Religion Dispatches
…a cartel leader who practiced a variety of esoteric traditions. In 1989 a number of bodies were discovered at Constanzo’s ranch in Matamoros, Mexico, some of whom had apparently been killed as sacrifices. The Matamoros murders were themselves connected to Charles Manson by conspiracy theorists attempting to prove the existence of a vast network of criminal Satanism. The effect of all these connections is to mold specific incidents into a monolith…
Read More…ad We noted last week the wave of marriage-equality cases spreading across Mexico. This week saw the 5th anniversary of marriage equality in Mexico City, and saw continued progress. In Chiapas, a gay collected called Unidos Diferentes received a federal court injunction – known as an amparo – allowing them to celebrate weddings for more than 50 same-sex couples. The legislature in the state of Guanajuato began analyzing marriage equality bills int…
Read More…ion of sexual aberrations have caused great satanic infestation throughout Mexico.” He added: “The exorcism performed in San Luís Potosí is the first ever carried out in Mexico in which the exorcists came from different parts of the country and gathered together to exorcise the powers of darkness, not from a person, but from the whole country.” So far the exorcism does not seem to be taking hold, as courts and state legislators continue to push to…
Read More…a poll saying that a majority of people in Guam support marriage equality. Mexico: Marriage equality continues steady expansion The slow-motion marriage equality wave continues in Mexico. Federal courts have ruled in favor of marriage equality, but because of the structure of the Mexican legal system, a ruling requiring a state to grant licenses to a couple or individual couple – an amparo — does not automatically change state law for everyone, un…
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…way from the hard work of repentance, who tickle our ears with promises of cheap grace, and offer a vision of the cross of Jesus that has nothing to say to the crosses, and lynching trees, of history. But, if we do, we will be settling for the gospel of Caesar, not the good news of Jesus Christ. Perhaps it is time to put down the chalk, stop drawing pyrotechnical conspiracy theories that play into our worst fears and listen, instead, for the diffi…
Read More…” said Ilán Semo, historian at the Jesuit-run Ibero-American University in Mexico City. The modern Mexican state was created byrevolutionaries at odds with the Catholic Church, and they sought to curb its authority through measures such as introducing a secular school system. For decades, Mexico was considered the most anticlerical country in Latin America outside of Cuba, despite the fact that the country is overwhelmingly Catholic. Census data s…
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…oubtful. They had already been rejected three times, despite an order from Mexico’s Supreme Court last June. More from the Washington Blade: A local judge officiated what the San Diego Union-Tribune described as the “impromptu wedding” of Victor Fernando Urias Amparo and Victor Manuel Aguirre Espinoza that took place outside Mexicali City Hall during an LGBT rights protest. Aguirre told the Washington Blade that Mexicali Mayor Jaime Díaz Ochoa’s a…
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…We have an unprecedented access to cheap goods, yet we must recognize that cheap goods are cheaply made. I am not speaking of quality, I am speaking of cheap labor. We must recognize that through the act of shopping, whether it is for an article of clothing, a toy, a pint of strawberries, or even our morning cup of coffee, we participate in a global economy that values profit over people. Disposable goods are made by disposable people, faceless in…
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…e success either. The opening weekend saw sales of more than $6 million in tickets. That’s the kind of number that will inspire others to try and figure out the formula for the faith-and-family blockbuster. Yet, with the cost of the film reportedly exceeding $30 million, it’s an open question whether or not the Left Behind reboot will get a second installment. The marketing problem of evangelical movies is still, stubbornly, a problem. The general…
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…ou’ll read an excerpt below—has surprised me, too. I wish I could find my airline companion and give him this book, to surprise him, too—in a good way. (I would accept Lakers tickets in lieu of apologies, but I think that particular era is done.) This whole book is a result of a profound evolution, and needs to be seen as such. American Muslims have gone through a lot over the last few decades. We were never the caricature Islamophobes made us ou…
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