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Catholic ‘Soul-Searching’ as Ireland Votes on Marriage; Churches, American Activists Join Kenyan Anti-Gay Group’s ‘Family’ Confab; Indian Mom Seeks Spouse For Gay Son; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…irds of marriage ceremonies are celebrated in Catholic churches. While the number of Irish people who describe themselves as Catholic has fallen slowly to 84 percent, according to the 2011 census, churches began to empty before the abuse scandals and only around one-third attend church weekly. For the handful of priests who have said they will vote ‘Yes’, the church has missed an opportunity. “I think on this one, they’re doing themselves a lot of…

Raelians’ “Clitoraid” Met With Suspicion in Burkina Faso

By Joseph Laycock

…r of fund raising projects, including an “Adopt a Clitoris” campaign and a number of partnerships with companies that make vibrators. This funding was used to recruit and fund a team of surgeons (who are not Raelians) and to establish a “pleasure hospital” in Burkina Faso. There is some controversy as to what percentage of women who undergo the surgery will be able to experience orgasms as Clitoraid, claims. But so far, Clitoraid has received much…

What Does Darwin Mean to You?

By Arri Eisen

…ts makes me tremble. When I consider Darwin, how cats in a town affect the number of flowers, how your face looks as you search out each puddle on your way to school and learn to pull the lip of one sock over so it enfolds the other, then I wonder what it is that I am creating and tremble at the radiance which for a moment passes through you, like light through water making rainbows on a mere piece of paper. Ann Lynn is trained as a psychiatric so…

Seeing the Future: Can Religion Evolve and Survive in a Changing World?

By Peter Savastano

…hnology that facilitates it, with the click of a mouse or the touch of an iPhone screen we humans can instantly access information about these myriad religious traditions and their attendant practices. This may actually make it possible for us to distinguish between our hardwired capacity for the spiritual and the religious traditions and practices that are produced from it as all the conflicting and diverse information makes it exceedingly diffic…

Hold Your Applause: Potential Changes to Roles of Catholic Women and LGBTQ+ People May Just Be Vatican Breadcrumbing

By Mary E. Hunt

…erstandably praised the move. There’s also a provision to change the usual number of 10 men from religious congregations who can vote in synods to five women religious and five men religious. Why they’re somehow in a different category than other lay people remains unclear, but this counts as progress. Nathalie Becquart, a French woman and a member of the Congregation of Xavières, was named an undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops making her the…

Religion vs. Science: America’s Perilous Fight

By Edward J. Larson

…dst dinosaurs. Bible institutes and Christian colleges continue to grow in number and size, with at least some of them offering degrees in biology and science education in creation-friendly environments. Most of this activity occurs within the nation’s conservative Christian subculture largely invisible to those outside it. When creationists reach beyond the church to challenge the teaching of evolution in public schools—as they have in Kansas, Pe…

The Rage Behind Outrage

By Becky Garrison

…eel that they can suffer some serious consequences if they speak out. In a number of cases, someone would start an interaction with me and then go, “Look. I can’t even speak with you.” They didn’t even want to go off the record. Have you received any backlash from some of the subjects profiled in the film? So far, there hasn’t been any backlash. These are very savvy politicians and they got to where they are by ignoring this issue. I would be surp…

Gaza Play Sparks Mixed Reaction Among Jews

By Benjamin Weiner

…rtray a group of Jewish elders trying to determine how they will explain a number of events, all having to do with the State of Israel, to a young daughter; every line begins with the words “tell her.” The culmination is a bloody, vitriolic speech, defending the Gaza war of this past winter. The intended effect is clearly alienation from the speaker: Churchill has allowed the play to be distributed freely, so long as money is gathered at performan…

Along Came a Spider: What the Pope Doesn’t See

By Anthea Butler

…ts” to commence on July 19 of this year, the day devoted to prayer for the sanctification of priests, anything but sanctification is happening. May I suggest the hierarchy of the Catholic Church start anew by taking a page from the Episcopal diocese in Philadelphia? The diocese has deposed Bishop Bennington from office, and rejected a request for a new trial regarding his concealment of his brother John Bennington’s abuse of an underage girl 35 ye…

Exclusive: Religious Leaders for Immigration Equality for Gay and Lesbian Couples

By Sarah Posner

…uals currently can sponsor their undocumented spouses for citizenship, thousands of gay and lesbian couples face the possibility of their families being separated unless the UAFA becomes law. According to Steve Ralls, director of communications for Immigration Equality, the group will send the letter to members of Congress after the legislation is reintroduced, probably in April. Ralls said the group anticipates that Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) wil…