Feature

What are the limits of religious freedom? The Supreme Court has taken up a case involving O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal, a small sect that blends Christianity with South American spiritism. As a central act of their faith, UDV members ingest a tea called hoasca, brewed by mixing two plants unique to the Amazon basin. The practice has landed the UDV in trouble with the U.S. government because hoasca contains one hundredth of 1 percent of dimethyltriptamine (DMT), an illegal hallucinogen.

Wander through a Jewish neighborhood or past a synagogue in late October and you will see a hut (often referred to as a booth). It will probably be less than 30 feet tall and made of plywood, with three walls. It will be decorated with leaves, gourds and bunches of grapes, possibly strung with lights. The roof will be translucent (you can see at least a few stars if you stand in the hut at night). There’s sure to be a picnic table or a card table set up inside. The hut will be a little flimsy; it might sway if the wind gets too vigorous. It will, to the uninitiated, look strange. The hut, called a sukkah in Hebrew, is a sign that the eight-day festival of Sukkot has arrived.

At a time when the church had grown cozy with the ruling authorities, and faith had become a means to power, some Christians determined to live out an alternative life grounded in an authentically biblical faith. They headed for desolate places, pooled their resources and dedicated themselves to a life of asceticism and prayer. No, these aren't fourth-century communities of monks, but present-day communities of Christians who are part of a new and radically different form of Christian practice.

Commentators in the media have often invoked the term biblical to describe the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina, which has gone beyond our imagination and our explanatory categories. The term has not been used with any precision—it seems to mean simply vast or awe-inspiring.What would it mean to view the catastrophe in genuinely biblical terms? Four biblical themes inform my own pondering.

With all of its jokes about bestiality, sexual harassment and pimpin’ for drunk ho’s, The 40-Year-Old Virgin is not a film to show the youth group. The humor is vulgar enough to make the producers of South Park blush. But in its own way the movie makes a case for virginity, one likely to gain a wider hearing than a True Love Waits campaign. It’s not only genuinely (if crudely) funny, but surprisingly human.