Religion Dispatches
…been surprised, frankly, by the amount of ink and emotion spilled over the last couple of days over who does and doesn’t get to claim the label,” said Kristine Haglund, who blogs for By Comment Consent, which hosted much of the recent debate. Part of the problem may be that the LDS church has grown so large, and its online presence so unwieldy, that old church standards of organization and hierarchy can’t be applied. “This is essentially an electr…
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…ee of interest in the February 9 webinar, for which 1500 people registered, 800 of whom attended. These are very large numbers for events of this nature, and part of the reason for releasing the report at this time is to “keep public attention on Christian nationalism.” While no particular next steps are immediately planned, Tyler expresses hope “that this will be a resource for the [US House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack], and for othe…
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…g and Philando Castile, and about the five policemen shot and killed in Dallas. I know. You want me to say something profound, the hard thing. You want me to say something passionate, something to rally you, something to make you feel like there is hope, and that we’re going to change. But that’s not what this piece is about. You see, I’m done believing. I’m done believing that writing words about this shit is going to make it better. I’m done bel…
Read More…t him. In what the Polish media are calling “the Biedron effect,” a record number of candidates also came out publicly before the local elections, which took place in two rounds over the last two weeks. None of the others won seats, but gay rights activists are still hugely encouraged by the change. Their poor showing can be attributed largely to the fact that they were mostly young first -time candidates with left wing parties, which saw little s…
Read More…st the innocence of the fetus with the guilt of the father. Indeed, on the last point, the amendment draws this contrast specifically: “No innocent child created through rape or incest shall be killed for the crime of his or her father.” But notice, where rape and incest are concerned, it is only the fetus’ innocence that’s stipulated. See, if I were talking about the innocent people injured by rape, I would eventually consider the person who wa…
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…ican-American celebration over President-Elect Obama amounted to, “Free at last, free at last—whoa, whoa, [referring to an image of two men holding hands]—where are you two going?” Tragicomic, indeed. I understand that emotions over the passing of Proposition 8 in California are high. Seeing as my household was among those that opposed the measure, I am personally frustrated with the cultural anxiety, ignorance and/or intolerance that animated the…
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…f the individuals he interviewed would rate more than a “C” in my fantasy class either.) The filmmakers furthermore missed the opportunity to speak with others who don’t have such dogmatic assertions about their religiousness, as Jennifer Hahn suggested in these pages last week. In the end, beyond showing contempt for and ignorance about the full dimensions of religion, Maher shows that he’s actually one of those beings who most likely will be out…
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…e walls tumbling down? When the Freedom From Religion Foundation puts your phone call on hold, you don’t hear muzak. Instead, the phone system plays a homegrown jingle featuring lines like “Everyone is tired of your piety / get off your knees and get to work” and “We’ve got to fight the battle of church and state / or the walls come tumbling down.” The receptionist told me that FFRF co-president Dan Barker, a former evangelical preacher and occasi…
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…homosexuality in the Africa is important to the future of the church for a number of reasons: It may well be that Pope Francis decided that a six-day whistle-stop tour of Africa was not the place to raise an issue of such delicacy. Debate on the place of gays in the church would require time for a more softer, gradualist approach. But the issue is a double impediment for Francis — and one which he should have begun publicly to address. It is a mas…
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…. At the first, about a dozen volunteers spent the night making almost 300 phone calls and collecting pledges of volunteer support and contributions from 50 new supporters. Add that to the five other locations holding similar phone banks or collecting post cards of support, and I’m sure we easily got our 300 today. In addition, Equality Maryland hosted an interfaith meeting to mobilize supportive faith leaders. It was so great to see such a wonder…
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