Religion Dispatches
…rriage and using contraception, in spite of Vatican teaching that both are sin, noted that people lie even though that’s a sin, too. I had a little retort to that.) There’s a bonus at the end, too: Michael, a traditionalist Catholic, makes the case against beatification of Pope John Paul II. Watch:…
Read More…t aggressive evangelizing in the military: Scandals have included the ties between Pentagon brass and the evangelical organization Christian Embassy and the aggressive and even hostile evangelism at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Another story that received attention was the post-9/11 comments of Lt. Gen. William “Jerry” Boykin, who, in speaking to evangelical audiences, compared Islam to Satanic evil and framed the “war on terror” as one of spiritua…
Read More…s.” He supports an amendment to the U.S. Constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman. He supports requiring teachers “to present the evidences both supportive of and contradictory to the theory of evolution.” And in response to the question on abortion, he said it should never be allowed, adding, “Life comes from God. Life begins at conception. Abortion is always tantamount to murder.” This from a lawmaker who is worried that a…
Read More…d by uncodified Muslim Sharia law, which criminalises same-sex sexual acts between both men and between women. For men, the punishment is banishment for nine months to one year or a whipping of 10 to 30 strokes, while the punishment for women is house arrest for nine months to one year.” According to Stewart, the country rejected international recommendations to improve its treatment of LGBTI people expressed in its 2010 and 2015 U.N. Universal Pe…
Read More…r ground whatsoever, disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill- will between different religious, racials, language or regional groups or castes or communities, or (b) commits any act which is prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities, and which disturbs or is likely to disturb the public tranquility. Relatedly, Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code, is…
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…LGBT community An article in Global Voices says that there’s a difference between what the law books say about LGBT people and the reality they face. Jordan’s stance on LGBT issues is considered one of the more advanced in the Middle East, as criminalization of same-sex relations was removed from country’s the Penal Code in 1951. However, decriminalization alone has not ensured complete freedom for members of Jordan’s LGBT community. Article Six…
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…no one to turn to. Nepal: Activists call for changes in civil and criminal code Pahichan reports from Kathmandu that local human rights activists have submitted a memo to Speaker Onsari Gharti calling for changes to provisions of the civil and criminal code that violate the rights of women and gender and sexual minorities. Albania: Activists seek to build on LGBT progress with partnership recognition Kristi Pinderin, head of PRO LGBT, announced th…
Read More…nce, the pope offered poetic exhortations on the divine beauty of marriage between one man and one woman. At his weekly general audience Wednesday, Francis focused on the relationship between engagement and marriage. According to a Catholic News Service article (which was cross-posted by NCR), Francis said: “The covenant of love between a man and a woman, a covenant for life, cannot be improvised; it cannot be done from one day to the next,” he sa…
Read More…. But who is to decide what constitutes a “vice against nature”? The Portuguese legislators had been too coy to mention gay sex explicitly, and so a meaningless clause entered the statute books, which no court could act upon. This year, the Penal Code was rewritten. The new Penal Code sweeps away a great deal of the musty colonial legacy, including the mention of “vices against nature”. Now not even the most contorted of arguments could claim that…
Read More…er offences for which the death penalty could be applied under the revised code, which is due to come into force on 22 April,” the International Law Professor Blog reports. The new penal code has been condemned by the United Nations. England: Priest Defies Church Ban to Marry His Partner; University Bans Anti-Gay Muslim Speakers Last week Rev. Jeremy Pemberton, a priest with the Church of England, married his partner Laurence Cunnington in defianc…
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