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Florida School Prayer Bill Stalls in Committee

By Lauri Lebo

…n violated the First Amendment. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, would allow the delivery of an “inspirational message,” including prayer, at “noncompulsory” middle and high school events. Student government would have to decide on giving such a message, which could only be delivered by students. School personnel would not be allowed to participate or influence the message. “There is no participation from the school board, the p…

Mexico’s Religious Conservatives Seek Anti-LGBT Constitutional Amendment, LGBT Activists Defend Secular Government; Cash From Qatar Funds ‘Traditional’ Family Activism Worldwide; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…ia, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait have all rushed to condemn the crime in Orlando labeling it terrorism while insisting Islam has nothing to do with it,” said a spokesman for Mesahat, an LGBT service organization operating in Egypt and Sudan. “These same governments keep arresting and torturing gay people and are putting them in jail. Meanwhile they are sponsoring a religious discourse that feeds homophobia.” The Quran mentions homosexuality only…

The Islamophobia Election: How “Muslim” Became a Racial Identity

By Michael Schulson

…that racialized component? If we look at the statistics and we look at the numbers, we have more mass shootings in this country than terrorist attacks. The majority of people committing these terrorist attacks are not Muslims. There need to be policies that take into account behavior and political motivation rather than religion or religious identity. Mass shootings are overwhelmingly committed by white men, yet we don’t say, “Well, we need to mon…

The Shared Fantasy of Redemptive Violence Between ISIS and the Islamophobic Right

By Donovan Schaefer

…ous terror attacks claimed by ISIS in the West—like the San Bernardino and Orlando shootings—Lahouaiej Bouhlel made no declaration of loyalty to ISIS. Authorities have not uncovered any ties to terrorist organizations or recruiters. Lahouaiej Bouhlel was Tunisian. But he was not a practicing Muslim. According to his neighbors and his father, he drank alcohol, ate pork, danced, womanized, never fasted, never prayed, and never went to mosque. He was…

Indonesia Allows Abusive Sharia Laws to Stand; Kenyan Priest Joins Challenge to Anti-LGBT Laws; Dominican Republic Bishop Slams ‘Gender Ideology’ at OAS; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…le experience in prison and other detention facilities. In the wake of the Orlando massacre, the Journal of Human Rights special 2014 issue on local resistance to LGBT rights is being made available by its publisher free of charge for the next several weeks. Middle East: Twitter trolls reporting ‘atheist’ and LGBT girls and women to authorities The Daily Beast’s Ben Collins reports, “A band of Twitter trolls alleging to be from the Middle East spe…

Not All Muslims Are Terrorists, But All Terrorists Are Muslim

By Haroon Moghul

…just mainstream: A Muslim did it. After Omar Mateen’s horrific massacre in Orlando, the media piled on. He’d done it in the name of ISIS, which led many commentators to believe that the attack was orchestrated by the extremist group itself, an operation commanded from afar, as have recently struck Europe. Within a day, Donald Trump was gloating—only the Donald would see this as a morally appropriate response to violence—and renewing his call for a…

Baptist Resolutions Signal More Culture War

By Paul Harvey

…merican brothers and sisters… Meanwhile, a resolution about the tragedy in Orlando noted that “we regard those affected by this tragedy as fellow image-bearers of God and our neighbors.” Tweets from SBC leaders expressed regard for the LGBT community affected by the slaughter in Florida. The contrast with the 2009 resolution was remarkable. Far less noted, but an equally important indicator of sentiments among evangelicals is one of the two length…

(Ex-)Ex-Gay Activist Alan Chambers On His Prop 8 Epiphany and the Downfall of Christianity and Evangelicalism

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…that I knew of in those days [and I didn’t even know] if there was one in Orlando back then. So for me, as a 19-year-old kid, Exodus was the safe place. When I walked in, they didn’t beat me over the head with a Bible, they were a bunch of people who said, We get it. You’re welcome here and you can struggle along with the rest of us. The negative, or detriment, of Exodus is the same as the church, which is plugged into the tree of the knowledge o…

On Guns and Religious Liberty, Ben Carson “Not an Authentic Adventist”

By Sarah Posner

…Christian ethics and law at the Adventist University of Health Sciences in Orlando, Florida. “I have been steeped in the Carson biography for 30 years,” Hines added. While Carson and his biography have been “pervasive” for black Adventists, said Hines, white Adventists have discovered him more recently—in politics. While some conservative Adventists may be drawn to him, “black liberals are pulling away,” said Hines. Carson’s fusion of religion and…

Republican Presidential Candidate Courts Televangelists. So What Else Is New? (Updated with video)

By Sarah Posner

…founder Jan Crouch, who is also the president of a Christian theme park in Orlando. As it came to an end, televangelist Paula White said Trump wanted them to pray for him. Trump nodded, and the faith leaders laid hands on him and prayed. Many evangelical leaders look askance at the crowd the businessman is courting. “The people that Trump has so far identified as his evangelical outreach are mostly prosperity gospel types, which are considered by…