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Beautiful Dreamers: A Documentary Asks “What is God”?

By Nathan Schneider

…Ringo Starr, complete with southern California sun on the flowering tree behind him. Then, over the reedy echoes of a female cantor, a handful of others from around the world say the words too, each in their colorful natural habitats, accompanied by the whirling of dervishes. “God,” they say again and again, “is love.” God is a lot of other things too. Over the span of three years, Rodger traveled through 23 countries asking religious leaders, cel…

Sit Down and Shut Up: Pulling Mindfulness Up By Its (Buddhist) Roots

By Max Zahn

…vement that itself is open to criticism for the appropriation of Buddhism, hitching the tradition to a progressive political agenda. “There’s nothing necessarily inherent in the Buddhist tradition that would lend itself to leftist politics,” said McMahan. “I’m sympathetic to engaged Buddhism,” he added. “But that’s more about me and my politics than it is about Buddhism.” The Buddha wasn’t mindfully coding apps—but he wasn’t scrawling lefty placar…

AIDS in South Africa: Women, the Church, and Global Indifference

By Jeanne Carstensen

…pecially with their husbands.” Rape and sexual violence are also extremely high, which also “renders women more vulnerable to HIV transmission.” The congregations in the pews on Sundays are 80 percent women, while it’s almost exclusively men behind the pulpits. In a recent study of 16 male clergy in Vulindlela (most of whom have had very little formal theological training), Haddad found that in the face of the AIDS crisis, these men tend to resort…

Confessions of a Former Gun-Worshipper

By Joanna Brooks

…in a long while, guns meant a drive into the manzanita-thicketed Southern California foothills with Dad to aim into the dusty hillsides. Guns were what boys got to do. More precisely: guns were what sons got to do. How could I not have a thing for guns? Second confession: I no longer have a thing for guns. Yes, Newtown had something to do with it. But I have more private reasons as well. Suffice it to say, I sat up one morning last month and said…

Omar Ahmad: Muslim, American, Cowboy Boot Aficionado (1965–2011)

By Wajahat Ali

…we think of Muslim-America, we think of Omar. There was no distinction for him between his faith and his country, and he sought to do right by both. When we think of role models for our community, we think of Omar. He gave only what was best—and he gave it every day for everyone, regardless of color or religion. But he was not bigger than life. Despite all his accomplishments, he was humble, grounded, full of conviction, congenial, and approachabl…

Gay Rights Org Delivers 150,000-Signature Petition to LDS Church

By Joanna Brooks

…ow much we may differ from one another. We hope and firmly believe that within this community, and in others, kindness, persuasion and goodwill can prevail. It’s a remarkable statement after an eventful, sometimes brutal, and perhaps pivotal week in LGBT-Mormon relations. To be sure, the Church’s statement does not fulfill the HRC’s demands that Elder Packer rescind his talk. Nor does it expand institutional options for LGBT Mormons beyond celibac…

Faith-Based Initiatives in the Obama Administration?

By Bill Berkowitz

…ganizations, including some with whom he had long-standing, close relationships. Talk to Action’s Cynthia Cooper tracked some of Horn’s activities: In March 2007, Cooper wrote that Horn, who oversaw a budget of $47 billion, was “very kind to religious right organizations, including the one that he founded in 1994 with religious right money—the National Fatherhood Initiative in Gaithersburg, Maryland.” Horn gave “the National Fatherhood Initiative…

The SBC Sexual Abuse Scandal is a ‘Success’ Story of the Theological Vision and Social Structure of the ‘Conservative Resurgence’

By Diana Butler Bass

…largest Protestant denomination. It was brash—and it was a long game. Of this history, Jonathan Merritt wrote in The Atlantic: The two men successfully executed their strategy in the subsequent decades, a movement they labeled the “Conservative Resurgence” and their opponents dubbed the “Fundamentalist Takeover.” Whatever one calls it, the result was a purging of moderates from among denominational ranks, the codifying of literal interpretations…

Judge Halts “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Discharges

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…s, hailed the ruling telling the Associated Press: “This order from Judge Phillips is another historic and courageous step in the right direction, a step that Congress has been noticeably slow in taking.” The lawsuit to end the policy was brought by the Log Cabin Republicans and Phillips ruling came after a two week trial last July. The US Department of Justice has 60 days to appeal the ruling—and could do so since President Obama has been clear t…

All the Belly-‘eich’-ing

By Sarah Posner

…r Phil Robertson to play the victim, by offering up a sanitized version of him, which led to shock->calls for his head->predictable complaints of persecution of Christians. If A&E had showed us the real Phil Robertson on the air, events would have played out much differently. On the other hand, citizens who oppose LGBT rights do have to comply with any laws protecting those rights. Being a member of a group holding minority political views, whethe…