Religion Dispatches
…ous life to messianic effect. These men, the men and women who pursue such new lands and new struggles, are McCain’s parish, and their devotion is his ritual practice. His religion is the civil religion of America. “You know,” he explained at this year’s convention, “I’ve been called a maverick; someone who marches to the beat of his own drum. Sometimes it’s meant as a compliment and sometimes it’s not. What it really means is I understand who I w…
Read More…ous life to messianic effect. These men, the men and women who pursue such new lands and new struggles, are McCain’s parish, and their devotion is his ritual practice. His religion is the civil religion of America. “You know,” he explained at this year’s convention, “I’ve been called a maverick; someone who marches to the beat of his own drum. Sometimes it’s meant as a compliment and sometimes it’s not. What it really means is I understand who I w…
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…ed less-than-orthodox. And even relatively conservative Catholics like the newly-minted Pope Francis would agree that the “Christian moral code” involves a commitment to peace and social justice, which Eberstadt seems to ignore in favor of questions of sexual morality. (To be fair, Simon didn’t ask her about such issues.) But the heart of Eberstadt’s argument is demographics, and just about every piece of social research released in the few years…
Read More…gn an honor code,” Farris claimed. “[Homosexuals] could not sign our honor code,” Farris said, adding that he considers the actions of gay men and women “sinful.” “Part of the honor code is to be sexually pure,” he added. Baratko speaks to a couple of the bloggers, who say they were inspired by other blogs at conservative Christian colleges like Bob Jones University (BJUnity), and he asks about the challenges of coming to terms with one’s sexualit…
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…children The National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance has launched a new campaign urging Asian parents to accept their LGBT children. Laura Chubb at Gay Star News says it is one of a number of initiatives within the Asian community in North America “that seek to destigmatize LGBT issues and foster greater understanding between Asian parents and their LGBT children.” The campaign includes television ads on cable networks in English, Mandarin,…
Read More…ay for such unions passed all stages in the Oireachtas. Indonesia: More on new Sharia Law on Aceh Province We reported last week that a new Sharia law going into effect in Indonesia’s Aceh province included caning as a sentence for homosexuality. Reuters has since reported with more details about the new law. Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province has enacted a strict Islamic criminal code, local government officials said late on Friday, criminali…
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…with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff—was making the rounds promoting his new incarnation, the Faith and Freedom Coalition. In introducing Reed as a guest on his program, Robison gushed that when he learned of Reed’s new political effort, he exclaimed, “faith and freedom? I said, ‘I’ve just been praying about that.’” It Costs a Lot of Money to Print Voter Guides Whether Reed is the answer to the conservative movement’s prayers remains to be seen….
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…ic school system. Meanwhile, earlier this year, conservative activist Alex Newman told the NAR-aligned Truth & Liberty Coalition that public schools are teaching a “wicked religion from the pit of hell.” Newman, whose nonprofit recently held its annual fundraiser at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, told a crowd at the NAR-influenced Turning Point USA‘s Educators Summit that “Satan wants your kids” and that children in public schools are under spiritual…
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…e requires some creativity and thoughtfulness; marking the appearance of a new decade, or a new century, proves to be far more challenging than remembering to change the year on the checks and Thank You notes I write in January. This time around, there’s no escaping the fact that our collective feet are now planted firmly in the twenty-first century. And it is worth reflecting on what this dawning perspective (of seeing ourselves as twenty-first…
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…of Faith to challenge the City’s policy, and the court proceedings began anew. The Good News Club decision created a new legal theory for opponents of church-state separation. The Court held that religion is nothing but speech from a certain point of view, and therefore all religious activities are protected by the Free Speech clause of the First Amendment. “When Milford denied the Good News Club access… on the grounds that the club was religious…
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