Religion Dispatches
…ay something about God in this encounter. Octavia Butler, the first female African-American Science Fiction author, wrote “God is Change,” change being the only constant. Therefore, equating a moment of grand transformation with God makes sense to me— but then, I too am a believer. I used to teach Religious Studies 101 (a thankless task if you ask me). Once I learned that students at this level mostly do not read, I revised the course to be more l…
Read More…on stations and one ABC affiliate in key battleground states are running a Republican front group’s anti-Obama propaganda as paid programming in the final days leading up to the election. The National Republican Trust PAC, run by conservative conspiracy theorist Scott Wheeler, has purchased airtime in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Wisconsin, and North Carolina to broadcast its 25-minute “Breaking Point” political attack ad, starting last Friday. U…
Read More
…ngaged in torture: from the genocide of native peoples, to the lynching of African Americans, to the School of the Americas, to the Tuskegee Institute, to the treatment of prisoners in US prisons. And, as this most recent case shows, US torture culture is not limited to prison cells—it reaches into our living rooms. Case has been charged with domestic assault, false imprisonment, and making terroristic threats. Meanwhile, the architects of the T…
Read More…e LGBT community should see the opportunities for economic equality that a Republican majority in the House could bring. As Republicans revisit taxes and the federal deficit, Barron saw an opportunity for LGBT activists to push for optional personal savings accounts that move toward privatizing Social Security. From his perspective, this would help level the playing field for LGBT Americans, who are currently locked into a Social Security system t…
Read More…mplained in the Huffington Post: Democrats did faith work differently than Republicans had in the past, focusing on authenticity of narrative and humility in how they brought faith into the public square. And the results were overwhelming. Democrats saw major gains nationally in their share of the White Protestant and Catholic votes, but most striking were the races where state parties and specific candidates made faith outreach a priority . . . ….
Read More
…nce, and, in light of this, shift from patrolling borders to crossing them freely. We Were on the Outside Once To approach this from the inside, turning to Christian theology, consider the whole business that happens in the Book of Acts—the pouring out of the Spirit onto the Gentiles. Theologian Eugene Rogers points to this scriptural instance of inclusion as an argument for the full inclusion of LGBTQ people in the church. Might it be, he asks, t…
Read More
…l the Gays” and “Arrest all Homos,” has shown gay porn movies in church to promote the AHB. Rev. Kiyimba believes that Ssempa is behind the outings in Rolling Stone, though he has no evidence to support this claim. Kapya Kaoma, a Zambian Priest and author of a report on American evangelicals and anti-gay African clergy, told this reporter back in January, after Warren finally repudiated the bill in December 2009: “Ugandans,” and Ssempa in particul…
Read More…sing she likes to curse “a lot”), but no working-class, no poor people, no African Americans, and in the end, everything would be molded to “fit” a white middle class A-plus student stereotype. So next time the audience is half my age, I’ll think twice about giving them my last free evening. It’s good we are standing up for ourselves. I guess poor and working-class young Muslim women will eventually make their stand or their debut on the stage. Bu…
Read More…jjis, we don’t all look like hajjis. Only one other woman has on white: an African sister, whose partner does not wear the two cloths. In fact, several Africans were in their native dress. Okay, so maybe they will change on the plane. Well, about four and a half hours into the flight, they announce over the speaker that we will be passing over the mikat in about five minutes. How cool is that? Well, I thought it was cool and that some of these guy…
Read More…sexual orientation or gender identity are “speech chilling, and religious freedom killing” and not needed. According to the Associated Press, the FBI reported that there were 6,604 hate crime incidents reported in 2009, down from 7,783 in 2008. In addition, “there were 8,336 reported victims, down from 9,691 in 2008. The victim totals include not only individuals but also businesses, religious buildings and other institutions.” FotF’s blog notes…
Read More