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Prisoners In the Hands of an Angry God: A Conversation About Religion and Reform

By Andrew Aghapour and Stephanie Gaskill

…n, the methodology determines the findings. Researchers usually isolate a particular religious variable that they think relates to a specific political viewpoint, and then they conclude that those two things are connected. Asking people whether people believe in a punitive or forgiving God seems to be a popular research topic. The problem, though, is that people can believe that God is both forgiving and punitive at the same time. The goal of this…

‘Religious Freedom’ Rally Sets Stage for 1st Amendment Collision

By Sarah Posner

…Affairs, along with leading constitutional law experts. At that event, Alvaré argued that the Institute of Medicine recommendation, on which the HHS mandate is based, was made by “a panel stacked with abortion advocates” who “completely ignor[ed] all the evidence being put out over the last 30 years.” That “evidence,” Alvaré maintained, demonstrates that government-subsidized birth control causes “the immiseration of women.” That the Obama admini…

UPDATED: Oklahoma Personhood Bill Not Dead…

By Sarah Morice-Brubaker

…lahoma Legislature chose not to pass personhood legislation. The extraordinary number of amendments to this bill makes it clear that the medical issues involved with infertility treatment, contraception, and pregnancy care are far too complex, and that medical decisions and family building are best left to doctors and patients. Personhood is an issue that goes far beyond abortion, and we’re very relieved that Oklahoma has chosen to trust families…

Rumors of the Suicide of the Liberal Church Are Exaggerated: A Response to Chris Hedges

By Mark Hulsether

…. Hedges quotes a student activist who sees this as a “middle finger” to nearby Harlem—although one wonders why the steeple of next door’s Riverside Church, other high-rises in the neighborhood, or even the surrounding Columbia University as a whole have not already nailed down this role. The key reason UTS needs money is because of the stands, mainly commendable in Hedges’ terms, that it has taken over the years. Many of its high-rolling trustees…

Pope Francis Praised for ‘Civil Unions’ Comment, But Justice Begins at Home—In the Vatican

By Mary E. Hunt

…en in the world. Several have been tapped for Vatican posts; for example, Barbara Jatta, is the Director of Vatican Museums. But in extensive footage filmed around the world, a viewer can count on two hands the number of women, including two heads of state, who have any semblance of agency and are real actors in cooperation with Francis. Instead, his bishops, secretaries, interreligious colleagues, escorts, and welcomers are all men all the time….

Growing Catholic Resistance to Bishops’ Crusades

By Peter Montgomery

…ions to facilitate and fund a product contrary to their own moral teaching and purport to define which religious institutions are ‘religious enough’ to merit protection of their religious liberty.” In Seattle, it would appear, parishes are asserting liberty from instructions (or at least strong suggestions) by the hierarchy, and in a season when the Seattle Archdiocese is asking for support in its Annual Catholic Appeal fundraising drive….

Warships, Animals, Pubs Eligible For Blessings From Church of England, But Not Same-Sex Couples; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…ebanon: Fallout from recent court decision that homosexuality not a crime Farid Farid, writing for the Sydney Morning Herald, examines continuing fallout from a January court decision in which a judge ruled that homosexuality is not a crime but a legally protected personal choice. Samar Habib, an Australian academic based in the US who has written extensively about LGBT rights in the Arab world, sees Maalouf’s January 26 ruling as “critical to the…

Old Sins Cast Long Shadows: America’s Enduring Fascination with the Ten Commandments

By Jenna Weissman Joselit

…s—the academic market as well as the readers of this, that and the other smart little magazine. But what I really had in mind was less a specific constituency and more a particular mindset: open, curious, intellectually nimble. Are you hoping to just inform readers? Entertain them? Piss them off? Jolt and startle is more like it. I’d like my readers to come to the book bearing a set of preconceptions about the Ten Commandments and then to put down…

Did North Carolinians Vote Against their Own Beliefs?

By Peter Montgomery

…vote for it to “protect” marriage. According to PPP: In some sense North Carolinians are voting against their own beliefs. 53% of voters in the state support either gay marriage or civil unions, yet a majority also support the amendment that would ban both. The reason for that disconnect is even with just 24 hours until election day only 46% of voters realize the proposal bans both gay marriage and civil unions. Those informed voters oppose the a…

The Role of Faith in the Lives of Abortion Providers

By Sarah Posner

…on multiple times.” She came to the conclusion that its current stance is “arbitrary, this is kind of a man-made construct of the Catholic Church.” She added, “I didn’t find anything in the Bible to make me think it was black and white.” Quinn, a coordinator for the National Coalition of American Nuns, the Women-Church Convergence, and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice—Illinois, is a well-known advocate for equality for women within…