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World Congress of Families Blessed By Georgian Orthodox Patriarch and George W. Bush; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…if gay marriages were blessed. The postponement was seen as a last-ditch effort by local bishops to avoid a split, but one conservative leader said that is unlikely given the irreconcilable differences on doctrine. He said parishes in every diocese might leave if the Church eventually approved blessing gay marriages. “It just seems to me there is no way out because you can’t have two opposing positions,” he said. But an advocate of change pointed…

Gambian Leaders Portray Anti-Gay Law as Defense of Islam, Ugandan Politicians as ‘Christmas Gift’; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…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…

Racist Remarks by popular BYU Religion Professor Spark Controversy

By Joanna Brooks

…missionaries, to as many as 3,000 students a year. This semester, more than 800 students are registered in Professor Bott’s classes. (Eleven are registered for BYU’s African-American history course this semester.) Professors at BYU routinely find themselves having to address racist and sexist content taught in Bott’s classes, and many are outraged and embarrassed by his rogue remarks to the Washington Post, say sources at the university. “Dr. Bott…

The C Word

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…s reaffirmed support for such hiring practices for non-profit charities. Unfortunately, these outfits can continue to discriminate on the basis of faith. What troubles me is the complete hijacking of the word “Christian” in this context. Some of the best places I’ve worked as a Christian were in the newsrooms of radio and television stations. There I encountered the ills of the world and honed my compassion for all living beings. There saw the suf…

Are School Districts Getting the Message on Government-Sponsored Prayer?

By Lauri Lebo

There’s an old joke in newsrooms that goes if you can find three examples of something, it’s automatically worthy of a trend story. And so, according to the rule, it’s too early to call this a trend. Still, it is interesting that two news stories came out yesterday about school districts ending government-endorsed religious observances because they recognize that they would probably lose a costly First Amendment battle. Could it be that in the wa…

Mormon Bloggernacle is No Choir

By Krista Kapralos

…’re at a big blog, and somehow that’s important.” Nathan Oman said he’s comfortable with the Bloggernacle being made up of a self-selecting group, but the principle bloggers in the ’nacle are “largely a bunch of people who have just got a bunch of stuff they want to talk about,” he said. “Then some journalist calls, and suddenly it’s, ‘Oh my gosh, people are watching.’” The Bloggernacle is a tight-knit club, said Courtney Kendrick, whose C Jane En…

Normalization is Control: Telling Stories to Survive

By Mariam Durrani

…hat I had chosen, it was not a project I wanted to write, but there I was. Fortunately Hoodfar has lived to tell this story and was released back to Canada on humanitarian grounds. When I first read this story, I was completely taken aback by the way she mobilized anthropology to survive prison. This past week, and in some ways since 2001, I find myself staring at a blank screen, trying to write a response to the representation, specifically the m…

Conservative Christians Oppose New ‘Inter-Religious’ University

By Philip Clayton

Claremont School of Theology caught national attention on June 9 with the announcement of a new inter-religious university. Beginning in the fall, students at this Methodist seminary will study side by side with students from the Academy of Jewish Religion in Los Angeles and the Islamic Center of Southern California. The San Diego Jewish Journal calls it “the world’s first multi-religious graduate school.” Of course, Claremont is not alone. Hartf…

Thoreau’s Ferocious Critique of Philanthropy Does Not Make Him “Selfish”

By Alda Balthrop-Lewis

…so-called “warm glow” we get from giving absolves us of more systematic efforts for justice. We give money absent-mindedly when we have the cash, to whatever charity is close at hand, but do we support political efforts that would reform the relationships that created the need for our philanthropy in the first place? In other words, writing a check often becomes an easy substitute for actually building the relationships required to enact politica…

The Radical Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Left’s Challenge Today

By Peter Laarman

…’s painful to have to say it, and in no way do I intend to give aid and comfort to the howling hyenas of the Right who now focus their attacks on Critical Race Theory, but representation by itself can never substitute for reparation, let alone revolution. All of the elite institutions that are striving for diversity and inclusion will not disturb the peace of the Corporate State in the slightest degree. A more diverse elite is still an elite. Ther…