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Clashing human rights visions for LGBTs at United Nations; More Mixed Messages from the Vatican as Family Synod Begins; Timeline of Worsening Homophobia by Turkey’s AKP Party; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…to “save the international community from gays.” He said it will be led by 10-12 people in European politics. The group’s wildly inappropriate name will be “Volunteers for Freedom.” Milonov recently tried to ban Wikipedia and Facebook from Russia, saying that they violated the country’s ban on gay “propaganda.” United Nations: Clashing visions on human rights for LGBT people On September 29, 12 United Nations agencies issued a joint call to actio…

If Modesto’s Public Schools Can Teach World Religions, It Can Happen Anywhere

By Jonathan Homrighausen

…ogy teacher frankly told the class he did not believe in evolution. To be fair, Modesto is also the city where, several years later as an adult, I sat in meditation at Empty Nest Zendo, learned Hebrew at Congregation Beth Shalom, and worshipped at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. From Diana Eck’s A New Religious America, I also learned that Modesto (and the Central Valley in general) is home to one of the oldest Sikh communities in America. But that s…

Conservative Catholic Elites Oppose Trump… as He Rides Catholic Vote to Victory in Michigan

By Patricia Miller

…verall. Ted Cruz’s brand of crazy “constitutional” conservatism pulled only 11% of Catholics, and poor little Marco, who actually is Catholic, captured only 16% of the Catholic vote. As Silk notes: Michigan Catholics are concentrated in the southeastern part of the state where deindustrialization has taken away so many good blue-collar jobs. This is the white population that gave votes to Wallace in 1968 and became Reagan Democrats in the eighties…

Kentucky Court Clerk, A “Professing Apostolic Christian,” Questions Legal Authority

By Sarah Posner

…rinking or smoking, modest dress; many have prohibitions on cutting their hair. They are literal interpreters of the Bible,” Butler said.* That the Bible is the number one authority, Butler added, “would’ve been drummed into her since she was a little girl.” So how did Davis become the center of a national firestorm? That has a lot to do with how the legal advocates who share Davis’s belief that the Bible, not civil law, is the ultimate authority,…

“Little Sisters” Being Sold As Face of Contraception Case

By Patricia Miller

…es that requiring the sisters to notify the Department of Health and Human Services that it intends to opt-out of the contraceptive mandate, as allowed under the so-called accommodation provided by the Obama administration, is actually a “permission slip where we authorize the use of our religious health plan to offer services that violate our beliefs and waive our protections under federal civil rights laws. That’s why they need our signature.” W…

A Pandemic isn’t a War, But Recognizing What They Share May Help us Heal

By Zachary Moon

…our moral distress could energize concern and compassion, and give life to service and community-building. Like so many others, I’m dealing with a household inundated with stress, uncertainty, and despair. And I’m also holding two dreams. First is the dream of a community that recognizes its common fate, that questions the fabrications of national borders and all other devices of nationalism. A community that experiences a sense of collective belo…

Battle of Antisemitism Definitions is Actually a Proxy War For Criticism of Israel

By Joshua Shanes

…d even celebration of violence and oppression if deemed necessary tools in service of Jewish power. For others, the lesson is universal, “never again to anyone,” with a particularly keen awareness that Jews are no different than anyone else and are therefore just as likely to abuse their power in the name of nationalism and “self-defense” as anyone else. This division has serious ramifications in terms of Jewish political choices. For the universa…

Times’ Link of NOI With Capitol Killer is Based on Flawed Comparison Between Rightwing Christian Nationalism and Black Religious Nationalism

By A. E. Brooks-Key

…While Louis Farrakhan’s history of anti-Semitic statements are fair game, posing him and the Nation of Islam as incubators of anti-government violence is simply not borne out by the religious group’s history. This type of reporting does a disservice to combatting actual extremism and anti-government violence. In addition, the life, service, and memory of Capitol Police Officer William “Billy” F. Evans deserve better treatment than being used as f…

Alabama’s Yoga Ban Is Part of the Christian Right’s War on Pluralism

By Manisha Sunil

…most foundational freedom—in service of a conservative Christian agenda. In 1993, the state’s Board of Education voted to prohibit yoga, hypnosis and meditation in public schools, stemming from conservative pressure. The current bill, which is now moving to the state’s Senate, would allow the practice of yoga in classes, but still forbid chanting, mantras, and the use of “namaste,” a Sanskrit salutation. To an extent, I agree with the latter part…

Why We Should Ban Oppressive Speech Acts

By Natasha Lennard

…ary effect, rather than offering up a description of a certain state of affairs: “I’m hungry!” I’m not telling you I’m hungry because I want you to simply know it. I’m not in a doctor’s office after stomach complications, speaking in order to describe an internal experience. I’m telling you I’m hungry for the perlocutionary effect of you thinking you should get me food. Even America’s expansive First Amendment protections have limits in certain ca…