Religion Dispatches
…f the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Family, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, who told the program: The AIDS virus is roughly 450 times smaller than the spermatozoan. The spermatozoan can easily pass through the ‘net’ that is formed by the condom. These margins of uncertainty… should represent an obligation on the part of the health ministries and all these campaigns to act in the same way as they do with regard to cigarettes, which they sta…
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…stories of real spiritual struggle and drama. For some of them they may be stories about struggling with the church and with their faith because of sexuality, for others it may be another issue, but clearly there’s a lot of struggle and a lot of thought that is not happening up front in churches. There are issues that are not being dealt with that are really tugging at people’s hearts. If the pastors and priests don’t bring it forward, how will it…
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…such coinage here. Tell me, old man, would you honestly like to learn the truth, the real truth, about the gods? Strepsiades: By Zeus, I sure would, The real truth. […]Sokrates: [Physical entities, like clouds,] are the only gods there are. The rest are but figments. Strepsiades: Holy name of Earth! Olympian Zeus is a figment? Sokrates: Zeus? What Zeus? Nonsense. There is no Zeus. Strepsiades: No Zeus? Then who makes it rain? Answer me that. Sokra…
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…rism, gross inequality, and ecological rapaciousness that lie behind those news stories—never mind asking us to take action against such conditions (or even simply to demand better journalism!). It therefore insinuates that things are not as bad as we have been led to believe. And it counsels us to remain positive, not to succumb to the negativity into which we are being manipulated. In Tomorrowland, hope reduces to remaining “upbeat” and “positiv…
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…ests billions in embryonic stem-cell research, and Dubai hosts many of the world’s most outstanding infrastructure. We must come to terms with the consequences: practicing Muslims, who consume and produce a distinct worldview, and are more than capable of participating in global realities. Whereas a few decades ago it was assumed that Islam would be secularized into oblivion, the opposite is true. But now that the religion has stuck around long en…
Read More…LGBT activists and their supporters still face an uphill battle in their struggle against the well-funded, international religious right and its allies. Even if legalized, civil unions may represent a compromise, at best — one that could solidify, in a different way, the status of the LGBT community as second-class citizens, and even delay full equality. However, an unexpected effect of the crusade against same-sex marriage led by Liberty Counsel,…
Read More…essive traditions, caste politics, and the nexus between environmental destruction and corruption. Hers was one of the strongest voices against the polarising Hindutva forces in India in recent times, both in Kannada and English languages. Her fearless journalism had drawn multiple threats and verbal attacks from groups like the RSS and she faced legal charges of defamation for her work. “We believe her murder in a large city, right outside her ho…
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…cause other institutions or opportunities like the state or the market are breaking down. In other words, believers aren’t just compensating for some lack in their lives—another common misconception about Pentecostalism. Rather, they’re using religion to act in and on the world—that is, to make life possible. What alternative title would you give the book? I’ve never thought of this—I am terrible at thinking of titles and was rather pleased with M…
Read More…i-Putin protest in 2012.The LGBT-friendly Russian Open Games, scheduled to run February 26 to March 3, struggled to open in the face of bomb threats and attempts by some politicians to shut them down. In a bit of good news, a Russian court reportedly dropped charges under the anti-gay “propaganda” law that had been brought against the creators of an online support group for gay teenagers. The Washington Blade reported this week that activists fear…
Read More…n, a cousin of Queen Elizabeth, became the first openly gay British royal. Russia: Court bans LGBT news site Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports that a Siberian court has banned one of the country’s most popular LGBT news sites “without warning.” Uganda: Police block pride march before it starts Police blocked supporters of LGBT equality from convening on a beach and told them to leave the area, reports BuzzFeed’s David Mack. Minister for Ethi…
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