the New York Times

As newspapers throughout the U.S. go belly up, there are only a few—actually one—that still represent high-quality journalism. And that one is The New York Times. Yes, it is still the go-to paper if you want substance and intellectual viands, but it seems to me to be on the decline as well. The science pages … Continue reading Tanya Luhrmann and the decline of the New York Times

Luhrmann soft-pedals religion again in the NYT: this time it’s demons

I remain mystified why The New York Times continues to use Tanya Luhrmann, an anthropologist at Stanford University, as a regular op-ed columnist. Although she may not be a believer, when she writes about religion she is devoted to explaining why faith is good or useful.  When she says anything else, it’s mundane.  But one thing … Continue reading Luhrmann soft-pedals religion again in the NYT: this time it’s demons

Tanya Luhrmann jumps the shark of religion

UPDATE: Over at The New Republic, Isaac Chotiner also takes out after today’s Luhrmann piece. He also excoriates her for her last paragraph: No one is saying that spirituality can be made to “go away,” and whether it does has nothing to do with whether ghosts actually exist. But for people like Luhrmann, the whole … Continue reading Tanya Luhrmann jumps the shark of religion

Tanya Luhrmann tells us for the gazillionth time that faith is HARD (but useful)

Okay, I’ll confess some possible sour grapes here: a while back I had the bright idea of writing a New York Times op-ed on the old canard that “science, like religion, is based on faith”. That, after all, has been a misconception promulgated not infrequently in the Times‘s own columns, but one never answered in … Continue reading Tanya Luhrmann tells us for the gazillionth time that faith is HARD (but useful)

Tanya Lurhmann strikes again; explain why it’s good to speak in tongues

Among the Most Annoying Accommodationists (male category), we have Chris Mooney, Andrew Brown, Mark Vernon, Chris Steadman, and many others too numerous to list.  But in the female category, four people immediately spring to mind: Elaine Ecklund (constantly twists her survey data to show that scientists are, after all, more religious or “spiritual” than most … Continue reading Tanya Lurhmann strikes again; explain why it’s good to speak in tongues

NYT readers respond to Tanya Luhrman’s op-ed on belief

A few days ago I posted about Tanya Luhrmann’s New York Times op-ed, “Belief Is the Least Part of Faith,” in which she claimed that belief, or the content of belief, wasn’t really important for evangelical religious people. Instead, what was important was the feelings of joy and communion people got from worship. Her thesis is … Continue reading NYT readers respond to Tanya Luhrman’s op-ed on belief

Evangelical Christianity on the wane—or not?

I’m confused.  I’ve just finished Tanya Lurhmann’s When God Talks Back, an anthropological study of the practices of the Vineyard Christian Fellowship, an evangelical sect comprisingly mostly well-off and intelligent people. (The review of the book by Joan Acocella in The New Yorker is right on the mark.)  In her penultimate chapter, Luhrmann talks about … Continue reading Evangelical Christianity on the wane—or not?