Religion Dispatches
…ars. You, the voters. We believe him against the evidence because it feels better to believe that his life—his survival, bound and tied, long ago—is a testimony to Jesus’ mercy. We feel better believing that nobody would ever, or could ever, lie about loving God, or lie about loving Christ. And despite our own schismatic compulsions (in daily life, in sectarian divide), we like to believe that all denominations look the same in the dark. Finally,…
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…LGBT community An article in Global Voices says that there’s a difference between what the law books say about LGBT people and the reality they face. Jordan’s stance on LGBT issues is considered one of the more advanced in the Middle East, as criminalization of same-sex relations was removed from country’s the Penal Code in 1951. However, decriminalization alone has not ensured complete freedom for members of Jordan’s LGBT community. Article Six…
Read More…gn an honor code,” Farris claimed. “[Homosexuals] could not sign our honor code,” Farris said, adding that he considers the actions of gay men and women “sinful.” “Part of the honor code is to be sexually pure,” he added. Baratko speaks to a couple of the bloggers, who say they were inspired by other blogs at conservative Christian colleges like Bob Jones University (BJUnity), and he asks about the challenges of coming to terms with one’s sexualit…
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…Over time, the churches that have tried to lighten up the Christian moral code and put forth sort of a kindler, gentler version of Christianity as they see it, have not done well. They have not done well demographically and they haven’t done well financially. Churches that stick to orthodoxy do better over time because in part it’s only those churches that tend to create families that can be of size and carry on the Christian tradition. This hark…
Read More…e original ruling by the judge stated that satire in its own right did not promote enmity between groups. In fact, satire of religious actions and beliefs right is a long tradition in India. The 11th century Kashmiri Sanskrit poet Kshemendra, in works such as Samaya Matrika, Kalavilasa, and Narmamala, satirizes brahminical and Buddhist norms with rapier wit. (Kshemendra, by the way, also wrote serious devotional and poetic works.) My colleagues in…
Read More…er offences for which the death penalty could be applied under the revised code, which is due to come into force on 22 April,” the International Law Professor Blog reports. The new penal code has been condemned by the United Nations. England: Priest Defies Church Ban to Marry His Partner; University Bans Anti-Gay Muslim Speakers Last week Rev. Jeremy Pemberton, a priest with the Church of England, married his partner Laurence Cunnington in defianc…
Read More…. But who is to decide what constitutes a “vice against nature”? The Portuguese legislators had been too coy to mention gay sex explicitly, and so a meaningless clause entered the statute books, which no court could act upon. This year, the Penal Code was rewritten. The new Penal Code sweeps away a great deal of the musty colonial legacy, including the mention of “vices against nature”. Now not even the most contorted of arguments could claim that…
Read More…d by uncodified Muslim Sharia law, which criminalises same-sex sexual acts between both men and between women. For men, the punishment is banishment for nine months to one year or a whipping of 10 to 30 strokes, while the punishment for women is house arrest for nine months to one year.” According to Stewart, the country rejected international recommendations to improve its treatment of LGBTI people expressed in its 2010 and 2015 U.N. Universal Pe…
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…o women. There is also a bill in Parliament to revise the current criminal code, which was basically translated from the Dutch criminal code. The latest version apparently does have a sodomy article. So we actually face the criminalization of homosexual acts.” Somoa: Prime Minister Says ‘Christian Country’ Will Never OK Abortion, Same-Sex Marriage Prime Minister Tuilaepa Seilele Malielegaoi said in a radio interview that Samoa is a Christian count…
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…no one to turn to. Nepal: Activists call for changes in civil and criminal code Pahichan reports from Kathmandu that local human rights activists have submitted a memo to Speaker Onsari Gharti calling for changes to provisions of the civil and criminal code that violate the rights of women and gender and sexual minorities. Albania: Activists seek to build on LGBT progress with partnership recognition Kristi Pinderin, head of PRO LGBT, announced th…
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