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Did Pope Francis Win, Lose or Draw at the Family Synod?

By Patricia Miller

…person of Jesus and in the community of the church. But at the end of the day, the decisions that the Vatican takes on these issues do have real-world implications that are inevitably “political,” as the church’s efforts to oppose same-sex marriage and contraceptive access have shown. And while the pope and the bishops debate how many divorced or gay Catholics can fit on the head of a pin, these temporal realities continued to evolve—with or with…

Gays to Ex-Gay Movement: “Lift My Luggage”

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…us International, the group that sponsored the event this year. Called the Day of Truth, the annual April event has been pushed by influential conservative Christian groups as a way to counter the annual Day of Silence, an event promoted by gay rights advocates to highlight threats against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. Perhaps Exodus is beginning to come to its senses about how harmful their message really is to gay and lesbian…

The Speech Mitt Romney Never Gave

By Joanna Brooks

…ights, torture, money, and power. At least not one robust enough to inform day-to-day conversation or decision-making, or politics. Which is startling given that the Book of Mormon—a text virtually no one dared to quote in public during this so-called “Mormon moment”—is extremely eloquent on war and peace, and the dangers that proceed from wealth and pride. American Mormons tend to hold our history of persecution as a kind of personal treasure, as…

Russia Expels Gay American Pastor, An Epidemic of Anti-LGBT Violence in Brazil, And More in the Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…enda jived with Moscow’s anti-Western propaganda, often centered within Eurasia on emphasizing the wariness of LGBT rights that Russia shares with former Soviet republics like Georgia. In a fiery denunciation, the WCF’s Georgian host, US-educated businessman Levan Vasadze, declared that the West owes Georgia an apology for foisting “sin and depravity” – a reference to LGBT rights – upon it. Israel: Prime Minister addresses Jerusalem pride, but is…

QAnon isn’t a Cult — a Problematic Term — But Michael Protzman’s Q-Adjacent ‘Negative48’ Certainly Is

By Thomas Lecaque

…sus is coming, you guys ready, it’s going to be pretty awesome.” That same day, other members of the group posted this image: TheKool-Aid reference is, of course, about Jonestown. And making a joke out of it is not particularly funny, it’s incredibly scary. Jonestown was a murder-suicide, but predominantly a murder of the congregation by their leaders—over 900 died on the last day, when Jones forced his followers to drink cyanide-laden punch, begi…

Will Internet Kill Mormonism Too? Or Just Missionaries?

By Holly Welker

…ver ways they can. They shouldn’t be stuck in the same room eleven hours a day, six days a week, for two years. I’ve written about how pleased I am that the church is acknowledging howfruitless tracting is and is therefore moving toward having missionaries domore service. I hope that missions move toward incorporating as wide a range of activities as possible. I especially hope that a good chunk of time is dedicated specifically to study, or that…

Mexican Bishops Exorcism Against Equality; African Bishops Oppose ‘Enemy of Human Race’; Israeli Islamic Leader Anti-Gay Op-Ed

By Peter Montgomery

…episcopal conferences of Africa and Madagascar. All in the clear light of day, not almost in secret like some of their colleagues from Germany, France, and Switzerland, who had gathered a few days before at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. But while at the Gregorian the objective was changing the Church’s stance on divorce and homosexuality, in Accra the push was in the other direction. The marching route was indicated from the very f…

Trump Pardons the Hammonds, Arsonists Who Inspired Bundy Standoff

By Megan Goodwin

…nd many of his followers are Mormons; the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints expressed its concern that the insurgents were claiming scriptural justification but insisted the occupation was “not a Church matter.” The occupation closed schools, kept people from their jobs, and cost the taxpayers of Oregon upwards of $3.3 million. The Burns Pauite Tribe, on whose land the Wildlife Refuge stands, spent an additional $150,000 on law enforceme…

Indonesia: As Volcano Erupts, a Spiritual Loss

By Mark Woodward

…tainly become a pilgrimage site. Mbah Marijan was also eulogized in the Friday sermon at the campus mosque at Gadjah Mada University. He was described as a simple and pious man who tried to do the best that he could for the people and who was, in this respect, very different from local and national politicians. The mayor of the village of Umbulharjo, close to Mbah Marijan’s compound stated: “We have lost the figure who has been a ‘role model,’ who…

The Way We Never Were: Calling Out Evangelicals For Hypocrisy Misses the Point

By Hollis Phelps

…its hypocrisy, and indeed its heresy.” He goes on to hope that perhaps one day “white evangelicals will recover some of their ethical and religious moorings.” Jay Caruso expresses much the same sentiment. Writing for the Dallas Morning News, he notes that when it comes to evangelical support for Trump, “all of the lying, multiple marriages, multiple sexual assault and harassment allegations, ugly comments about immigrants, petty and vindictive ins…