Search for "cheap airline tickets from dom. rep. phone number 1-800-299-7264"

As Gaza Burns, Jews Disagree, Protest & Pray

By Sam Kestenbaum

…ssiles Hamas has fired (2,270)—some reaching as far north as Jerusalem—the number of Hamas’ smuggling tunnels uncovered (31), the number of Israeli soldiers killed in action (29). These numbers will likely change every hour. In the weeks leading up to the Israeli invasion of Gaza and now as increasingly grisly accounts and bloody images emerge of Palestinian homes and hospitals blown apart, American Jews are conflicted—alternately protesting again…

Speaking for Hinduism in the Absence of a Conversation

By Murali Balaji

…study of other religions, the study of Hinduism has for years been largely dominated by Orientalist frameworks originating from the colonial period. Even some of the early interpretations of Hindu texts were published by missionaries, often to highlight the so-called savagery of Hindus. For years, Hinduism was defined by an “outsider” perspective, and in turn, the depictions of Hinduism in other realms—either in media or in educational materials s…

Pope’s US Visit Provokes Intense Attention; New Vatican Book on Man-Woman Complementarity & New Int’l Report on Christian Role Models for LGBT Equality; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…fering it to all people who are in love.” Islamic State: Another 10 people reportedly executed on sodomy charges Human rights watchdogs reported this week that militants with the self-declared Islamic State killed another nine men and a boy in Syria “after accusing them of being homosexual.” Afghanistan: Controversy over US policy of not interfering with child sex abuse by allies The New York Times reported last weekend that American military pers…

Can Mormon Glenn Beck Unite the Christian Right?

By Kathryn Joyce

…CF considers at the vanguard of the ecumenical culture war for its vicious repression of gay and reproductive rights. What the WCF does continue to do very successfully is serve as an assembly point for a number of highly connected religious right actors who mingle with leaders from Africa, Eastern Europe, and Latin America to further an American-born agenda. So while many of Beck’s beliefs may be anathema to the evangelicals he’s courting, and hi…

“I Speak to God in Public”: Are Young Black Millennials Reclaiming a Theology of Resistance?

By Joshua L. Lazard

…ous leaders. You could say that Breinart is using the same conventional wisdom that has fueled notions around American millennials leaving the church and applied it to black millennials via the Black Lives Matter movement. But the Pew numbers don’t exactly confirm this. And Breinart’s statement, although a true fact, ignores the other side of the coin that there are prominent black churches that have embraced Black Lives Matter, fueled by the 18-2…

The End of Trust: YouTube, Lies and Videotape

By Trey Lyon

…ing to me, and not for the same reasons as it may be to you. There are any number of fact-checking errors with this video — the sources are unviewable in detail, and when they are discernible, they refer to journals that have no scholarly backing. There is no German Office report suggesting they will become an “Islamic state by 2050”, only a few sociologists and cultural experts suggested that, not the “German Department of Statistics, but Deutsch…

Gambian Prez Rails Against Gay ‘Evil Empire’; Irish Priest Comes Out During Mass; Trans Talk on Tunisian TV Sparks Debate; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…f debates, opening up a dialogue about LGBT rights in the Cayman Islands,” reports Pink News. “The debates will come in the form of a number of free public lectures.” Despite the Cayman Islands being a British Overseas Territory, meaning residents in many ways are treated as British, including passports, access to the UK and EU, the territory does not have many of the protections for LGBT people. Some issues faced by LGBT people in the Cayman Isla…

Mormonism’s “9/11 Mosque Moment”

By Joanna Brooks

…olleague Hussein Rashid pointed out in this must-read piece), Mormons, the number two most disliked religion in America, have no business contributing to public rage against the number one most disliked religion in America. Nor in trafficking in falsehoods like “Islam is an ideology, not a religion,” a line I’ve been hearing from a few Mormons in recent days. Islam is in fact a religion for which Mormon leaders from the time of George A. Smith…

Global LGBT Recap: Catholic Polling, Religious Violence, International Advocacy

By Peter Montgomery

…those marriages as legal; until then they will be treated as civil unions. Dominican Republic: Religious objection to gay Ambassador meeting LGBT advocates This week U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic James “Wally” Brewster and his husband Bob Satawake met with LGBT and human rights advocates. Blogger Blabbeando reminds us that during Brewster’s nomination process, “a number of religious leaders the Dominican Republic criticized the nomina…

Hajj Journal: Using the Toilet at the Grand Mosque

By Amina Wadud

…gantic, full of beautiful and elaborate designs, with an immense number of repetitions to them. The stairs and the escalators are deceiving, taking two for each floor in one tower and only one escalator per floor in another tower. I never did figure out which was which. I knew the fastest way up to the third floor from my hotel, but this was always early and therefore less chaotic. It also involved a wide ramp straight from the outer front court u…