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How Did the Buddha Become a Medieval Saint?

By Peter Manseau

…inated by stories long before we care if they are true, or whose they are. Stories are as true as they are convincing; they belong to anyone who hears them told. In Search of the Christian Buddha, Donald Lopez and Peggy McCracken’s study of the relationships among language, religion, and the ownership of stories, centers on a tale even older than Francis Xavier’s failed mission to Japan. Beginning as early as the ninth century, stories of a Christ…

Mormons Declare Same-Sex Marriage Apostasy, Deny Baptism to Children of Same-Sex Couples; Colombian Court OKs Adoption Over Church Objections; Franklin Graham Praises Putin’s Anti-Gay Policies; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…he president on several occasions. He’s a very nice person,” Graham told a Russian newspaper. “But he supports and promotes policies that contradict the teachings of God. As a Christian I believe that abortion is murder, he supports it. Homosexuality and same-sex marriage — those are sins against God, and the president is promoting them. I’m not against homosexuals as people. But God commanded that marriage should be between a man and a woman.” “A…

Global LGBT Recap: Adventists Talk About, Not To, LGBT People; British Muslim Group Welcomes Gay-Rights Activist; Homophobia Exports Continue

By Peter Montgomery

…ldren could be taken from her, has co-edited Gay Propaganda, a new book of Russian love stories. Meanwhile, the legislative sponsor of Russia’s anti-gay propaganda law, Yelena Mizulina, is among the Russian officials targeted by the Obama administration’s sanctions in the wake of Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Peru: More Homophobia Exports from US Religious Right In December, we noted that religious right activist Mat Staver had traveled to Peru t…

Australian Prime Minister, Church Leaders Resist Marriage Push; South Korea’s Anti-Gay Christians Block Pride Parade; Morocco Arrests Men for ‘Obscene Act’ of Kissing; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…e was invaluable: “He was saying, ‘There’s nothing you can do to oppose my rule. The strongest nation in the world and the strongest man in the world stand behind me.’ ” Argentina: Judges who cut sentence of child abuser resign Two judges who cut the sentence of a man convicted of sexually abusing a six-year-old boy from six years to 38 months because the boy was supposedly showing signs of being gay have resigned. Associated Press reports that th…

The Problem with Pew’s Science & Religion Poll

By Andrew Aghapour and Michael Schulson

…e topic, emphasizing the hot button issue of science and religion in their headlines. The headlines emphasized either conflict (“Most Americans Think Science, Religion Conflict”), or reconciliation (“Reconciling faith and science: Pew study”; “Conflicts between faith, science may be overhyped, survey results show”). Whatever the hook, these articles then offer straightforward summaries of Pew’s general findings. The Counterintuitive: A more focuse…

Right Wing Disputes Lesbian Motherhood Research

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…al, academic and total competence. They also showed lower rates in social, rule-breaking, aggressive problem behavior. Despite these glowing results that children are not just surviving, but thriving in lesbian households, the “pro-family” spokesperson picked by CNN, Wendy Wright, president of the Concerned Women for America, disputed the study because it was funded by pro-gay groups. “That proves the prejudice and bias of the study,” she said. “T…

Global LGBT Recap: Nigeria Jails Gays, Russian Orthodox Spox Calls for Criminalization Referendum

By Peter Montgomery

…challenges to his power. Says Gessen, “…so what he has done is what every Russian ruler and most dictators in the history of the world have done in these kinds of situations, which is that he has sort of tried to mobilize a potentially loyal constituency against some sort of imagined enemy. And the constituency that he is reaching for is a constituency that would support traditional values, that would support the Russian Orthodox family, that ide…

Capricology: Week 3: Apotheosis, Anyone?

By Salman Hameed

…n, sexuality, and especially about power. So, I wonder if we could use the news stories to help figure out what are the fault-lines in the society being constructed on Caprica. We already have hints at ethnic differences (if we can use such terms to refer to contrasting planets), religious differences, and class differences. It is interesting that the advice given a public figure in such a situation have changed very little from what PR people wou…

Anglican Communion Gets Anti-Gay Secretary General; Black Gay Christians Challenge Conservative Evangelicals in Africa; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…ylor says. “The fight for gay rights is not over.” These are some of their stories. BBC Scotland Radio documentary talks with trans people in Scotland about their lives. Malta: Catholic nation adopts ‘world’s most progressive’ gender identity law The officially Catholic nation of Malta has passed what BuzzFeed’s Lester Feder calls the world’s most progressive gender identity law. The law is the latest in a series of LGBT rights laws ushered in by…

Krapp’s Last Tweet: The Rise (and Fall?) of Privilege in the Digital Economy

By Kevin Healey

…polarization. And while Twitter may serve more effectively in broadcasting breaking news, it also tends toward polarization when it comes to politically charged issues. This is especially a problem on the right: research shows that conservatives are more likely to retreat into ideological echo-chambers—a dynamic that Donald Trump has exploited with great success. In other words, at the very moment when digital capitalism is exacerbating class ineq…