Search for "cheap one way airline tickets to newark phone number 1-800-299-7264"

Why We Stay: What the History of Mormonism Reveals About the Origins of “Race”

By Max Mueller

…sure, Mormons have historically been predominately white; that is, in the way Americans understand “whiteness.” But Mormon whiteness has always been contested (see W. Paul Reeve’s amazing book on the Mormons’ struggle for whiteness). What’s more, today most Mormons are non-American and likely non-white (the biggest Mormon growth areas are in the African diasporas of Central and South America and Africa). The Mormon people and the LDS Church itsel…

Repent, Hillary: Trump’s Evangelical Backers Play the Sin Card

By Hollis Phelps

…icalism, especially in politics. George W. Bush, for instance, didn’t shy away from discussing his past misdeeds—which Molly Ivins has characterized as “a life of sin, drinking, womanizing (before marriage) and, by inference, drugs.” He embraced his past as transformed and converted, as a way to emphasize religious bona fides with the GOP’s evangelical base. It’s no wonder, then, that Bush could be described as “a man of faith.” More recently, for…

Will Millennials Forge a Future for the Progressive Black Church?

By Joshua L. Lazard

…wing from the exodus narrative of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments. Midway her sermon, she found a way to weave political criticism, social awareness and theology together wonderfully. This also included a fiery critique of not just the Trump administration, but also disdain for those who meet with Trump on behalf of minority communities. When asked how she arrived at her theological claims, Parker said “I first noticed the promises were not a…

Margaret Cho: God Bless You, Fing Fers

By Lisa Webster

……manure. But I mean that in a sort of amused way, not in a tut-tut kind of way. It’s just a funny image. Here at RD we are trying to project some kind of earnestness. In the public square we are the ones wearing black jeans or tweed or natty preacher suits. And we are talking to one another in a quiet but impassioned way—while checking our Blackberries. (And maybe drinking beer out of a brown bag.) Over at margaretcho.com the knives are coming out…

Global LGBT Recap: World Vision Caves, World Congress of Families Vamps, God Weeps

By Peter Montgomery

…commenter noted in response, the church’s Director of Legislative Affairs Dwayne Leslie wrote critically about Uganda’s anti-gay law last week in the Huffington Post. He called the law “astonishingly severe” and “abhorrent,” and affirmed recent comments by Adventist President Ted Wilson in favor of strong separation between church and state. Love, wrote Leslie, is always the answer in how to deal with disagreement. But you could forgive LGBT-affir…

Rape and Richard Mourdock’s Semi-Omnipotent God

By Sarah Sentilles

…n—snow, a home run, illness, rape—becomes its own kind of justification, a way to prove it’s what God wanted, which means all kinds of oppression can be cast as God’s will. So where does it end? What can’t be justified by appealing to God’s intention in this way? This essay? God intended it (as if that will stop all the hate mail I’m likely to get when this posts). Flood? God intended it. Pregnancy? God intended it. Environmental destruction? God…

Equally Blessed: Wear a Rainbow Ribbon to Mass

By Alex McNeill

…and then change policies from there. What are the biggest obstacles in the way of policy change in the Catholic church? With LGBT issues, the greatest obstacle is silence, though the obstacles run the gamut from silence to violence. By breaking the silence, even in small ways, we are planting the seeds of change. What’s next? The ultimate goal is to have a Catholic church that accepts and respects all of its members. LGBT people and youth are defi…

The Promise of Immortality in a Tech-Enhanced Heaven

By Lisa Webster

…y psychology with its concordant ideas of biological determinism. But in a way, that may be a source of their optimism. If human tendencies are systemic in a fundamental, biological sense, then it’s a system, and a system can be hacked. LW: In a recent-ish piece in UK Telegraph, fashion designers Dolce and Gabbana were quoted saying: “I call children of chemistry, synthetic children. Rented uterus, semen chosen from a catalog.” Also: “The family i…

A Memoir of Jewish, Transgender Spirituality

By Joy Ladin

…of my now ex-wife’s and children’s stories. Memoirs and autobiographies always compromise others’ privacy, and present others in ways they wouldn’t choose to present themselves. Memoir writers get the first and last word, and all the words in between; that is inherently unfair to those who appear in our stories. When, as in my memoir, those stories include acrimonious divorce and family break-up, the ethical stakes are even higher. I didn’t solv…

Teaching World Religion in the Dumpster Fire

By Kate Blanchard

…ds, yes, I do want to indoctrinate students. I certainly wouldn’t want to overplay the importance of religion in whatever ails humankind, nor do I have delusions of grandeur about the ability of a religion professor to change the course of history. But the way I see it, any reduction in fear (at least about anything other than climate change) is a net gain for the world. Maintaining some level of equanimity, inside the classroom and out, is the be…