…gelicals and Trump. As early as August 2015, the independent Catholic news site Crux noted that Trump’s aggressive anti-immigration stance put him at odds with Catholic bishops who were lobbying Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Writing in National Review earlier this summer, the political scientist Michael J. New commented that Trump’s “Catholic problem” likely stemmed from Trump’s harsh rhetoric on Latino immigrants who many Ame…
…n government anti-HIV policies. Since the early 1990s, the CBCP has issued official statements vilifying condoms, campaigned against legislation that would expand condom access, and levied personal attacks against government officials who favor inclusion of condoms in HIV prevention programs. The Church, backed by conservative lawmakers, has obstructed efforts to expand public education and awareness of the value of condoms in HIV prevention on th…
…e known that the former President had started painting, the satirical news site The Onion ran a story titled, “George W. Bush Debuts New Paintings Of Dogs, Friends, Ghost Of Iraqi Child That Follows Him Everywhere.” In the background of every painting of pets and kitchen tables and couches was a dead Iraqi child. Painting of Sergeant Matthew Zbiec courtesy of George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. Toward the end of Portraits of Courage, I…
…ng Catholicism. The flagship of the movement is the ChurchMilitant.com web site run by Michael Voris, which rails against “globalism, immigration, social-welfare programs and abortion,” while depicting an “existential war against radical Islam,” with a healthy dose of anti-Semitism. And in case that sounds ready-made for the Trump era, it is. As BuzzFeed reported shortly after the election, Steve Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist, addressed a Vatic…
…a: Writers and artists commemorate anti-gay law with anthology Pop culture site Konbini reported this month that Nigerian artists and writers had responded to the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act by creating a “safe space for resistance and expression” called 14, a reference to the 14-year jail term for homosexual acts included in the law. This month, on the second anniversary of the law, 14 launched We Are Flowers, an anthology of queer art, inc…
…n of other sources of information, like Fox News at first, but also now websites like Breitbart, 4chan, Infowars, and others. The goal of “fake news” and “alternative facts” goes beyond providing different data. Their purpose is actually to destroy the notion that there could be impartial news and objective facts. Maria Bustillos calls this endgame “dismediation,” “a form of propaganda that seeks to undermine the medium by which it travels.” It wi…
…pitation” of the Malta Knights order. Speaking of Breitbart, the far-right site published a post complaining about Vitit Muntarbhorn, the UN’s recently appointed independent expert charged with investigating discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity: In a recent public consultation, the UN’s newly appointed “independent expert” on the defense of LGTB rights, Vitit Muntarbhorn, said that negative moral judgments on…
…that issues around sex, marriage, and reproduction constitute the primary site for religious liberty disputes in the current political climate. Sticking to their anti-Obama talking points, the speakers seem not to have grasped that it may become increasingly difficult to claim the mantle of “religious liberty” without speaking out against the Islamophobic rhetoric adopted at the highest levels of government, and the dramatic rise in anti-Muslim h…
…to suggest that cities that decline to cooperate with federal immigration officials see an uptick in unreported crimes. In short, sanctuary cities do not “breed crime,” as the President has contended. What’s more, cities that don’t cooperate with immigration officials are actually more likely to see local crimes reported when they are committed against undocumented residents, since the city provides a layer of protection to the victim in assuring…
…ple of religion and theology professors, way back during the Bush era. The site was launched in 2008 as an experiment in bringing religion scholarship to a wider audience, and as a counter-voice to that of the religious right. Nominated for four Webby awards, with traffic of a publication five times its size, RD has evolved from an academic project to a thriving online magazine. Do you accept unsolicited submissions? Yes, see guidelines by clickin…
