Thursday, December 12, 2024

This Week in Religion - Virgin of Guadalupe emerges as symbol of support for Gaza

Lead story

A banner of the Virgin of Guadalupe with the words "My hijo es Palestino" (English translation: My son is Palestinian). The banner is hanging over the glass on the side of a building and there is a person rappelling down the side of the building.

Editor's note:

The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose feast day falls on Dec. 12, has long been used as a symbol of resistance — claimed by those who feel a kinship with a Virgin Mary apparition in the form of a mixed-race woman speaking an Indigenous language. Recently Latino activists and artists in the U.S. and Mexico have adorned images of the patron saint of Mexico with keffiyehs and watermelons to signal support for Palestinian liberation. An Instagram account, “Where’s Lupita?,” features many of these illustrations. Its creator, Gustavo Martinez Contreras, sees this work as a continuation of the tradition of Chicanos who harnessed the Virgin as a symbol “in defiance against the system,” writes Alejandra Molina for RNS. Another artist, who helped create a Virgin of Guadalupe banner with the words “My son is Palestinian” in Spanish on it, sees her as the perfect conduit to evoke reaction. “We wanted to reach people’s hearts. The Virgin is a figure of authority. It’s as if she’s saying, ‘My children, don’t be indifferent.’”

A portrait of Holly Meyer, Religion News Editor at The Associated Press.
 

Religion News

Giant statue of the Buddha in New Jersey becomes interfaith hub

One of the largest statues of the Buddha in the United States springs up unexpectedly in the middle of a backyard just off a busy New Jersey state highway. It has become a hub for interfaith efforts. By Luis Andres Henao/The Associated Press

Hindus debate the legacy of caste in America

As more institutions adopt policies against caste discrimination, disagreements about caste's prevalence among those in the Hindu diaspora are stronger than ever. By Richa Karmarkar/Religion News Service

A lawsuit filed in Mexico seeks personhood status for the Ring of Cenotes, a group of hundreds of subterranean lakes surrounding part of the Yucatan peninsula. They are sacred to Indigenous Mayans. By Teresa de Miguel/The Associated Press 

A man in religious robes holds a loaf of bread with candles in it. There are people gathered around him laying their hands on the loaf as well.

Rural resurrection: A Greek village leans into faith in fight against demographic collapse 

In the remote mountains of central Greece lies Fourna, a village in danger of disappearing due to its aging population. An unlikely duo, the local priest and a schoolteacher, have joined forces to raise money to attract families and breathe life back into their community. By Derek Gatopoulos and Thanassis Stavrakis/The Associated Press

Indigenous leaders bring first case under Texas' COVID-19-era religious liberty measure

In oral arguments before the state Supreme Court, Texas’ deputy solicitor general argued that the amendment was ‘not a Swiss Army knife of religious liberty’ and that ‘the amendment’s scope is designed to protect the right to gather,’ not to protect sacred spaces themselves. By BeLynn Buckley/Religion News Service

 

Commentary and Analysis

 Mindfulness – meant to support health and detachment – is becoming a tool to support the corporate bottom line. By Jaime L Kucinskas for The Conversation

The study of martial arts involves physical training − but also raises larger questions about ethics and what justifies the use of force. By Kenneth Andrew Andres Leonardo for The Conversation

Bonhoeffer matters precisely because he reminds us that Christian behavior and attitudes are more than calculations for a partisan edge. By Charles Marsh/Religion News Service

Many philosophers cast doubt on ‘doxastic voluntarism’: the idea that we can control what we believe, just like that. So can people be held to account for their beliefs? By Mark Boespflug for The Conversation

 
Officers dressed in orange and yellow carry Buddha's sacred tooth relics which are in a glass case.

Officers carry Buddha's sacred tooth relics, on loan from China, to the Royal Garden in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

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