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Where Polls and Surveys Fall Short: A Conversation with Robert Wuthnow on “Inventing American Religion”

By Andrew Aghapour

…s pretty much it. Evangelical leaders themselves didn’t believe the Gallup numbers were right, and [they thought that] the best way to combat those Gallup numbers was to ask Gallup to do another survey. And so in 1978, Christianity Today, a leading periodical for evangelicals, paid Gallup to do a big survey and in addition to just asking the born-again question, they asked questions about belief in the Bible, belief in Jesus, and intent on convert…

Conservative French Catholics a ‘Rightwing Patriarchal Bunch’?; Indonesian Prez Decries Anti-LGBT Discrimination; Romanian Prez Warns Against ‘Religious Fanaticism’; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…Christian leans toward fanaticism…it sends a wrong signal.” South Africa: International gathering of queer Muslims The Inner Circle, a queer Muslim organization, held its 14th annual international retreat in Cape Town this past week. A preview story in Mamba Onilne said that about 80 percent of the delegates were from other countries: “Some of the tracks being covered this year will focus on transgender health and education which will look specif…

Should We Accept The Apology of an Ex-Gay Ministry?

By John Blevins

…theory than on the religious and cultural world that has supported Exodus International. But God knows, that was not always the case. I was a seminarian in my early 20s when I came out to my parents and sister, an act that led my father to the precipice of taking his own life in his grief. For years, my family flailed around together trying out various responses to this thing that had ripped apart our world; one of them was to go to a “reparative…

Two Former Nuns Get Civil Union in Italy; Kenyan Govt Partners with World Congress of Families; Mexican Activists Debate Outing of Priests; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…lm festival to cancel the event after death and arson threats were made by phone and social media. According to Reuter’s Makini Brice, “A senator added to the pressure to cancel the Massimadi festival, saying it would promote homosexuality and that impoverished Haiti had other priorities.” Australia: Poll confirms majority support for marriage equality, rejection of plebiscite A new poll released this week that most Australians support marriage eq…

Catholic Bishops End Family Synod With Little To Say To Gays; World Congress of Families Has Plenty To Say, None of it Good; How Same-Sex Marriage Came to a Buddhist Temple in Japan; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…organization Caribe Afirmativo, the Gay & Lesbian Victory Institute, Hivos International and Honduran LGBTI group Somos CDC, Tegucigalpa was more than just a gathering, it was a call to action. Participants came from 22 different countries with varying degrees of legal and social LGBTI inclusion — from Barbados where same-sex relations is punishable by life imprisonment to Argentina where same-sex marriage and right to adoption have been legal for…

Pastor of Kentucky Church Severed From Baptists Over LGBT Inclusion: Not Activism, Just Honesty

By Mike Greer

…years. I came about the time that folks from Burma began arriving in large numbers and uniting in membership with Crescent Hill, and much of my time in those early years was spent trying to figure out how in the world we might be able to be a unified body that includes people who don’t speak English, who have a completely foreign background and cultural experience. It took a lot of hard work but we reached a place a number of years ago where, whil…

Everything You Think You Know About the Dark Ages is Wrong

By Nancy Marie Brown

…lerk to get back my ID card and the ultimate prize: a plastic block with a number on it. I was then permitted to sit in a chair—but not look at any manuscripts, yet. Juste sat down beside me. “What you will see here,” he whispered, “is the earliest Latin manuscript to contain Arabic words. The earliest proof of the transmission of Arabic science to the West. Now I will order the manuscript.” He filled out a form and took it to another desk. Te…

The Prophet Amos on Unemployment and Our Leadership

By Peter Laarman

…can’t find any job; among younger males, especially African-Americans, the number is much higher—in many areas one in two workers is without work. Yet Congress, with a Democratic majority, can’t get it together to extend unemployment benefits. Our solons just flew out of town for a weeklong holiday vacation. Republicans, joined by Democratic deficit hawks, insist that any extension be “deficit neutral” and come out of unspent stimulus money. But…

I Miss Tina Fey

By Julie Ingersoll

…half. There were still probably 80 empty seats, and it was clear that some number of attendees had free tickets. The largest financial supporter of the event was a local news/talk radio station and its representatives were the only media allowed in. As I arrived with my Religion Dispatches press badge they stopped me before I even got to the door. I chatted with an AP reporter and he said AP had been trying for weeks to gain media access—but that…

Is Joel Osteen, Success Mag Cover Boy, Really “God’s Best”?

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…reduced to a kind of majordomo or personal assistant. He fixeth my parking tickets, he secureth me a good table in the restaurant, he leadeth me to book contracts. Even in these minor tasks, the invocation of God seems more of a courtesy than a necessity.” Gone, too, from Osteen’s theology is any mention of topics that might intrude on happy thoughts: Osteen avoids using current events in his messages so he doesn’t get sidetracked in controversy….