Results tagged “religion”

Councilman-elect Dan Halloran (R-Bayside), a devout heathen, has apologized for comparing the role of animal sacrifice in his faith with Greek Orthodox Easter traditions. After coming under fire yesterday for linking the role of "blood sacrifice" in his religion, Theodism, with Easter lamb roasts, the incoming Councilman said he was sorry if he "inadvertently offended" any Greek Orthodox constituents in his Queens district.

Last week, Councilman-elect Dan Halloran (R-Bayside) narrowly defeated a Democratic candidate in one of the nation's most liberal cities. Now comes the hard part: explaining his religious beliefs to the press. For the past two decades, the cop-turned-lawyer has been a devout believer in Theodism, a pre-Christian faith rooted in Celtic and Germanic tribal religions. "Understanding my theology is a little difficult for mainstreamers," admits Halloran, who serves as the "First Atheling," or king, of a local tribe of 120 followers called New Normandy.

If you like your relics served up with an extra dose of creepy, have we got the exhibit for you! One-man traveling sideshow, Father Thomas Michelet, is bringing the bones of St. Mary Magdalene to the Big Apple. Oh the things her bones will see! Can't you just picture those two out on the town, snapping photos and seeing the sights? Hopefully there will be time for a Broadway show.

Stuck somewhere in purgatory, with luxury condos stalling mid-development and local gangs slashing hipsters with machetes, Williamsburg might as well just be opening up its gutter punk track-marked arms to religions of any kind. And it is!

There's nothing like the MTA to make you question your faith! So maybe the new advertisements for Atheism on city buses are appropriate. The campaign will take over 20 Manhattan buses for about one month, and president of New York City Atheists, Ken Bronstein, says the test run could be reaching other boroughs later this year (the group's website is taking donations for the next roll out). The ads read: "You don’t have to believe in God to be a moral and ethical person."

Is mixing up religion and politics with art even scandalous anymore? The LA Times reports that "A New York artist has canceled the public showing of his portrait of President Obama after receiving a barrage of angry e-mails condemning the religious nature of the work." Michael D'Antuono's painting, called "The Truth," depicted Obama on a crucifix wearing a crown of thorns, and was meant to be shown in a mock voting booth in Union Square starting tomorrow. According to the artist it was meant to "provoke political dialogue" on the President's 100th day in office, asking questions such as "Is Obama being crucified by the right? Do people think he's the next savior?" In the end, he said he canceled the show out of respect of the religion after receiving over a thousand emails about the use of Christian imagery. [via ArtInfo]

Another clash of the art world and the religious reich is going down in the East Village. The AP reports that a "Roman Catholic watchdog group is protesting a student art exhibition that includes vulgar depictions of religious symbols including a crucifix and rosary." Just how does one depict a rosary as vulgar? There are ways:

The target of the protest is a series of paintings by Felipe Baeza. One of them depicts a man with his pants down and a crucifix in his rectum. A Latin caption says, "The day I became a Catholic." Another painting shows rosaries with male genitalia and a third, a man with a halo and erection.

Surely there is a difference between art, traditionally understood as conveying beauty, and junk. I have the sneaking suspicion that these paintings made the cut precisely because they were an assault on Catholic sensibilities. No, I can’t prove what the motive was, but I can be deadly certain that if even a reverential portrait of Muhammad had been offered, it would have been rejected. I hasten to add that if a reverential portrait of Jesus had been submitted, it too would have been rejected, but for entirely different reasons.”

As most of yesterday's political news attention was on the fate of Florida's and Michigan's delegates, presidential hopeful Barack Obama announced his family "withdrew their membership at Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ."

The Staten Island Advance has been following the turmoil brewing between a Wiccan family and their neighbors.

Professor, author and activist Robert Thurman is widely regarded as the leading American expert on Tibetan Buddhism, having been a major force in the widespread introduction of Tibetan culture and religion to the west. In 1962, Thurman became the first American ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist monk, but after a few years he shifted from strict monasticism to the more conventional lifestyle of an academic. Though currently on sabbatical to write another book, Thurman remains a beloved professor in the Religion Department of Columbia University. At the behest of the Dalai Lama, Thurman co-founded Tibet House with composer Philip Glass and others; this year’s annual Carnegie Hall benefit for the organization takes place next Wednesday, February 13th. The lineup thus far includes performances by Glass, Ray Davies, Phamie Gow, Nawang Khechog, Ashley MacIsaac, Marisa Monte, Sufjan Stevens & Tom Verlaine.

The NYPD detectives working the homicide investigation of Carol Simon have identified a suspect in her killing, although they are not publicizing his identity. Simon was shot as she was returning to her car where her son was waiting for her at a gas station. The killing occurred Saturday evening in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, as an argument between two men turned violent and one of the men pulled a gun.

Londonist was proud to announce the winner of this year's Turner Prize was Mark Wallinger who made long-standing London protester Brian Haw a work of art, after he has previously been made into a sort of law due to his lengthy banner-waving vigil outside parliament. The strength of the pound made real in the form of a 25 foot high coin on a quiet patch of the Thames river bank, aiming to inspire all Londoners in a publicly voted decision on spending £50 million Lottery money. Perhaps some new play projects for London kids who, for the lack of youthful entertainment, are trying to amuse themselves by collecting prostitute calling cards, which are worryingly rigged and booby-trapped. And for those who are anticipating a lovely fat check from a great-aunt this Christmas and wondering what to spend it on, the London Marathon will need a new sponsor after 2009. How does The Londonist London Marathon sound?

The NY Post has another story in the ongoing ogling at Theresa Duncan's death. The East Village artist apparently "fell into suicidal depression after telling friends that oddball rocker Beck backed out of her movie project." So now we have yet another baffling peek into the paranoid mindset Duncan and her long time boyfriend Jeremy Blake were in when they committed suicide, just one week apart from each other. In the January issue of Vanity...

A look at some noteworthy television this week: Art in the Twenty-First Century (Sunday, 10:00 p.m., WNET 13) Four artists - Robert Adams, Mark Dion , Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle Ursula von Rydingsvard – who explore the intersection between nature and culture. Billy Crystal: The Mark Twain Prize (Monday & Thursday, 9:00 p.m., WNET 13; Saturday, 7:30 p.m. WLIW 21) Billy Crystal receives the tenth annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center in...

EVENT: Tonight, as part of the recurring Upstairs at the Square event, Nellie McKay plays tunes from her latest, Obligatory Villager and host Katherine Lanpher talks with author and filmmaker Antonio Monda. Monda's new book Do You Believe? Conversations on God and Religion will hit shelves soon -- and tonight he'll relay the discussions he had about religion with folks like Spike Lee and David Lynch. 7pm // Barnes & Noble [33 E 17th St]...

MOVIE: Somewhere between Han Solo and Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford (pictured) starred in Ridley Scott's 1982 cult classic Blade Runner, which has been screening over at the Ziegfeld. This director's cut version includes more fights! And more special effects! And way more cyberpunk attitude!

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on 126th St. in Manhattan, another shooting on Intervale Ave. and East 163rd St. in the Bronx, and a stabbing on Rockaway and Pitken Aves. in Brooklyn.
• Atlantic City's Borgata casino was in flames this morning.
• Connecticut's Governor suspended parole for inmates convicted of violent crimes after NYC cops shot a convict who drove a car stolen at knife point into the city.
• A Norwegian Cruise Line ship was held dockside in Manhattan for several hours yesterday evening until a bomb threat was determined to be false.
• The Gowanus Lounge notes a flier looking to ID witnesses to the brutality inherent in the system.
• Muslim and Jewish New Yorkers dined together last night on Manhattan's Upper West Side, as members of both religion broke fasts related to Yom Kippur and Ramadan after sunset.
• The effect of the metal bat ban on city baseball so far.

Can someone's religion shield her from charges for smuggling bushmeat into the United States? The NY Sun has a fascinating article about the case of a woman who is facing criminal prosecution for bringing "steaks of monkey meat" from Guinea to NYC. The Scopes Monkey Trial, this is not, but Milbank, Tweed Hadley & McCloy is representing Mamie Manneh on a pro bono basis.

Rev. John Carmichael is the President of the Church of Scientology in New York. We recently asked him a few questions about his church, New York, Theresa Duncan and Jeremy Blake and the subway stress tests.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a vessel in distress off Rikers Island in the East River, a dead body found in the East River off Roosevelt Island and Queens, and an industrial accident on 52nd Ave. in Queens.
• Confirming recent speculation, The New York Times is cancelling its TimesSelect initiative, in which people subscribed to read a number of columnists and other special online content.
• Mayor Bloomberg signed autographs, greeted courtroom personnel, and posed for a court artist's portrait, but was ultimately dismissed by one or both of the lawyers choosing from 40 potential jurors today. He did not take it personally.
• Norman Siegel is defending Rev. Billy, who was arrested on harrassment charges for reciting the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in Union Square. Part of Siegel's strategy is to argue that the use of harrassment charges insinuates that there was some sort of romantic relationship between cops and Rev. Billy, as harrassment is normally reserved for "ex-boyfriend sexual stalkers and drunk husbands."
• The principal of a Manhattan public high school hosted a Santeria ritual at her school while no students were present. The officiant at the Afro-Caribbean religion's ceremony received school funds for other services and the assistant principle was asked to pay $900 towards the cost.
• Less than three-tenths of the money in a special fund dedicated to bridge and highway work was allegedly spent improving New York's infrastructure in 2004-2005. An upstate lawmaker claims that the money is being used to cover non-infrastructure general budget items.
• Brooklyn Heights Blog notes someone's complaint that on one of the hottest weekend days of the year, one may have to wait for hours to take a dip in a free public pool on the East River.
• Astronaut Photography of Earth includes an impressive shot of Brooklyn from space.

The blog Boy Culture ran into (an all too common these days) "Travolting display" in the subway system over the weekend. Scientologists! The religion cult "legendarily opportunistic Church Of Scientology" is back underground giving out free stress tests.

MOVIES: With another version of Hairspray hitting the big screen this summer, it seems to be a season of decades past and, of course, hair! Movies With a View brings back the musical tale of Central Park hippies, small town boys headed to Vietnam and the '60s as they show the film Hair tonight.

Natasha Khan is better known as the singer-songwriter behind Bat for Lashes, a band recently nominated for the Mercury Prize. Khan weaves a world all her own with her music and artwork, and happily invites anyone to come join her there. We wouldn't be surprised if at university she majored in nostalgia, with so much attention drawn back to childhood in her work. Her wide-eyed world of yesteryear is a little bit magical, a little bit noir, and seems to be fueled by a never-ending supply of innocence, experience and anticipation.

Expensive designer jeans - the downfall of criminals! The police - and onlookers - ended up chasing a pair of women who had been using a stolen credit card in Soho for many blocks yesterday afternoon.

Yesterday was the 38th Annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride March, and thousands of people participated - from shimmying and showing off their outrageous costumes to waving gay pride flags and hollering their support. The grand marshals of the parade were religious leaders Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum and Reverend Dr. Troy Perry; Kleinbaum said, "We stand for a progressive religious voice. Those who use religion to advocate an anti-gay agenda I believe are blaspheming God’s name.”

Not long after their triumphant The Threepenny Opera (and the not-so-triumphant Wall Street crash of 1929), Bertolt Brecht and his close collaborator Elisabeth Hauptmann began assembling Saint Joan of the Stockyards from the spare parts of Happy End, the critically maligned follow-up to Threepenny (both with music by Kurt Weill). The story was heavily influenced by Brecht’s first dip into Marxism, not to mention Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle and George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan and Major Barbara. Set in 1920s Chicago, their version of Joan of Arc illustrates, from the workers’ vantage point, a crisis in the meat market brought on by the machinations of one Pierpont Mauler, who treats his laborers even worse than today (see Fast Food Nation). Rising up to oppose him is the sincerer-than-thou Joan Dark, a soup-and-Bible dispenser for the Black Straw Hats, a Christian charity. When Joan's attempts to arbitrate between Mauler and the locked-out workers runs afoul of her superiors in the Straw Hats, she’s cast out among the huddled masses, where she struggles to discern religion’s place in the workers’ battle for justice. (You can probably guess where Brecht thinks it belongs.)

Mayor Bloomberg has been an independent all of a couple days, but there is tons of ink being devoted to his chances. The most interesting story is from the NY Sun, which offers various scenarios where Bloomberg could win the 2008 presidential election (not that he wants to run for president). For instance, he'd need the Northeast, West Coast, Florida, and Heartland states like Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, etc. And if "extreme" candidates run in the parties, like Romney or Thompson on the Republican ticket and Obama or Edwards for the Democrats, Bloomberg could be a player.

Architectural firm Kohn Pederson Fox has drawn up plans for the new JPMorganChase building that will arise near the southeast area of Ground Zero. It involves an interesting integration with the rebuilt St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, which was destroyed in the 9/11 attacks. The 40-story tower will include seven cantilevered trading floors that will extend from the tower and cover the diminuitive church.

When the son of famed televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, Jay Bakker, made the decision to be a “gay affirming” pastor, his life was almost ruined for the second time. Financial backers dropped him, he had to let go of some of his staff, and churches he was scheduled to speak at pulled out.