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World Congress of Families Blessed By Georgian Orthodox Patriarch and George W. Bush; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…when we were part of the Soviet empire.” Georgia’s Orthodox Patriarch Ilia II is scheduled to address the gathering. In an in-depth preview of the conference, EurasiaNet’s Giorgi Lomsadze notes that the conference is timed to coincide with a 2013 attack on LGBT rights activists by a mob led by Orthodox priests. “Vasadze participated and is alleged to have helped organize the 2013 attack that relegated Georgia’s nascent LGBTQ-rights movement to the…

What To Do When Fred Phelps Arrives in Your Neighborhood

By Susan Henking

…Cohocton is not alone in this, as it joins the many other small towns and cities in the United States and beyond that mourn the consequences of militarism and war. Nor is the town alone as it is forced to join other places where sexuality is contested in contemporary American culture in overt ways. Cohocton is a small town, with a population in 2009 of about 800 people. It is in upstate New York. It is not my small town, nor is it likely yours; an…

Violent, Genocidal Anti-Palestinian Rhetoric Moving to US?

By David Sheen

…nocide is Permissible,” which concludes with the following question: If political leaders and military experts determine that the only way to achieve its goal of sustaining quiet is through genocide is it then permissible to achieve those responsible goals? Last week, the man gunning for the top spot at the Anti-Defamation League, New York University senior fellow Thane Rosenbaum, authored an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal legitimizing Israel’s…

Lifestyles of the Rich and Pious

By Patricia Miller

…than $1 million.” The median home value in the U.S. is $174,200. Not surprisingly, that list includes some of the nation’s most outspoken conservative bishops—and allies of the Republican Party—who seem to take the whole “prince of the church” thing more literally than some of their fellow prelates. Here’s a rundown: • New York Cardinal Timothy “Capitalism is King but you can get your birth control at 7-11” Dolan lives in a 15,000-square foot neo…

Racist Remarks by popular BYU Religion Professor Spark Controversy

By Joanna Brooks

Racist apologetics by a popular Brigham Young University religion professor are sparking controversy, as election-year scrutiny sheds a revealing light on the persistence of racist belief among LDS Church members. On Tuesday, Randy Bott, a BYU professor of religion, told the Washington Post that the LDS Church’s historic prohibition on priesthood ordination for men of African descent was a “blessing” to blacks because they were not “ready” for pr…

Gambian Leaders Portray Anti-Gay Law as Defense of Islam, Ugandan Politicians as ‘Christmas Gift’; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

Gambia: President, Foreign Minister Portray Anti-Gay Persecution as Defense of Islam, Africa We have reported previously on Gambia’s viciously anti-gay president Yahya Jammeh. Buzzfeed’s Lester Feder reports on the politics behind the latest wave of violence, which includes raids on people’s homes and arrests carried out by the National Intelligence Agency: But the raids come as Jammeh appears to have ratcheted up his presence on the internationa…

Why Faith Needs Redemptive Struggle to Be Meaningful

By Liz Theoharis

…have had the honor of working extensively with the Rev. Dr. William Barber II, beginning when he keynoted the launch of the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice in November 2013. It has been a fruitful partnership in all respects. In his new book, Rev. Barber reminds us of the importance of education and history in the long struggle for justice and righteousness. Referring to how those in power kept the poor divided in history,…

Where Polls and Surveys Fall Short: A Conversation with Robert Wuthnow on “Inventing American Religion”

By Andrew Aghapour

…ion and renew the democratic process by relentlessly quantifying popular opinion. According to the polls, for example, evangelicals love Donald Trump. Recent polls also indicate, somehow, that they don’t like him at all. 29 percent of Americans believe President Obama to be an adherent of Islam, a religion that nearly one in three Iowa Republicans thinks should be illegal. (Perhaps because those Iowans took notice of this poll, the results of whic…

Why Bill Maher Gets a “C” in My Introduction to Religion Class…

By S. Brent Rodriguez Plate

…ap-thrills-but-funny-and-semi-provocative Religulous and find myself fantasizing about having “Bill” in my Introduction to Religious Studies course, right next to Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and other sort-of-atheists. (I’m talking the nerdy academic’s version of “fantasy football” here.) And I give them the assignment I always give to my eighteen-year-old students: come up with your own definition of religion, see if you ca…

Hajj Journal: Door Number 89: The Door with No Name

By Amina Wadud

…That is only possible from the first floor, and if you are right by the railing on the upper floors. So, I have missed this opportunity after that first day, when we did our tawaf, followed by two rakaat at the maqam Ibrahim. As I circled around inside the mosque one day, I came across Bab raqm tis’wa thamanin, “door number 89,” literally. The door with no name. Facing the mosque at door number one, bab maalik ’abd-al-’Aziz, this door is off to t…