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Death With Dignity: Combatting Religious Opposition to Physician-Assisted Suicide

…ive sedation death to occur,” he said. That may be a sign that even the strictest of religious traditions have a tendency to shift with time, and as our culture changes. Like Niedzielski’s friends, people who claim intense faith and adherence to a certain doctrine may likely reconsider those beliefs as technology advances and its use becomes accepted in everyday life, Campbell said. Even if official church policies don’t change, churchgoers often…

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New Anti-Gay Snake Oil for Religious Right

…gay or lesbian relationships are morally acceptable. Among Catholics, that number jumps to 66%. Protestants still lag behind, but 41% say gay and lesbian relationships are moral. Resorting to pseudo-science is the last gasp of anti-gay groups and they will certainly tout this study, flaws and all, as proof that same-sex couples make awful parents and raise terribly troubled kids. Again, it’s no shock – the religious right wing is always quick to tw…

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U.S. Bishops Reject Pope Francis’ Priorities

…anasia), vocations and ongoing formation (shoring up the rapidly declining number of priests and nuns) and, of course, religious freedom (Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, who arranged Kim Davis’ meeting with Pope Francis, received two standing ovations from the bishops.). Then the debate turned to the USCCB’s quadrennial “Faithful Citizenship” voting guide. The bishops had voted earlier to revise the 2007 edition prepared for the 2008 election, whic…

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When God and Gender Mix: New Book Examines the Southern Holiness Movement

…ge how they understand their own identity. If academic achievement and the number or type of initials after your name is the most important thing in the world to you, then it will change how you view your own masculinity and femininity. Similarly, if having children matters most to you, then you can only be truly “manly” or “feminine” if you have kids. Is there anything you had to leave out? Historians always want to include every interesting anec…

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Renovating Marriage, One Gay Couple at a Time

…ose marriage equality on religious grounds. For them, I point to a growing number of religious leaders who also understand that gays and lesbians can do a lot to “redefine” marriage in beneficial ways. Rev. Ed Bacon, who leads the 4,000 member All Saints Church in Pasadena, Calif., told Oprah Winfrey this past weekend that marriage would be “enriched” by same-sex couples. I’ve never had a straight couple come to me and say, ‘My marriage is in trou…

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Will Iowa’s Abortion Ban Respect Religious Freedom?

…Jewish plaintiffs have been at the forefront of challenging abortion restrictions on religious freedom grounds—assuming a significant burden in doing so—a religious right to abortion isn’t limited to those who can point to Jewish law, or halakha, in their claims. As our brief illustrates, a wide range of religious beliefs can motivate individuals to seek abortions. In such cases, abortion is a sincere expression of religious commitment, deserving…

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Mormon Rejection of Trump Embarrassing for Evangelicals?

…ghpoint, but rather as members of a heretical and unchristian faith. For a number of reasons, including Mitt Romney’s presidential run in 2012, those impulses have been largely diminished. But evangelical worries about Mormonism remain. That Mormons have so thoroughly repudiated Donald Trump while American evangelicalism wrestles with its complicated relationship with him only elevates evangelical leaders’ concerns about the strength of their fait…

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Can Expelled Teach Us a Thing or Two?

…ans would be attracted to, appreciate and consider careers in science (the number is decreasing annually). I bet we’d have more productive conversation among students and leaders of science and religion around the many profound issues in our nation that engage both: abortion, medical care, stem cells, homosexuality, and genomic research. The battle rhetoric would fade and, more than likely, movies like Expelled wouldn’t be made in the first place….

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Heaven: Our Enduring Fascination with the Afterlife

…write about things and people in the world with the fluency and drama of fiction. That’s what I aspire to, and those are the writers I most admire, or emulate. Today, the best in the business is Adam Gopnik; I always read pieces by Peter Boyer, John Cassidy, John Seabrook (and I wish, by the way, that there were more women on this list). If I were a different person, with a more patient temperament I would write fiction. Marilynne Robinson (Gilea…

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Why Don’t White People Show Up For Juneteenth The Way They Showed Up For George Floyd?

…is that White people do not attend Juneteenth festivals in any appreciable numbers. This month I attended two Juneteenth festivals in the Columbia, South Carolina metropolitan area and the results were the same: minimum White attendance. Both events were free to the public, with ideal weather and plenty of good food and entertainment. Whereas a cross-section of Black America was in attendance, Whites stuck out like rice in chocolate pudding. But t…

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