Religion Dispatches
…d hit 36,000) opined that Social Security was like a “Ponzi scheme” in the service of his argument that it should be privatized. (His failed prognostications on the robustness of the stock market should’ve put a big pin in that trial balloon.) And if you read the Austrian school economists and bloggers at the Von Mises Institute, you will find the inapt analogy deployed frequently as well. While not comparing Social Security to a Ponzi scheme, Bac…
Read More…est for exemption, exempt organizations can now include schools and social service organizations, operated by churches, that nonetheless employ and serve people of other faiths. Organizations that do not qualify for the exemption will likely include institutions of higher education, large social services organizations, and Catholic hospitals, said Hutchinson. The new proposed rule permits these organizations, she said, to self-certify that they ar…
Read More…n, see here and here.) 2. LDS Church lowers the minimum age for missionary service for women from 21 to 19. The policy change, announced in October, was hailed as a welcome step towards leveling life expectations and opportunities for religious study and service among young Mormon men and women. And it resulted in a dramatic spike of new missionary applications from young Mormon women. (More here.) 3. Mormon athletes prove more popular than Mormo…
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…Nakashima Brock and Gabriella Lettini describe in their new book, Soul Repair: Recovering from Moral Injury after War. I regret that at the same time I understand its logic. The evolution of Roman Catholic priesthood runs along similar lines. Arguments in favor of women’s ordination began a century ago with St. Joan’s International Alliance. Despite ominous bleats from the shepherds in Latin-titled documents, the theological consensus is focused,…
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…tities, to change existing policies around gender identity. During worship services and all other explicitly religious events (which, yes, would include a spaghetti dinner worship service), the churches that filed suit (and any other house of worship in the state) is free to discriminate against trans people, or gay, lesbian, and bisexual citizens. Any pastor who so wishes will continue to be able to preach the misguided transphobia that ADF champ…
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…justice” is the reason he founded PRAF. In September he told Catholic News Service that “it’s a social justice issue, it’s an ethical issue, it’s a fairness issue, and those who really are concerned about justice and equality have to be willing to consider all the impact [physician-assisted suicide] would have on all the poorest and most socially and economically vulnerable populations.” In this mode, Hanson can often sound like a Democrat or a so…
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…1 until after the November 2012 elections. In 2006, the Knights distributed 10 million postcards through state and local councils for Catholics to send senators in support of a proposed anti-marriage-equality amendment to the US Constitution. In 2008 it gave $1.1 million to pass Proposition 8 in California. But you’d be hard-pressed to find evidence of the millions in anti-gay spending on the organization’s website, which highlights contributions…
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…ies I loved so much as a kid weren’t really about this kind of magical lip-service to God—they were usually about women who went and were very involved in trying to bring about a more equitable kingdom, seeing liberation come both spiritually and socially (obviously, lots of colonialism and imperialism in that story). As with most young people, my idea that I wanted to be a missionary was really just a vague sense of wanting to do good. Nowadays,…
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…le to tell their stories and push for an end to stigma and abuse. NBC News aired an interview with playwright and director Moisés Kaufman, who discussed growing up gay in Venezuela and challenges facing LGBT youth. Taiwan: Gay Pride celebrates potential for marriage equality More than 80,000 people joined one of Asia’s largest gay pride marches in Taipei on Saturday, while a rainbow flag flew over city hall for the first time. Nicola Smith reporte…
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…r equality in Sweden, which includes birth control having been legalized in 1938 and paid maternity leave existing as far back as the 1950s. But when the pope flew to Sweden, the visit was to commemorate the actions of a man. When Martin Luther wrote his Ninety Five Theses in 1517, women were not exactly running the show in Europe. Of women, Luther wrote, they were “either made to be wives or prostitutes,” and they should “remain at home, sit stil…
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