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…
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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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…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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…ervative efforts, in Louisiana and elsewhere, to radically change the landscape of American education and to ultimately transform society into the anti-democratic image of the New Apostolic Reformation. And America’s education system is just one of the core institutions under attack by the NAR, a global neo-charismatic and Pentecostal movement of leadership networks that are, according to Frederick Clarkson and André Gagne, on the “cutting edge of…
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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…
Read More…ry to slow the momentum. All Africa has reported that Museveni will back a new version: “According to MPs backing a new version of the bill, the law will be watered down and focused on the threat of supposed homosexual recruitment of children.” Medard Bitekyerezo, an MP supporting the law, said it would not “harass” consenting adults. A Catholic Bishop said people frustrated by the Constitutional Court’s action “should not take the laws into their…
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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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…, does not believe that the Hills knew what they saw. In doing so he reproduces the dynamic of the skeptical expert who, he argues, led the Hills to become spiritual seekers in the first place. In the culture of new age spirituality they found a new place to feel at home after their rejection by the establishment. Yet even in this careful retelling, they remain outside the boundary of legitimate knowledge….
Read More…rds” against gays, and the time has come to respond. Referring to the 1969 New York riots that became a milestone in the American gay rights movement, he said, “The church needs a Stonewall.” Hong Kong: Catholic Bishop Defends Cardinal, Compares Homosexuality to Drug Abuse Bishop Michael Yeung Ming-cheung of the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong, defending a political letter from Cardinal John Tong opposing marriage equality and anti-discrimination pr…
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