…and how he’s used the papal throne to enforce the reforming spirit of the latest council. It’s a curious piece, making sweeping (and often untrue) claims to support its points while channeling generations-old talking points to advance a political agenda. The program of such reactionary Catholics is to erase tradition and adaptation, and to ultimately—and ironically—make the Church more “Protestant.” Dougherty’s argument is that desire for the so-…
…y through the legal thicket. Two weeks ago, following oral argument in the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) contraceptive mandate, the Supreme Court issued an unusual order. Acting more like a mediator than the nation’s highest court, it asked the parties to try and find a compromise solution that would ensure employees and their families receive cost-free contraceptive coverage without a burdening the employers’ religious belie…
…ia, human rights attorney Wahid Ferchichi says Article 230 of the Criminal Code, which criminalizes homosexuality, is in conflict with the January 2014 Constitution’s protections for freedom and individual rights. Israel: Editorial says Israelis ‘ready to follow Ireland’s lead’ An editorial in Haaretz this week declared, “Israelis are ready to follow Ireland’s lead and legalize gay marriage.” The result of the Irish referendum is the best illustra…
…ves as beholden to the Church’s teachings. In countries such as Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, about two-thirds of all Catholics fall into this category. These religious trends, which have undoubtedly have been accelerated by the Church’s loss of moral authority ensuing from its support of bloodthirsty dictatorships and sex abuse scandals, have made the public more accepting of homosexuality and more supportive of gay rights. A decline in religios…
…uko, the heterosexual executive director of the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum, was part of the case that Sexual Minorities Uganda and the Center for Constitutional Rights have brought against American anti-gay activist Scott Lively, JJuuko sais it could put an end to “evangleicals coming here and importing homophobia,” adding, “You can’t promote hate in other countries. You can’t export hate.” Jjuuko is optimistic about the long-term…
…Latin America and the Caribbean, a trip whose schedule includes travel to Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic. Australia: Protesters challenge Prime Minister’s stubborn opposition on marriage Among the protesters who gathered in Sydney last Sunday to call for marriage equality was an 87-year old former Catholic priest, Dr. John Callis. Callis said his partner of nearly 50 years was too frail to attend. The Sydney Morning…
…iage should be made illegal in the world’s third-largest democracy, in the latest push by conservative Islamist organizations to restructure the country’s relatively secular legal code.: If the court revises the law to forbid casual sex, gay sexual relations would become illegal for the first time in Indonesian history, and straight unmarried couples could face prosecution. The Family Love Alliance, a conservative Islamist advocacy organization, p…
…, the “replacement” is part of a larger plan by a shadowy Jewish or Jewish-coded “global elite” trying to rule the world.) The origins of this myth in France have to be seen against the backdrop of French colonial history, especially the fear of white slave owners of slave uprisings when it comes to the construction of the social in- and out-group. The “Great Replacement” became more widely known after Jean Raspail published his novel Le Camp des…
By Randall Balmer, Anthea Butler, Evan Derkacz, Jeff Sharlet, and Diane Winston
…But the center is an assertion, not a fact; an etiquette, not a place. Its code, its theology, is most fully embodied in Americanized Arminianism—a Protestant tradition of good works and propriety, “distinguished liberals” and polite realpolitik. “Arminian moralism,” notes historian Charles Sellers in his study of Finney’s age, The Market Revolution, “sanctioned competitive individualism and the market’s rewards of wealth and status.” It did not e…
Just when you thought the anti-abortion extremism couldn’t get any more, well, extreme. Earlier this month, Rep. Phil Jensen, a South Dakota Republican lawmaker, had proposed an amendment to a bill to expand the legal definition of justifiable homicide by adding language that said a homicide is permissible if committed by a person while resisting an attempt to harm that person’s “unborn child or the unborn child of that person’s spouse, partner,…
