Religion Dispatches
…e who abstains, it does not employ similar mechanisms to underwrite condom use or to support any identity that values condom use; those mechanisms, with very rare exceptions, are constructed and maintained outside of Christian communities. Most often, when Christians develop an argument of limited approval of condom use, those arguments generally advocate accommodation: “We Christians will agree that condoms should be used so that the spread of HI…
Read More…onism is never specifically mentioned in the LSEA. Instead, LSEA relies on code language to attack the teaching of evolution and other subjects that Christian fundamentalists hate because it contradicts their narrow religious worldview – reality be damned. The language that was inserted into the LSEA, which the Livingston school district properly understood to mean it could teach creationism, says that the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and S…
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…one is a recognized apostle or prophet in the NAR, there’s every reason to use the appropriate honorifics. But if one is going to accuse someone of being a grifter, we are obliged to prove it. That said, NAR leaders themselves don’t always make it easy to identify their offices and roles, and, as we previously reported, they sometimes don’t use them. What’s more, the NAR is openly struggling over the appropriate role of the prophet in the Church….
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…e and imprison members of religious minorities. While the government has paused its use of the death penalty since July 2016, the execution of convicted drug traffickers remains a signature policy of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. The government’s feeble claim of “Indonesian conditions” for rejecting solid recommendations from UN member countries to improve human rights will come as no comfort for LGBT people and religious minorities whose rights…
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…ced simply to a code for broader sets of values for particular groups, because the use of Jesus—even a Jesus envisioned as white—destabilized white supremacy. When asked a question about Jesus’ race, Martin Luther King responded that Jesus was “no less significant because he was white,” suggesting both how his own unspoken and even unconscious imagery arose from the history related in this book, but also the fact that his actions which arose from…
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…ahon. Her connection to wrestling is even more obvious; and not simply because she used to run the WWE. No, McMahon has experience as a wrestling character. Get this: for years McMahon appeared in WWE shows in the role of a corporate executive who belonged to a dysfunctional management team vying for “control” of the WWE. Her in-character name: Linda McMahon. No doubt McMahon’s experience playing the character Linda McMahon has prepared her well f…
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…fetishization of “bipartisanship,” long after it has ceased to exist, because Republicans have refused to engage in regular politics within the bounds of democracy. If being “partisan” when it comes to the existence of democracy is a problem for news organizations, they’ve already failed—and won’t be able to counter the barrage of authoritarian, proto-fascist and fascist disinformation and legislation that’s coming from the Republican side. If “i…
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…r this year of a rainbow mummer mask, of a kind familiar to Bulgarians because it is based on a “kukeri” mask, used to chase away evil spirits in a number of annual customs and rituals. This irked two of Bulgaria’s largest folklore groups, Gotse Delchev and the Bulgare ensemble, who wrote an open letter objecting to the use of traditional Bulgarian folk symbols in the Sofia Pride event. Eighteen embassies and a few representatives of international…
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…lection. Then point out the evidence—that’s piling up already—suggesting they’ve been duped by a con-man who just last week admitted that he didn’t think anyone would take his pledge to “keep jobs in America” seriously. Call 1-844-USA-0234 and enter your zip code to be connected with your representatives in Washington. Tell them why you oppose each nominee, and keep calling. Ask your friends and neighbors to do the same. Use the liberal bubble so…
Read More…this word it seems that there is an intrinsic judgment yet. I struggle to use it. Therefore, we need a cultural transition, because difference is wealth. What matters above all is the dignity of the person.” And Sister Joan Chittister, a longtime progressive voice in the American Catholic Church, wrote a column in National Catholic Reporter last week contrasting two general approaches to religion: “Here’s the problem with religion. You never know…
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