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Booing Gay Soldiers and Expressing Faith in the Public Square

By Sarah Posner

…ional question of whether government activity is or can be construed as an official endorsement of a particular religion. (The legal test for resolving this question in particular cases was laid out by the Supreme Court in the 1971 case Lemon v. Kurtzman, which Christian right legal advocates aim to eventually overturn.) Kelly conflated two separate concepts: state establishment of religion, which the Constitution proscribes, and free exercise of…

Vatican: Gay Rights Opponents are Real Victims

By Joseph M. Palacios

…ming the protection of LGBT persons against discrimination and violence an official human right. The reason, according to Vatican representative Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, is that ending discrimination against gays, lesbians, and transgender persons would make those who oppose such human rights the real victims. During a debate on the resolution (officially called the “Joint Statement on Ending Violence and Related Human Rights Violations Based on…

Virginia High School Says Students May Post Ten Commandments on Lockers

By Lauri Lebo

…t up by individual students expressing their religious views, but were the official government-sponsored displays of the Giles County School District. After the district decided to remove the Ten Commandments, the Giles County students hosted a walk out from school and said that those who didn’t agree with their version of Christianity should just move away. While the Giles County School District has not put back the displays, officials with Floyd…

As Mormon Lay Clergy Are Deported, a Divide on Immigration

By Joanna Brooks

…uthor of Arizona’s infamous SB 1070. In June, LDS Church leaders issued an official statement that attempted to strike a balance between these factions: officials expressed concern for humane treatment of immigrants and their families and caution about the history of mass deportations, especially those where “race, culture, or religion are involved,” while also noting what they called the “destabilizing” effect of unregulated immigration. “The Chu…

Devil’s Bookmark: Doubting God’s Existence, but Angry Nevertheless

By Bernard Schweizer

…y cognizant of the fact that other people share his hatred of God), whose “official” pronouncements depict him as an atheist with a dash of agnosticism and an occasional bout of anti-clerical rage. What does this allow us to say about the author who created this character? Well, his novel is quite openly biographical, with the action set mainly in Wood’s own birthplace. Like Tom, Wood grew up in a religiously devout family and went through his own…

What’s the Role of LDS Church Leaders when it comes to Politics?

By Joanna Brooks

…esture—a preemptive strike, perhaps—against charges that the LDS Church is officially involved in the campaigns of either Mitt Romney or Jon Huntsman Jr. To truly get the significance of the statement it helps to understand a little about how the extensive worldwide leadership of the Church is constituted. The LDS Church has an all-lay priesthood—no trained clergy. Just about everyone who attends Church regularly has a “calling,” an officially def…

Nonviolence, Muslim Style: From Ghaffar Khan to Tahrir Square

By Eric Stoner

…ase of Ghaffar Khan’s movement there was the participation of a surprising number of women, given how conservative—and you can even argue misogynist—Pashtun society had been traditionally. They allowed women to participate because he said so and his honor and stature was such that they couldn’t resist. Back in the 1930s and 1940s, women used to lead their marches! This is just incredible. What power and influence he must have had to convince them…

A Catholic Turnabout on Abortion or More Sympathy for the Bishops?

By Daniel C. Maguire

…of the Church, to urge positions at variance with those that are presently official. Dennis O’Brien is “at variance” with the Second Vatican Council’s view that every abortion is an “unspeakable crime.” And so are most Catholics. In this they are joined by authorities in all the world’s religions. O’Brien notes that in 2006, the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls “strongly” supported HB 1215 permitting abortion, “to prevent the death of a pregnant mo…

Does Conservative Watchdog Actually “Get Religion”?

By Joanna Brooks

…that evolution if you only listen to the speech of high-ranking LDS Church officials. Thirty-five years ago, LDS Church leader Elder Boyd K. Packer stood at the pulpit during a worldwide Mormon conference and related how he once congratulated a Mormon missionary for assaulting his missionary companion after a perceived homosexual advance. Last fall, at a worldwide LDS conference, Elder Packer delivered another controversial talk on homosexuality t…

How Mormon is Mitt Romney? Over 50 Jokes For Trump

By Joanna Brooks

…t.” Mitt is so Mormon that if elected he’ll require every state to have an Official Casserole. Mitt is so Mormon that the Marine Band will play “Praise to the Man” when he enters a room. Mitt is so Mormon that he’ll appoint Lavell Edwards head of the Department of Defense. Mitt is so Mormon he won’t allow advisers wearing non-white dress shirts to participate in cabinet meetings. Mitt is so Mormon that he’ll rename the weekly presidential address…