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Homosexual Thoughts and Feelings Not a Sin, Says New LDS Handbook

By Joanna Brooks

…eneral Conference Talk, these are incremental but significant changes. The new CHI: 1. Removes the implication that same-sex relationships “distort” love. 2. Removes the imperative that members should repent for having “homosexual thoughts or feelings.” 3. Removes the instruction that Church leaders should refer members to professional counseling. This is especially significant because in times past leaders were encouraged to refer members to prac…

Creating a Cell: Science Plays God

By Arri Eisen

…but certainly it all has the potential to be at least good. Humans create new humans all the time. It’s how we nurture those new creations that matters. Here is where to spend our energy. I suppose you could argue, and it certainly has been argued, that ‘in the beginning’ God created everything as it is now, in which case when new things are created in this burgeoning field of Venter’s known as synthetic biology, you might be a bit miffed. But fa…

Bishop Says Gay Couples Cannot Be Part of Parish Life; Does Rising Evangelical Political Power in Brazil Contribute to Anti-LGBT Violence?; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…: Does religious rhetoric contribute to epidemic of anti-gay violence? The New York Times’ Andrew Jacobs reported this week on an “epidemic” of deadly anti-gay violence in Brazil, “one that, by some counts, has earned Brazil the ignominious ranking of the world’s deadliest place for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people.” Nearly 1,600 people were reportedly killed in hate-motivated attacks in the past four and a half years in spite of B…

Bloomberg is Right to Say No to Muslim School Holidays

By Hussein Rashid

Recently, the New York City Council voted to recognize two Muslim holidays, Id al-Fitr and Id al-Adha, as school holidays. Mayor Michael Bloomberg is threatening to veto the motion. He argues that the school year is too short already, and the one Council Member who voted against it sees it as a slippery slope to excessive holidays for every religious group. Although there are those who see this as a divide-and-conquer tactic, with Mayor Bloomberg…

Bishops Release Religious Liberty Manifesto Vowing Disobedience to “Unjust Laws”

By Sarah Posner

…ple of the Bishops’ court-snubbing is the Bronx Household of Faith case in New York, which they call “a simple case of discrimination against religious believers.” The Bishops say that the City of New York “enacted a rule that barred the Bronx Household of Faith and sixty other churches from renting public schools on weekends for worship services even though non-religious groups could rent the same schools for scores of other uses.” What they negl…

Jews and Baseball: A Reflection on a Longtime Love Affair

By Rebecca T. Alpert

…oot for the home team, and I just wasn’t sure where home was. I rooted for New York and former New York teams—the Dodgers, Giants, Yankees, and Mets (my mother’s team)—all still had my affection, and to some extent still do. But I’ve lived in Philadelphia for forty years now, and have finally fully adopted the Phillies. It’s really hard to live in this city and not be in love with the Phillies in this era; they resemble the multiracial team of my…

Will Gay Rights Pave the Way for Decriminalizing Mormon Polygamy?

By Joanna Brooks

…ing to see public discourse on polygamy begin to shift in the pages of the New York Times. Just last year, here at RD, I tangled with a NY Times Book Review contributor who in a review of Brady Udall’s masterful novel The Lonely Polygamist insisted that polygamy was inherently “abhorrent.” Why? Well, the critic explained, because everyone thought so. It’s also fascinating to consider how the Brown case may shine a light on the complicated ways non…

“A Declaration of Dependence Upon MARRIAGE and FAMiLY”

By Sarah Morice-Brubaker

…stuff up to suit the realities of their own situations. Here he is, in the New York Times Magazine article, quoted at an appearance in Iowa: “And we had a few people who didn’t see the world like we do. We had a professor who said: ‘Bob Vander Plaats should explore truth for Bob Vander Plaats. And Mary for Mary and Susan for Susan. And whatever truth is, that’s your truth.’ And I said, ‘Do you understand how dangerous those words are?’ And I said…

Contraception: 1; Notre Dame: 0

By Patricia Miller

…her courts have found just the opposite. A federal district court judge in New York granted the Archdiocese of New York an injunction from the mandate because he said that signing the form violated the dioceses’ religious freedom. And the Little Sisters of the Poor, who made the same argument, were granted a temporary stay by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor from providing contraception while their case is decided. The latest ruling comes ju…

The Surprising Catholic Roots of the War on Xmas

By Patricia Miller

…nstream society. His first faux controversy was a protest over a VHI ad on New York City buses that showed the performer Madonna next to the Madonna, which he called “a form of blasphemy.” The “controversy” earned Donohue widespread media attention—the ads were removed—and more ginned-up instances of “anti-Catholicism” followed, like a protest against the 1995 movie “Priest” that caused the Knights of Columbus to dump 50,000 shares of Disney stock…