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Vatican Reverses Anti-Liberation Policies in Mexico

By Ruth Chojnacki and Jennifer Scheper Hughes

…d resignations and retirements. Pope John Paul II replaced as many as 86 of 100 Mexican bishops in two years alone, between 1997-1998. In the most famous case, the indigenous-identified bishop Arturo Lona Reyes of Tehuantepec refused to tender his resignation. The same year, 1997, saw the closing of two Mexican seminaries that seemed to be sympathetic to the Chiapas rebellion. The Mexican pattern of closing seminaries and replacing bishops was rep…

Malta Adopts Marriage Equality Over Objections of Catholics and Evangelicals; And More in Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…an churches took their cues from evangelical US megachurches that since the 1980s have expanded their influence through campaigns against abortion and homosexuality, Kim said. South Korea is also home to many megachurches, including the world’s largest congregation of nearly 800,000. But their reputation has been tarnished by recent corruption scandals. “For them, the anti-gay campaign is another way to maintain their political influence in this t…

Gay Chutzpah: An LGBT Synagogue Thrives

By Susan Henking

…est Side magazine and were less surprised. The only one who expressed some reservations was a prominent congregant whom I described as a political leader while he considered himself more of a spiritual leader. But he told me he read the book twice and found no other wrong descriptions. I think he was surprised I had so much to tell about the synagogue’s dynamics and its membership. I continue to meet with close friends on my visits to NY as well a…

International Protest of Anti-Gay Persecution in Chechnya Grows; more in Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…o have the highest proportion of gay men – an estimated 1.6%, compared with 1.5% for England, 1.3% for Wales and 1.1% for Scotland. But it was also the country where women were least likely to say they were lesbian – just 0.3%. However, some questioned the impact of how the data was collected. “I’m encouraged to see there’s been an increase in people in Northern Ireland identifying as LGB, but this disparity I find really challenging,” said Gavin…

Insurance Coverage for Abortion in Health Care Reform Threatened

By Carlton Veazey

…e “Protect Life Act”)—as soon as Congress convened in January. An estimated 14.5 million women who are insured by their mid-sized and large employers would be affected by these new restrictions, according to the Employee Benefits Research Institute. Contrast that to the fact that about 80 percent of private plans now cover pregnancy termination. (This is in addition to women whose coverage for abortion is already restricted to the narrow cases of…

Obama Shifts US Narrative Away from “Christian Nation”

By Michael J. Altman

…y utilized this narrative to push American Indians off their land and into Reservations, because God’s providence had destined this land to (White) Americans. Even the Bush administrations goal of “spreading democracy” smacks of the same sacred narrative that America has a Providential place in the world and its history. Obama shifts the sacred narrative. The President moves the foundational narrative from one of religion (not Christian or Jewish…

What’s the Matter With Jewish Studies? Sexism, Harassment, and Neoliberalism For Starters

By Gilah Kletenik and Rafael Rachel Neis

…Rather than studying how people live Jewish lives, the emphasis is on the numbers of bodies that “count” as Jewish. More disturbing still are the legacies of scientific racism evident in the language of “intermarriage,” “in-marriage,” and “out-marriage.” We suspect that such constructs may unintentionally amplify intra-Jewish prejudice and discrimination towards non-Ashkenazi and non-white Jews. This shapes an academic field in which people of ce…

Fusion Politics: A Way Forward for Bernie Sanders?

By Daniel Schultz

…think Sanders and his movement will be strongly influential. There are any number of priorities Sanders could choose from, of course. God knows it’s not like our nation isn’t in need of reform. At the moment, though, I’m less concerned with the pros and cons of any one issue than wondering what things might look like if Bernie tapped into what Rev. William Barber has named “fusion politics.” In the Christian Century, Jeremy Borden describes this a…

Exodus “Ex-Gay” Ministry Closes Up Shop

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…aker for Exodus who has been with the ministry for ten years, since she was 17, says she understands that. “Time will reveal as we begin this new venture,” she told Religion Dispatches. “Alan coming out with this apology and this move is already an enormous step. We’re saying that gay people matter and where we’ve caused them harm we’re going to own that and work to end that pain.” When asked if a “safe and welcoming” place would include those…

How the Catholic Church Changed the Movies

By Patricia Miller

…Goes To The Movies.” Among the films to be screened are Barbara Stanwyck’s 1933 classic Babyface, 1956’s And God Created Woman, the film that launched “sex kitten” Brigitte Bardot, 1953’s The Moon is Blue, and 1948’s L’Amore. This last movie led to an historic Supreme Court ruling known as the “Miracle Decision” that found that motion pictures were a form of artistic expression protected by the First Amendment, not, as the church asserted, a powe…