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Pope Praises ‘Complementarity’ & Resists Gay Ambassador; Irish Religious Leaders Spar Over Marriage; Colombian Atty Gen Cites ‘Bogus’ Study Opposing Adoption; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…no other option, Pope says.” Despite all of our sins and weaknesses, our vocation “is to care for the covenant of marriage,” which constitutes “a vital and energizing vocation, through which we cooperate with our heavenly Father, who himself always cares for and protects this great gift.” Pope Francis then turned to God’s mercy, saying that the image of the Father’s tenderness toward a sinful couple “leaves us open-mouthed with wonder” at how he s…

Paranormal Vodka, Exorcists and a Demonic Doll: Welcome to Paracon, Based on the Work of the Demon-Hunters Who Inspired the ‘Conjuring’ Series

By Eric Harrelson and Joseph P. Laycock

…oommate over a period of months in 1970. Although I can’t find an official number, a casino employee tells us over 5,000 tickets have been sold; 5,000 pilgrims who’ve made the trek from around the country to pay their respects to Annabelle, and are willing to wait hours to do so. On the convention floor, an eclectic group of vendors hocks their wares, from Ouija boards and books about ghost hunting to bath bombs shaped like horror movie icons. The…

Spiritual Unplugging, Or What to Do When There is Wifi at the Ashram

By Matt Hamilton

…est, is often thrown into extraordinary situations—fires, shootings, political campaigns and interviews with high-ranking officials. The priest stands in for God. The journalist stands in for the community at-large. The latter just felt more honest. Coming back to a spiritual community felt familiar, yes, by which I mean dishonest, delusional, disingenuous. But I kept those reservations at bay. I meditated at dawn for 90 minutes. I heeded the sile…

Pop-Culture Angels Are More Than Just Embarrassing Kitsch

By Ed Simon

…n be. Honest, exuberant, and fair-minded, Bailey is contrasted to the maniacal capitalist Mr. Potter, a big banker with whom he’s in direct competition. Clarence only makes his appearance in the final portion of the film as George contemplates suicide on a Christmas Eve, showing the despondent banker a version of reality had he never lived. Far from syrupy, even if “every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings,” It’s a Wonderful Life combines p…

Billy Graham Is Probably Not the Author of His Own “Final Chapter”

By Elesha Coffman

…s archives, anyone can watch Graham preach this sermon to a large crowd in Sacramento, California. In it, Graham described hell as an “unpopular, controversial, and misunderstood subject.” He continued, “I’ve heard some preachers preach on hell as though they were glad there was a hell and glad that people were going there. But I’m not. I don’t like to preach on it. I do it only because I’m commanded in Scripture to preach the word. And it’s again…

The Top 10 (Non-Religious) Religious Films of 2017

By S. Brent Rodriguez Plate

…getful humans remember past events and people. Which is what makes the Mexican-Aztec-Catholic Dia de Muertos an important holiday, and an ideal nucleus for a movie. Hollywood has not been kind to Latino/as, but strikes a resonant chord here, extolling without exoticizing, even deepening an understanding of the rituals of the holiday for those who have only seen the spooky skeletons in most pop culture representations. Another hero’s journey, this…

Dragged Through the Mud: This Little Church-Backed Support Group for LGBTQ Teens Suffered Bomb Threats, Smears and the Cancellation of its Drag Show

By Chrissy Stroop

…events. The performances raise money to send local queer kids to a summer camp—Camp Fruit Loop—where they can simply be themselves and be supported. Each past show easily sold out, which prompted the group to look at larger venues. This year, they rented the 500-seat auditorium at Roseville High School for a March 31 performance. Everything was going fine until right-wing activists decided to manufacture outrage, insinuating that this was a schoo…

How Much Did Jesus Care About Sex?

By Peter Laarman

…istian and Lutheran but at the cost of true discipleship. The price it was called upon to pay was all too cheap…We gave away the word and sacraments wholesale; we baptized, confirmed, and absolved a whole nation unasked and without condition…Was there ever a more terrible and disastrous instance of Christianizing the world than this? It’s regrettable, I think, that “cheap grace” has turned into a kind of meme that Rod Dreher can toss into his deba…

Beyond Alarmism and Denial in the Dominionism Debate

By Anthea Butler

…als in order to get the blessings. I know that will seem distasteful and a caricature to some, but these events are well-attended, and at a hundred bucks a person, revenues from book and DVD sales. Conferences and meetings like Lou Engles’ The Call are not just prayer meetings, they are Christian marketplaces, with all sorts of spiritual wares being sold. As to the political interaction, all of these groups know they don’t have the numbers alone t…

Episcopal Church Assault Data Reveals the Dark Side of Inclusive Christianity

By Charlotte Dalwood

…ense as a way of distinguishing The Episcopal Church on the religious landscape from the evangelical Right and its culture wars against gay marriage and transgender rights, among other conservative bugaboos. Disaffected with the latter? The Episcopal Church welcomes you. Here’s the problem. This brand image is at odds with the fact that LGBTQ+ Episcopalians experience sexual victimization in Episcopal spaces at consistently higher rates than their…