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Obama’s Gay Marriage Support Shocks Black Church

By Anthea Butler

…enslaved African Americans were not allowed to marry, and after the Civil War, searched desperately to find their partners. Those who were lucky, married. Weddings were seen as a sign of prosperity, and joy for all in the community. Long before Star Jones had a lavish wedding (she has since divorced), Sister Rosetta Tharpe, former Church of God in Christ Evangelist and eminent guitar player, had her wedding in a stadium with 20,000 in attendance….

Growing Up Gay in 666: Fred Phelps in Retrospect

By Scott Blaine Swenson

…s introspection, looking at faith deep within, are rare.” Someone Else’s Fear Far from spreading the “Good News” and attracting new converts, prolonged exposure to Rev. Fred Phelps’ interpretation of scripture turned at least one of his sons into an atheist. Nate Phelps is one of four children to flee their father’s madness; a path four grandchildren, so far, have followed. While growing up hiding my sexuality in Topeka 666 may have made me feel l…

Religious Leaders On Anti-Muslim Frenzy: “Silence Is Not An Option”

By Sarah Posner

…grid Mattson pointed out, as school starts this week, many Muslim children are anxious and fearful that their classmates “will look at them like aliens.” A number of religious leaders, including Mattson, spoke at the press briefing, which was one of the most highly attended press events relating to religion that I’ve seen — except for events hosted by religious right groups. Richard Cizik, president of the New Evangelical Partnership for the Commo…

Elaine Howard Ecklund Wants to Dispel Myths Surrounding Religious Resistance to Science

By Sammy Feldblum

…future of creation. Or social scientists have established that places that are harder-hit by environmental disasters are often places that are very impoverished. So who lives near the factories that have all the toxic chemicals coming out of them? Not really wealthy people, they don’t choose to live there. But people have to live there. So when you start attaching care for environment to care for people, then religious people can really get on boa…

A Twisted Love Story: How American Evangelicals Helped Make Putin’s Russia and How Russia Became the Darling of the American Right

By Katherine Kelaidis

…between the American Right and Russia—the extent of which has come into stark clarity in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Beyond Donald Trump’s slightly unhinged, but wholly expected, comments praising Putin’s “genius” in illegally invading a sovereign nation, there are plenty of current “mainstream” Republican elected officials who seem unclear as to whether Russian aggression on the front porch of NATO is a good idea or not. How did th…

Hold Your Applause: Potential Changes to Roles of Catholic Women and LGBTQ+ People May Just Be Vatican Breadcrumbing

By Mary E. Hunt

…ow, once they’re approved by Francis, at least 35 women (non-binary people are far from Vatican radar) will vote along with several hundred bishops. Again, more enthusiasm. These crumbs, like the mere mention of marginalized people in the documents, feed the hunger of those who want to be involved. Women’s ordination and LGBTQIA+ work in Catholic circles each has a 50 year history of struggle and then some. Consider this framing of the matter of c…

Can The Religious Left Be Effective Again? Longer Answer: Quizás

By Daniel Schultz

…t have the last word in the political realm. (Notice that these activities are all non-partisan and mostly issue-driven. There isn’t really a religious left equivalent to something like CPAC.) Because there are more conservative churches in the US than liberal ones, the overall trend has been away from political participation. But: Also deviating from the general downward trend in political participation among most types of churches are Catholic a…

The Messiah is Not Coming

By Peter Laarman

…ification, apart from the first. That one is plain for all to see in the scary numbers given out by the Census Bureau earlier this month: big jumps in the number of Americans losing compensated work for working poverty or worse, and concomitant big jumps in the number of people losing health care coverage. The thing is—and labor market specialists all concur—these blows are no longer cyclical phenomena that will be reversed once “the economy” real…

Teach Your Children Well: Challenging Religion-Based Sexism

By Sikivu Hutchinson

…but sell themselves. They are referred to as young adults, even when they are far under 15, and cops call their rapes “theft of services.” Even though federal law says that anyone under the age of 18 who is sold for sex is a victim of severe trafficking… if the girl is an American and of color, she will too often be arrested, charged with prostitution and jailed. Brave Young Women The degraded morality of black and Latina girls is not an abstract…

Good News: Religious Outreach Works On Vaccine Hesitancy. Bad News: We Need It.

By Daniel Schultz

…ericans who say that religion is very or somewhat important in their lives are nearly four times [sic] as likely as those who say religion is not too important or not important at all in their lives to agree that God always rewards those who have faith with good health and will protect them from being infected with COVID-19 compared to those who say religion is not too important or not important at all in their lives (29% vs. 8%). A highly effecti…