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Becoming the Common: Why I Got Arrested in North Carolina

By Willie James Jennings

…rory) look nothing like the sensible Republicans of the past that had kept North Carolina from being fully captured in the Old South (or the old South Africa for that matter). They will tell you that these politicians are not Republicans but reactionaries who fear a multicultural progressive future for North Carolina. Whether in fact the emerging diversity of the state’s population will create a more robust democracy is an open question, but the c…

Updated: Billy Graham Endorses North Carolina Discrimination Referendum

By Peter Montgomery

…elist Billy Graham has reportedly released a written statement encouraging North Carolina voters to back the anti-gay ballot initiative that would write discrimination against same-sex couples into the state’s Constitution. According to news reports, his letter will run as an ad this weekend in 14 North Carolina newspapers. The Associated Press reports, “The 93-year-old Graham said the Bible is clear in that God’s definition of marriage is between…

Atheist Nazis? The Pope’s Cheap Atonement

By Susannah Heschel

Adam Clayton Powell called it “cheap grace,” but we might call it “cheap atonement”: the effort by sinners to select which sins to acknowledge and repent. Pope Benedict XVI ended his heavily protested visit to England with a heartfelt apology for German bombings of England during the Battle of Britain; though he refused to accept Christian responsibility for the Holocaust, blaming it instead on pagans and atheists. Given that Cardinal Walter Kasp…

Is Mitt’s Mormonism Responsible for South Carolina Loss?

By Joanna Brooks

…self-identified Protestant voters. In 2008, Romney won about 13% of South Carolina Protestants; in 2012, that number grew to 27%. Certainly, data shows that anti-Mormon sentiment played a role in Romney’s fortunes, but here are five other takeaways from South Carolina data: 1. Anti-Mormon sentiment may be fading among mainline Protestant denominations. 2. Evangelical Christians are not a monolithic population. Clearly, evangelicals in New Hampsh…

Religion at the Moral March

By Peter Montgomery

…nizing and voter engagement work. Although Barber’s movement is focused on North Carolina – and he is adamant that change in America must happen from the bottom up – it has drawn hopeful attention from progressive advocates nationwide for the way he has inspired people to action against far-right extremism with a broad, values-based appeal. A speaker at Saturday’s rally from a Muslim social justice group praised Barber for taking the term “moral”…

North Carolina Feels the ‘Love’ in Amendment Campaign

By Peter Montgomery

…arry would be the equivalent of a nuclear holocaust. Equality advocates in North Carolina — whose energetic campaign has turned next Tuesday’s vote on a brutally broad anti-gay constitutional amendment into a closer-than-many-expected contest — have really been feeling the “love” from their opponents. Perhaps the star of this sad show is the Rev. Patrick Wooden, whose outrageous diatribes have included reminiscing about times when anti-LGBT violen…

Glenn Beck’s Cheap Grace

By Karyn Carlo

…way from the hard work of repentance, who tickle our ears with promises of cheap grace, and offer a vision of the cross of Jesus that has nothing to say to the crosses, and lynching trees, of history. But, if we do, we will be settling for the gospel of Caesar, not the good news of Jesus Christ. Perhaps it is time to put down the chalk, stop drawing pyrotechnical conspiracy theories that play into our worst fears and listen, instead, for the diffi…

Not All Choice is Free

By Louis A. Ruprecht

…in the form of a letter from an eloquent if quirky citizen of the State of North Carolina; one who was opposed to the death penalty for religious reasons. He had calculated the approximate cost of executing Velma Barfield—not just the lethal injection, but the years of legal wrangling as well. According to his calculations, and given the current population of the state, exactly one cent of his own tax payment had been used to execute Velma Barfiel…

Religious Groups, Dioceses, Churches Fund Anti-Gay Initiative in North Carolina

By Peter Montgomery

Voters in North Carolina will cast ballots May 8 on an anti-gay initiative that would put into the state constitution a ban on same-sex couples getting married. The broadly worded initiative would also threaten any kind of legal recognition of same-sex couples, including benefits for domestic partners. WRAL’s reporters have dug through the recent campaign finance filings and concluded that the anti-gay initiative is being pushed overwhelmingly by…

Pope Praises ‘Complementarity’ & Resists Gay Ambassador; Irish Religious Leaders Spar Over Marriage; Colombian Atty Gen Cites ‘Bogus’ Study Opposing Adoption; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…e to “the drag queens of Stonewall.” Pink News reviews the LGBT stances of Northern Ireland’s political parties on LGBT issues and so-called “conscience clause” legislation, noting that North Ireland is the only part of the UK without marriage equality. Naith Payton writes that the largest, the Democratic Unionist Party, “has not mentioned LGBT issues at all in their manifesto.” They have historically opposed any and all LGBT rights votes in Westm…