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Trump, Islamophobia, and the Philly Pig’s Head Incident

By David Krueger

…e it was discovered that the two shooters in the San Bernardino tragedy on December 2 were self-radicalized supporters of ISIS. Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, said that if more Americans had permits to carry concealed weapons, there could have been a chance to “end those Muslims before they walked in.” GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump wins the award for Islamophobe-in-chief for his statements that he would require Mus…

Global LGBT Recap: Culture War Claims More Victims

By Peter Montgomery

…not recognize marriages by same-sex couples. United Kingdom: Church of England tells priests not to bless same-sex weddings Bishops of the Church of England adopted new guidelines this week instructing priests not to give their blessings to same-sex weddings, which will become legal in England and Wales in March. The Advocate’s Michael O’Loughlin notes, The guidelines, posted on the church’s website Saturday, appear to be somewhat at odds with a…

Argue-by-Number: A Suggestion for the Church

By Mark D. Jordan

…n our side. Number 1 could be “God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.” Number 2: “God doesn’t discriminate.” Number 3: “Sex is only for procreation.” And so on. We could get clever, of course, and assign separate groups of numbers to arguments pro and con or to thematic clusters. I can even imagine some seminary librarian proposing a sort of Dewey Decimal System to organize the arguments. This would allow long series of arguments to be cited b…

In the Aftermath of the “Himalayan Tsunami”

By Luke Whitmore

…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…

The Sacred and the Dead: Operator, Can You Help Me?

By Maren Haynes

…connection, once burning with possibility and joy, began to cool, as cell phone calls dwindled and numbers eventually changed or were disconnected. As our shared realities drifted apart in their likeness, like Pigpen, I also turned to technologies that promised connection to try to tamp down the yearning and temper that sense of loss. Where Pigpen called up the trusty telephone operator, I did my pining alone, with only the camaraderie of a searc…

“Giving Godhead”: A Bloody Vision of Religion’s Deepest Influence

By Spencer Dew

…us moments at a revival, goes slack sometimes, and this book has its limp, cheap moments, cellophane grass and gassy puns that might only elicit an “organ yawn” from readers. It may not be the best poetry collection in English published this year—that may, in fact, like rivers of milk and honey or peace and goodwill between all humans on earth, simply not be a thing—but Giving Godhead is a worthwhile example of art using the so-called sacrilegious…

“You’ve Never Met a Muslim”

By Hussein Rashid

…oud to speak at a crowded, angry community board meeting. The day that the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted against adding 51 Park Place to the historic register and Bloomberg gave his speech on Governors’ Island, I walked into my swimming pool and all my friends—Jewish, Hindu, and Christian—started cheering. “You did it, Ameena! You’re going to build that community center!” Ramadan is when I feel most clearly connected to the Divine. Since…

Recovering From Rejection: The Second Coming of Ted Haggard

By Wendy Norris

…uild a church in Colorado Springs than the rapid population boom fueled by cheap land that would lead to a new free market Christianity political power base in the Western United States. In less than a decade, Haggard built one of the most influential megachurches in the nation. Not Everybody Loves a Comeback Story Today, Haggard and his wife Gayle jet set nearly every weekend to speak at emergent churches across the nation with a well-worn script…

Swiss Priest Sacked for Blessing Lesbian Couple; Mormon Equality Advocate Excommunicated; Pope-Backed Anti-Gay Referendum Fails; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…of the European Humanist Federation to the Latvian Council Presidency. Ireland: Lesbian senator campaigns for marriage equality Ireland’s only out lesbian senator, Katherine Zappone, made a video for the Marriage Equality campaign that is promoting a referendum coming in May. According to Pink News, she and her partner married in Canada in 2003 but the High Court in Dublin refused in 2006 to recognize her marriage. Uganda: Magazine gives LGBTI Ug…

Trayvon Martin and American Exceptionalism

By Anthea Butler

…even have the courtesy to check Trayvon’s phone for his mom and dad’s telephone numbers because it’s just a black criminal’s body to them. While Zimmerman the trigger man slept in his bed, the police ordered a drug and alcohol test for Trayvon’s lifeless body. A black body that was representative of evil against the whiteness of George Zimmerman. I hesitated to write about this story, because there are many good stories about Trayvon and his pare…