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In the Aftermath of the “Himalayan Tsunami”

…ds, and bridges. It is too early to know how many people have died but the number will probably be in the thousands. The numbers may be low compared to global-scale disasters of recent years, but there is a wrenching poignancy to what is happening in Uttarakhand right now. Many of the forces that frame daily life in South Asia are suddenly on display like a raw wound: the wages of development and globalization, the power of the natural world, divi…

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On Pi Day, Puzzling Over the Most Famous Transcendental Number

…lly go on forever, unpredictably. As far as mathematicians can tell, those numbers never settle into any kind of pattern. This numerical lawlessness is quite the thorn in the side of human pattern-loving brains. It’s like peeling back the skin of the universe and finding pure randomness. After the existential surprise dies down, you’re left with confusion. A transcendental number is more unnatural than unicorns or dragons, which are, after all jus…

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Malta Adopts Marriage Equality Over Objections of Catholics and Evangelicals; And More in Global LGBT Recap

…s and killings of LGBT people. Uganda: Plight of LGBT refugees examined Tonny Onyulo reported for PRI on the situation of LGBT Ugandans who have sought asylum in Kenya. Homosexuality is also illegal in Kenya, Onyulo notes, “but enforcement of the law has been more sporadic than in Uganda.” Iraq: Activist says anti-LGBT violence sparked by western intervention Amrou Al-Kadhi, an Iraqi living in the United Kingdom, wrote a column this month saying t…

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Religious Exceptions Not So Exceptional According to New Study

…most Catholic health care institutions have accepted the accommodation, a number of the nation’s 260 Catholic institutions of higher learning as well as Catholic nonprofits are seeking a broader exemption that would in effect bar their insurers from providing contraceptive coverage as specified under the accommodation designed by the Department of Health and Human Services. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a consolidated case challenging th…

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Milquetoast Liberal Religion Won’t Challenge Conservative Values: A History Lesson

…of the “principalities and powers” that now dominate our landscape. Is it any wonder that according to a recent Pew Research poll, millenials today have fewer attachments to traditional political or religious institutions than any other generation in the last quarter century? With no movement like the Social Gospel to develop the ideas that could carry us into a new millennium and inspire young people with the idealism that the people, working thr…

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Vatican Reverses Anti-Liberation Policies in Mexico

…1 of Mexico’s 800 deacons served the Diocese of San Cristobal, the largest number of deacons in any Catholic diocese in the world. Vatican suspicion of Bishop Ruiz’s liberationist pastoral strategy resulted in a failed attempt to remove him in 1993. The deacon program came under particular scrutiny after the 1994 Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, with reports that Maya catechists defied the bishop and enlisted in the indigenous rebel army. In an effo…

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Heterosexual Martyrs and Gay Saints: Did AIDS Coverage Clear the Way for LGBT Equality?

…fied as AIDS, did not receive ongoing or thorough coverage. By 1982, nearly 800 AIDS cases had been diagnosed. According to one study, infants and children were increasingly infected. Although a threat to the general population was quickly dismissed, the implication was clear: anyone could be infected. The epidemic had exposed social and cultural fault lines that made coverage more than just a medical story. Its initial outbreak in the homosexual…

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Clergy May Soon Find Taxes Soaring As Result of an Under-the-Radar Ruling

…and nuns, Christian and otherwise, live in monasteries and convents; and a number of historic Protestant churches, especially those best endowed financially, provide parsonages. But over time, an increasing number of clergy have made their own living arrangements. Churches found parsonages prohibitively expensive; congregants preferred to see their donations go toward services rather than clergy housing; and new religious ventures, especially the…

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“Tell Me What You Believe About Ferguson, and I’ll Tell You What You Believe About God”: A Missouri Pilgrimage

…nfield Drive, there were at least six Ferguson police officers with accompanying cruisers guarding the entrance to the liquor store that had become a hotspot for protests in the wake of Brown’s murder. “The story of Ferguson didn’t start on Canfield Drive. The story of Ferguson is a whole lot longer.” Tyler recognized each of them and knew them by name. She had become well-acquainted with them during the first 100 days of protests after August 9th…

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Is Joel Osteen, Success Mag Cover Boy, Really “God’s Best”?

…n like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony.” These are words that should make anyone living in comfort in this life tremble. Osteen has received, and is now enjoying, his good things. In his comfort, he encourages others to get theirs while they can, because he thinks this is “God’s best.” The rich man has a message for Osteen and other positive, prosperity, preachers, and their eager followers. There’s a lot of…

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