Bishop of Bishops! (Mormon Poetry for a Catholic Moment)
Habemus papam, and everyone seems to know it. Something that surprised me during Pope Francis’ election process was the way that this event seemed to produce an ripple of Catholic consciousness that extended far beyond the normal bounds of the Catholic community. I remember, for example, the way that several of my non-Catholic friends and [...]
Hillary and Michelle: Urban Dancing and the Metaphysics of the Home
“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 Greek word oikonomia, meaning ‘law of the home.’ Whereas the market can be considered to be an institution whose main task is the preservation and [...]
Theology of the Body, Episode 2: The Gendering of Voices in a Mormon Sunday Choir
Like the master-signifier of reality, the hanging portrait of a prophet hovered in the air of a vacated instruction room, smiling with relief over a group of the elect youth of God’s Zion who had been selected by heavenly beings in heavenly places to live in the latter days of human history and to call [...]
How Do You #Keep the Sabbath?
–”The Pharisees said, This man is not from #God, because He does not keep the #Sabbath” -#John 9:16 It was a Sunday morning in April when a man named Tagg uploaded a picture of his father onto Twitter. “Busted!” the tweet read. “#mitt2012 sneaking a peek at twitter [sic] during Sunday school.” The attached image displayed a [...]
Theology of the Body, Episode I: The Orans Gesture in Christian Prayer
This is the first installment in an ongoing series that will explore issues in spirituality through a review of significant symbolic motions, poses, and gestures from a variety of religious traditions. Throughout human history, the heart’s longing for religious enlightenment has spawned many practices associated with the active contemplation of and interaction with the bodies [...]
Zion in Perpetuity: The Limits and Reaches of Cultural Particularity
Many of the world’s religions find their start within a position of cultural particularity, being centered upon the idea of a chosen people, chosen land, chosen language, etc. As these religions grow and spread throughout the world, new social or economic complexities may make it necessary for participants to expand or redefine their original conceptions [...]
Alasdair Ekpenyong
Alasdair Ekpenyong is an undergraduate student at Brigham Young University and a full-time lover of letters. He wishes, at times, that he was John Henry Cardinal Newman. Or James Joyce, or John Cheever, or Jane Jacobs--but in the time that stands between being and becoming, he is very content to remain himself.
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Contributing Scholars
Omar KassabOmar is a German Muslim with Syrian roots. Currently, he is undertaking a Masters in "Comparative and International Studies" at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. He is interested in interfaith dialogue and the interplay between Politics and Religion in our "post-secular" world.
Hilary J. ScarsellaHilary J. Scarsella is a life-long Mennonite with a deep love for learning about and from other faiths. She did her undergraduate work at Indiana University in religious studies, philosophy, and the Arabic language before obtaining a Master of Divinity from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in theology, ethics, and peace studies. Hilary developed a passion for international solidarity work as a reservist with Christian Peacemaker Teams in northern Iraq, and her work in the U.S. has been deeply influenced by walking with women striving to heal from abuse and sexual violence. Currently, Hilary is Associate for Transformative Peacemaking & Communications with Mennonite Church USA and looking toward Ph.D work. Living in northern Indiana as a member of the Prairie Wolf Collective, she enjoys spunk and laughter and creativity gone wild.
Ahmed ElewaAhmed Elewa is a graduate student at the Islamic American University where he is researching "responsibility" in Shariah and Islamic Jurisprudence. He is also a doctoral candidate at the University of Massachusetts Medical School where he studies early embryo development. Upon receiving his Masters Degree in Biomedical Sciences in 2007, Ahmed spent two years working as a community organizer and interfaith coordinator in Boston before moving to Egypt to pursue advanced religious studies. He is currently enrolled in the College of Shariah and Law at al-Azhar University. In 2010 Ahmed published his first novel in Arabic (alRawda) which highlights the paradoxes inherent in biculturalism. A year later he published a memoir, "Ground Zero Mosque: The confessions of a Western-Middle-Eastern Muslim" to narrate his personal encounter with these paradoxes. Using State of Formation as a medium, Ahmed continues to develop his thoughts on personal and social multiculturalism and how religion, science and history interact within individuals and societies. Follow him on twitter @albostoni.