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New Challenges to Gay Marriage Bans From Within States & Denominations

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…e rule of law! Which, of course, gives way to the hysterics of people like Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. “If you look at other nations that have gone down the road towards gay marriage, that’s the next step of where it gets enforced. It gets enforced against Christian pastors who decline to perform gay marriages, who speak out and preach biblical truths on marriage, that has been defined elsewhere as hate speech, as inconsistent with the enlight…

Baptist Resolutions Signal More Culture War

By Paul Harvey

…ion of the SBC verged on self-parody. At a Glenn Beck rally at a church in Texas, shortly before retiring, he referred to the 2012 presidential election as the most important one since 1860—yes, the most important since the one that brought on the Civil War. Since then, the convention elected its first black President (Fred Luter, a pastor in New Orleans), replaced Land, and has gone through its own internal theological controversies between neo-C…

The Racial Politics of Atheism

By Sikivu Hutchinson

…conian legislation that’s come down from states like Kansas, North Dakota, Texas and Mississippi. The fact that abortion and birth control policies continue to be hijacked by the extreme right is an atrocity, as is the destructive whitewash of the devastating impact of climate change. I believe that legal abortion and universal access to contraception are human rights—period. Women of color have the most to lose from the increasing crackdown on an…

Religious Resistance to Bolivian Gender Law; US Religious Right Celebrates Court OK For Romanian Marriage Initiative; Will LGBTs Be Banned from Indonesian TV?; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…lared these laws unconstitutional in 2003 with its decision in Lawrence v. Texas.) Even after legalizing homosexuality, some governments disputed LGBTQ asylum seekers’ membership in the “particular social group” category, arguing that queer people are not a unified social group, or that they could simply hide their sexuality. Bolivia: New gender identity law meets religious and political resistance The Washington Post’s Simeon Tegel writes about B…

Why Have So Many Fallen for the Rune Stone Hoax?

By Joseph Laycock

…hnic, and religious agendas is especially timely today as conservatives in Texas have pressured textbook companies into producing materials that present America’s origin as an explicitly “Christian nation,” while whitewashing the treatment of Native Americans and enslaved Africans. Critical historiography is needed to counter these renewed myths of innocent domination. But Krueger’s work also does something equally important: By tracing the evolut…

On the 20th Anniversary of Waco

By Kate Blanchard

…ary of the fiery massacre of David Koresh and 80 of his followers in Waco, Texas. Surviving Branch Davidians still await their leader’s resurrection and return. It’s also the 47th anniversary of Haile Selassie’s only visit to Jamaica, which Rastafarians who saw the Ethiopian leader as a messiah continue to celebrate as Grounation (or Groundation) Day. Such stories make me wonder about some people’s attraction to living charismatic leaders. As som…

The Theology of Westboro: The “World’s Meanest Church” Is More Than Picket Signs

By Rebecca Barrett-Fox

…he was arrested, she let the officer know that he was violating Johnson v. Texas, which protected her right to stand on the flag. He arrested her anyway, to the irritation of the judge who later had to award her the costs related to the arrest. In that case, the church member won some money, but she deserved it. And she didn’t taunt the officer into arresting her, and even laid out very clearly and calmly what would happen if he violated the law p…

Mexico’s Religious Conservatives Seek Anti-LGBT Constitutional Amendment, LGBT Activists Defend Secular Government; Cash From Qatar Funds ‘Traditional’ Family Activism Worldwide; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…topped,” he added. …In the release he said it could not be ignored that “a number of individuals, international groups and governments are exerting pressure on our communities to accept sexual practices that have not been previously accepted in most Caribbean communities”. … Although the PPM government has made it very clear it has no policy plans to introduce gay marriage or any kind of legal protection for same-sex couples, the fear that it migh…

New Poll: Americans Disagree with Hobby Lobby

By Sunnivie Brydum

…that understanding of transgender identity leads to public officials (like Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton) dismissing trans women as “men deciding one day they want to be women, and then switching back the next day.” Ironically, the question itself alludes to the lack of understanding of trans identities that the survey later discusses by noting that a respondent knowing a transgender person has a substantial influence on their position on this…

Howard Phillips, Founding Father of Religious Right, Has Died

By Julie Ingersoll

…ons: Giving Honor to Whom Honor is Due”— which brought together the elder and younger Sprouls and Phillips clan. It was moving “to see the bond between them,” he said, explaining how very much alike the two men were. Texas Representative Steve Stockman (R-TX), recently known for his recent campaign bumper sticker “if babies had guns they wouldn’t be aborted,” tweeted Friday asking for prayers for Phillips and his family….