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As Pat Robertson Retires, Here Are 10 of His Most Cringeworthy Moments

By Chrissy Stroop

…lly cringe things that Robertson actually has said, in order from least to most offensively absurd. *** Openly calling for the assassination of a foreign leader In 2005, Robertson offhandedly remarked of then-Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, “If he thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It’s a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And I don’t think any oil shipments will stop,” earning him a r…

Along Came a Spider: What the Pope Doesn’t See

By Anthea Butler

…nate to delay reporting of sexual abuse claims to the police until the priest in question could be defrocked, and you have set of players that would rival a mafia movie. The malfeasance and criminal behavior is shocking to say the least—and all, incidentally, coming to light during the “Year of the Priest” declared this year by Pope Benedict XVI. Outsiders might be tempted to think that all of these issues are about sex, and in one sense, that is…

Exclusive: Religious Leaders for Immigration Equality for Gay and Lesbian Couples

By Sarah Posner

…ustices in this broken immigration system, family separation is one of the most egregious. Family is the bedrock of any society and is critical in the development of healthy individuals and strong communities. Immigration policies should make expeditious family reunification a top priority and should include all families as part of that foundation. For us, this is a clear matter of simple justice. UAFA has long been a flashpoint for anti-gay relig…

‘My Name is Legion’: Sources and Forces of White Supremacy in the U.S.

By R. Drew Smith

…ies necessary for carrying out a range of Godly purposes, with the purpose most often cited being that of Christianizing and civilizing the benighted slaves. Typical of this genre were views expressed by a Methodist minister in North Carolina, Washington S. Chaffin who asserted, nature has “drawn lines of demarcation between (blacks) and (whites) that no physical, mental or religious cultivation can obliterate.” Because of what he considered to be…

The Religious Right and the Tea Party on “Education Choice”

By Julie Ingersoll

…ivists (many of whom are now involved in the tea party) have long been, at most, ambivalent about how to engage issues related to the public schools they do not think should exist. To the surprise of many, they often oppose voucher and tuition tax credit plans, charter schools, and even efforts to teach creationism in the public schools or return prayer to the public schools. As the Times article points out, the tea party seems to be more united i…

Mormons Fight Marriage Equality in Mexico; Is Catholic Church Italy’s Anti-Gay NRA?; Nigerian Anglicans Cut Ties With UK Diocese; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…make disciples and commit ourselves to prevailing prayer, knowing that the most dangerous attack on the Church today is not persecution from the outside, terrible though that can be, but a globalised secular ideology which has established itself inside the Church.” Nigerian gay-rights activist Unoma Azuah and Nick Patricca, president of Chicago Network, published a column in Windy City Times on the impact of the anti-gay law that went into effect…

Teach Your Children Well: Challenging Religion-Based Sexism

By Sikivu Hutchinson

…eant that they could not give their ultimate all for the number one man on most African-American womens’ lips, and it’s not Denzel.” Women as Sluts, Men as Savages As the Religious Right continues to gut women’s rights, its cultural propaganda suggests that the only way a woman can truly be validated as a moral being is through the policing of her body and her sexuality. Tragically, some of the most vociferous defenders of this regime are other wo…

The Black Church: Institution or Abstraction?

By Anthony B. Pinn

…churches committed to some version of the social gospel whereby they understand Christian commitment to involve service to community. The latter involves a more rigorous attention to personal salvation as the primary concern of Christian ministry and practice. And all of this is just in terms of Protestant churches. I have not even mentioned the roughly three million African American Catholics in the United States. Nor, have I given any space to…

Five Social Media Trends that are Reshaping Religion

By Elizabeth Drescher

…onstructions of religious authority, identity, and practice are changing almo*]}*st by the minute. This surely marks the beginning something of a Second Coming of religion in digitally-integrated form. As we wait and watch this holiday season for, among other things, news of the much-anticipated Facebook IPO—perhaps the only miracle story compelling enough to capture our attention in these economic dark times—it seems worthwhile to take a look at some…

Religious Kids Are More Selfish: The Stickers Don’t Lie

By Michael Schulson

…on is really, really difficult to define. But, look: they have a point. In most of the world, for most of history, cultures had very little notion of a discrete thing called “religion,” as something that you could then choose, reject, or petition for freedom of. The choice to constellate certain kinds of rituals, stories, propositions and epistemological modes into a single package called “religion” is a fairly recent, European, and Protestant phe…