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Obama’s AIPAC Speech Hardly a Change to Believe In

By Stephen Zunes

…such special interest groups as AIPAC. This speech may have cost him large numbers of these smaller, progressive donors without gaining him much from the small numbers of larger, more conservative donors. Indeed, there may not be a single policy issue where Obama’s liberal base differs from the candidate more than on Israel/Palestine. Not surprisingly, the Green Party and its likely nominee, former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, along wit…

‘Miracle’ in Manila

By Jonathan T Chow

…d to use it to influence elections. Additionally, as tonight’s Mass demonstrated, the Church can quickly mobilize people to make a show of support for its views. Third, the rally illustrated the rich set of shared images and ideas that different actors can draw from to evoke a sense of nationalism. The Mass itself provided a focal point for protesters, with its rituals of prayer, scriptural reading and the sacrament of communion. The invocation of…

Don’t Call It “Prayer Shaming”: Our Moral Failure Exposed

By Willie Dwayne Francois

…elected officials issued tweets that, many have argued ad nauseum, demonstrated a commitment to public piety instead of public policy as a response to the massacre. In a rare moment, news and social media outlets in the U.S. became a forum for a surprising debate about spiritual disciplines—the meaning and import of prayer. Layered approaches to prayer and “prayer shaming” dominated public discourse in the days following the shooting. On the righ…

A Question for Hobby Lobby Supporters…

By Sarah Morice-Brubaker

…aception. So is the salient difference the size of the list? Is there some number of things-this-paper-can-be-used-for that puts the employer at a safe moral distance from the act, where previously they had been complicit? If so, what’s the number? How long does the list of possible uses have to be to assuage the employer’s conscience enough to let the employees use their compensation for things the employer finds morally repugnant? See, here’s th…

Grassroots Faith: The Lessons of The Social Gospel

By Christopher H. Evans

…conomic interests of the time. This engagement led the movement to raise a number of questions about its mission. For example, was the social gospel’s primary objective to cast a wide ideological net to create a broad coalition of secular and religious leaders, or was it to identify itself with specific economic and political policies? Common historical wisdom holds that the social gospel broke apart at the end of World War I, a victim of both a n…

Morality and Marriage Vigilantes and More in Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…he goal is to reduce emotional trauma for sexual minorities and reduce the number of suicides and rates of substance abuse in that community, he says. Scotland: Anti-LGBT prejudice falls sharply The Scotsman reports that prejudice toward LGBT people has fallen sharply: Analysis of the 2016 Scottish Social Attitudes (SSA) survey by ScotCen, shared with The Scotsman, reveal the proportion of people who say that they would be unhappy if a close relat…

Scottish Episcopal Church Angers Conservative Anglicans With Embrace of Same-Sex Marriage; and more in Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…lic church’s moral authority to define marriage, family and what is in the best interest of children was in tatters. Airbnb and other business leaders are working with the Equality Campaign to market a black metal ring with a gap meant to be a visual statement of support for marriage equality. The “Until We All Belong” campaign is designed to keep pressure on government officials who have blocked a marriage equality vote in parliament in spite of…

Lesbian Rabbi to Lead SoCal Board, Includes Orthodox

By Benjamin Weiner

…bbis pushing for more inclusiveness, and what I assume to be a significant number of modern Orthodox (as opposed to ultra-Orthodox) Jews who have plenty of sympathy for gays and lesbians, and probably number many of them among their friends, but can’t yet see a way to harmonize this personal sentiment with their larger religious commitments. It’s important to bear this denominational scorecard in mind when considering Eger’s appointment, because a…

Global LGBT Recap: Catholic Polling, Religious Violence, International Advocacy

By Peter Montgomery

…logger Blabbeando reminds us that during Brewster’s nomination process, “a number of religious leaders the Dominican Republic criticized the nomination of an openly gay man for the diplomatic post. Leading the charge was Cardinal Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez who called the then-nominee a ‘faggot’ on national television.” Last month the Cardinal urged church goers to show respect for the new ambassador, but some people aren’t willing to let g…

Despite Conflation of Israel with Judaism, Anti-Zionism is More Kosher Than You Think

By Seth Sanders

…ditional readings of the Torah, it even goes back to God himself. Indeed a number of biblical books go beyond merely denouncing or delegitimizing Israel’s “right to exist.” At the time of the original covenant, God threatens that, if Israel disobeys His teaching, the people of Israel will “flee in defeat before your enemies; you may make a unified stand against them but you will run away in every direction; and you will become a horror to all the…