St Louis (USA): Jean ROUAULT's religious paintings revealed again

In the middle of the XXth Century, French catholic painter Jean Rouault was received in the US as one of the major contemporary painters. Not anymore. Will an exhibition in St Louis reverse the trend?

From RNS : "ST. LOUIS (RNS) What can a nearly forgotten set of 58 masterful etchings by a man once called one of the great artists of the 20^th century tell us about the state of religious art in America?

At a rare showing of “Miserere et Guerre” (“Mercy and War”), a bleak but compelling series by the idiosyncratic French modernist Georges Rouault, the pious and the curious will have a chance to judge for themselves".

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A major comparative book on immigrant faith (Phillip Connor)

It is more than likely that the majority of religious attenders in the Paris area today do come from an immigrant background. Immigrant faith? It's not a footnote. It is a major aspect of contemporary religion!

Thanks to Phillip Connor, Immigrant Faith (NYU Press, 2014) is providing new comparative insights on this major topic.

It examines trends and patterns relating to religion in the lives of immigrants. The volume moves beyond specific studies of particular faiths in particular immigrant destinations to present the religious lives of immigrants in the United States, Canada, and Europe on a broad scale.

Religion is not merely one aspect among many in immigrant lives. Immigrant faith affects daily interactions, shapes the future of immigrants in their destination society, and influences society beyond the immigrants themselves. In other words, to understand immigrants, one must understand their faith.

Read more here (link).

Norway best place to live, France 8th, USA 13th (2009)

The annual United Nations Human Development Index has been released today (Monday 5th of October).

According to this index, based on such criteria as life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, Norway is the best place to live in.

 

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United States of... France?

Did you think that since the Iraqi war, France and the US had nothing in common anymore?

Far from that.

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Politics and Religion, France/USA

Both France and the USA do like to teach the World about values. These two great democracies share a common emphasis on universal rights, and it is no surprise if the world debate about the Iraqi war in 2003 turned around what France and what the US had to say.

How to explain that? By going back to History, particularly in studying the relationship between politics and religion in France and the US. This is what this new book is about.

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Religion and American Politics

In French, we describe a cliche or an extremely common topic as a «tarte à la crème» (cream pie). Sweet and familiar taste but difficult to digest.

In this regard, «Religion and Politics in America» is a typical «tarte à la crème». A very good (and important) topic, but hard to digest. Too many books, too many opinions, too many passions.
This particular book, however, deserves to be savoured more than others.

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