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Women as Head Pastors Was Final Straw for Southern Baptist Convention — Not Scandal, Sexual Abuse, or Dalliance with Dictators

By Caroline Matas

…personal letter from Rwandan president Paul Kagame in 2003 asking him to “help us rebuild our nation.” Since then, Warren has made countless trips to the Central African country, even as Kagame’s documented human rights violations have drawn increasing criticism internationally. When Warren hosted President Kagame at Saddleback Church in 2019, Rwandan pastor and activist Christine Coleman told the LA Times that the event was akin to “inviting Hit…

Will ‘Conjuring 3’ Influence Real-Life Events Via the ‘Exorcist Effect’?

By Eric Harrelson and Joseph P. Laycock

…on the bed as if being strangled by invisible hands. The family sought the help of their local pastor, who summoned the Warrens. By 1981, the Warrens were already minor celebrities. Their slim connection to The Amityville Horror (1979) had led to some rewarding lecture opportunities and a book about their careers called The Demonologist was published in 1980. Debbie and her mother Judy had attended one of the Warrens’ lectures on the supernatural…

Pope Mum on LGBTs in Uganda; Church Defends Anti-Marriage-Equality Efforts in Australia; Cyprus Passes Civil Partnerships; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…ans, it is disappointing to see a politician jettisoning his principles so cheaply.” Meanwhile, Nick Duffy at Pink News suggests that some government officials would do well to take a look at their own anti-bullying guide, which encourages people to be better allies to their LGBTI friends. Asia: Growing acceptance for LGBT people; challenges within families Gavin Blair at the Christian Science Monitor reports on growing acceptance for LGBT people…

For Some of Us, the Biggest Religious Event of 2016 Was the Gilmore Girls Revival

By Isabel Fattal

…ng that online interactions aren’t honest person-to-person experiences can help make the pain caused in these spheres hurt less, but as the presidential election jarringly reminded us, the Internet has remarkable power. Our little personal-but-public communities are insulating, and they’re dangerous. The Gilmore Girls revival pokes fun at the bubble of Stars Hollow, the small Connecticut town that is Lorelai and Rory’s whole world; in a running jo…

LGBT “Welcome” Ad Rejected by Sojourners, Nation’s Premier Progressive Christian Org.

By Rev. Robert Chase

…b hub with literally hundreds of resources and an interactive community to help pastors and parishioners begin this conversation in their churches. The video is a hook. It touches the heart and prompts viewers to learn more about the campaign in order to take meaningful personal actions that advance the cause of LGBT justice in our congregations. To get the word out, Believe Out Loud organizers backed the launch of this viral video with a multi-la…

Palin Goes ‘Hopey-Changey,’ But Don’t Call it Political

By Julie Ingersoll

…said, “I know, I know they told me not to talk about politics but I can’t help it…and then went on to denounce “Obamacare.’” Heroic Media had, as a “faith based non-profit,” tried to rein these folks in. But the leaders on the stage and many of those in the audience just couldn’t contain themselves. Concluding the Q&A Ortiz asked: “If Roe v. Wade were overturned and the numbers of abortions drastically reduced, how should we provide support for t…

When Religion is a Refuge for Scoundrels: ‘Ryan Budget’ Edition

By Daniel C. Maguire

…hat you are. Among the losers in the Ryan-Romney budget, are programs that help the 99 percent: medicaid, medicare, food stamps, health insurance (one-half of the $5 trillion in cuts over a decade would come from health care even though our health care potpourri is the worst in the developed world.) Other losers include: preschool programs, environmental and financial regulations, Pell grants, Head Start, and mortgage guarantees. As to winners, it…

Black Church Blues: Parting with “The Black Church”

By Kathryn Lofton

…hopefully very soon, we have to let go. Maybe a communal scrapbooking will help. Or perhaps someone can commission some sculpture. But no matter what, no matter how hard, we have got to consider the possibility that one of the more precious categories of religious classification is also one of our most pernicious. I speak today of “The Black Church.” Capital letters are optional. Sometimes, especially lately, the black church is a more low-slung i…

Every Homo Reptilia is Somebody’s Sister: Doctor Who Part VI

By Gabriel Mckee

…ies. This is how violence spirals out of control. We act in desperation to help, protect, or save those who are dear to us. But in the process, we harm those who are dear to someone else. Every human being, every sentient being we are likely to encounter in the universe, will almost certainly be someone’s offspring, someone’s sibling, someone’s parent, or in some other way someone significant to someone else. As a survival mechanism we have a tend…

Seven-in-Heaven Way, Hybrid Pope, & “Chrislam”

By Michael J. Altman

…or his sexual escapades with call girls. So much for God helping those who help themselves. The mayor of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is turning to three days of fasting and prayer in hopes God will help the city out of its deep debts. Last year, one-third of Americans’ $291 billion in charity donations went to religious groups. From a surfboard-blessing service in New York: “Dear God, your son walked on water but we know it would have been a lot more…