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The End of the Catholic Church’s Pelvic Zone Orthodoxy

By Daniel C. Maguire

Never before has so much fresh air flowed through musty Vatican halls. Never has a pope said that conscience must not be sacrificed to hierarchical edicts. No pope ever insisted he is not a “right winger.” Suddenly a pope appears who knows that, search the Bible from top to bottom and you will never hear Jesus say: “By this shall people know you are my disciples, that you do not contracept!” Jesus never said it and this pope knows it. Nowhere in…

Russian Parliament Hosts U.S. Anti-Gay Activist Paul Cameron

By Chrissy Stroop

…ch venues, to say nothing of the State Duma, would seem to lend Cameron an air of credence among both Russia’s intellectual and ecclesiastical establishments. Meanwhile, the October 25 Moskovsky Komsomolets press release advertising Monday’s press conference refers to “Professor Paul Cameron” as “an American sociologist and psychologist,” and an article from newsru.com refers to him as “a popular lecturer and the author of more than 90 scientific…

How Does Mormonism Shape Romney’s Foreign Policy?

By Joanna Brooks

…olicy tour. His itinerary—no Asia, no Middle East—is designed to convey an air of statesmanship and court key demographics (Israel for Jews and evangelical Christians, Poland for some Catholics) without putting Romney in places where his foreign policy positions, especially his opposition to a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan, run counter to the sensibilities of most Americans. Romney observers have sometimes tried to sniff out ties betwe…

Global LGBT Recap: Francis’s First Year; Homophobia and Development; African Activists Push Back

By Peter Montgomery

…to have given laypeople the opportunity to respond to the Vatican questionnaire on family-related issues that Pope Francis had asked last October to be distributed “immediately” and “widely as possible.” NCR says about a dozen U.S. dioceses reported the results publicly. National Catholic Reporter also noted this week that Ireland’s bishops have decided not to publish responses to the questionnaire, even though some other European bishops’ confere…

Why Hipsters May Be Perfect Source for Brooklyn Occult Revival

By Joseph Laycock

…narratives of each diviner’s unfolding relationship with the universe. The website for the Brooklyn occult shop Catland also features glamorous profiles of witches and seers. Magic is the spiritual tradition where personal charisma matters most. Sociologist Emile Durkheim noted that magicians have clientele rather than a church. A congregation may tolerate a lackluster pastor or a priest who gives dull sermons, but people who get bored with their…

Hobby Lobby Wins; So What?

By Peter Laarman

…are likely to shrug and say, “So what?” The sky didn’t fall today. But the air is now ionized differently, and folks with a good nose for weather know that storms are surely coming. In this ruling, the fundamental distinction and separation between a commercial enterprise and a specifically religious or “ecclesiastical” corporation has been fatally breached. We can expect other large commercial enterprises to start donning ecclesiastical robes whe…

Bobby Jindal Hypes His Christian Cred at Liberty U.

By Murali Balaji

…uma of being an outsider can ultimately lead to raising one’s hands in the air and—pardon my Star Trek reference—becoming assimilated. (It’s happening in Louisiana as we speak.) But part of me wishes that Piyush had stuck it out and helped to define a message for others of his generation and mine, and for future generations: that being American doesn’t mean giving up who you are and what you believe. Then again, if Jindal’s story doesn’t help him…

Why Such Outrage Over Star Trek Actor’s Geocentrism?

By Joseph Laycock

…The Physics of Star Trek. Mulgrew was likely recruited to further lend an air of scientific legitimacy. She too has released a statement explaining that she was only a “voice for hire,” was unaware of the film’s argument, and disagrees with Sugenis’ claims. For all of its outrageous claims and rhetoric, it’s Mulgrew’s involvement that’s garnered the most headlines. The legacy of Star Trek appears to be just the right cultural nerve for a troll li…

All the Belly-‘eich’-ing

By Sarah Posner

…ecution 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, whether based on religion or not, doesn’t give you a pass to evade laws intended to protect the rights of others. Which is why I wonder about Eich as a tar…

Does Religion Still Matter?

By Haroon Moghul

…can only dismissively describe as a commuter jet. It is the light rail of air traffic. I don’t know about you, but I can never bring myself to consistently believe that an object I cannot even stand up in can be trusted to take off, fly, and land many hundreds of miles away. Incidentally, flying such a small aircraft has an almost erotic effect. You don’t just fly through the atmosphere, you feel every barometric inch of it. It’s like a bad relat…