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Religion Reporting as Therapy? Praying for Help with Budget Crisis…

In case you missed all of the witty headlines, Jesus was struck by lightning and burned to the ground this week. But despite the $700,000 in damages, the Solid Rock Church vows to rebuild “Touchdown Jesus.” Meanwhile, in the wake of his recent scandal, Tim Wilson at Killing the Buddha outlines how the Church of Tiger Woods is also burning to the ground. Baptists are using their presences in the military to oppose the repeal of Don’t Ask/Don’t Tel…

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Beyond Alarmism and Denial in the Dominionism Debate

…eople who are in that web don’t often recognize differences, or they don’t care about them. They care about their spiritual lives, and that’s what keeps these movements going. They can go from one meeting to the next if they have the funds to do so, and the highs are good. Who doesn’t want to go to a meeting that feeds your soul where you meet like-minded people? All of the groups are enmeshed in a symbiotic web. These evangelists’, apostles’, and…

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Episcopal Church Assault Data Reveals the Dark Side of Inclusive Christianity

…those victims who did report their victimization to Episcopal leaders, the number one assessment from both trans/non-binary and cisgender respondents was that “little or no change” came about as a result. 20.6% of transgender and non-binary survivors reported that they simply left the church altogether. By comparison, “only” 10.7% of cisgender women felt they had to leave. (Curiously, there’s no data on this front for LGB-identified Episcopalians….

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We Went Through Amoris Laetitia Section by Section So You Wouldn’t Have To

…eteronormative uncontracepted sex in monogamous marriage.” Sections 243 and 299 would also disappoint any divorced and remarried Catholics who want to receive Communion openly. Pope Francis says they should be treated with care and kindness and respect, but he stops short of giving them access to receiving Communion. He offers the same condescension to LGBT Catholics in Section 250 when he says should be treated with care, kindness and respect, bu…

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Sacred Texting: When Religious Writ Gets Wired

…ability of cell phones to be used for impure activities, some Jewish cell-phone users have requested so-called “kosher” phones. The idea is to offer conservative Jews a phone that is free of “corrupting influences” of the sort that are already avoided by ultra-orthodox Jews through a ban on television and some radio. Reuters reported in February 2008 that Bezeq Israel Telecom launched a new “kosher” landline phone service, which will block calls…

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Power Up: Turn Off the Cell Phone

…plugged-in lifestyle doesn’t really get at the heart of the issue. I think the Amish, of all people, have it right. It’s not so much about what you as an individual are doing or not doing, as the effect technology has on the community: Why not make life easier and just put [a phone] in the house? “What would that lead to?” another Amish man asked me. “We don’t want to be the kind of people who will interrupt a conversation at home to answer a tel…

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“Saints Are Only Human”: Leaving the Church, But Heeding this Pope’s Lessons

…slogans about immigration reform. On line I heard that parishes with large numbers of undocumented immigrants had received many tickets. No outside food or water, statues, gifts or selfie sticks were permitted. Despite 10,000 folding chairs, most of us would have no choice but to stand. Once in my appointed place behind the last row of seats, I found myself in a community of fellow pilgrims, lottery winners from local parishes, nearby colleges, an…

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Put Your Money Where Your Mind Is: A For-Profit Meditation Studio Opens in New York

…age. His 2012 book, The Buddha Walks into a Bar, has sold widely. Over the phone, I asked Rinzler why he and Burrows had chosen to establish the studio as a for-profit company. “We really wanted to make sure we had all the resources we need for supporting people who are trying meditation for the first time,” Rinzler explained. Because they’re a business, there’s more professionalism. The teachers they’ve hired show up on time, and, as Rinzler put…

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How to Die in America: A Conversation with Ann Neumann

…llions of undocumented people in the country! Those who can afford to hire caregivers are lucky; but those caregivers are often inadequately paid under the table. From beginning to end, I began to get a picture of how poorly we care for elder and terminal patients. So my understanding of the Death with Dignity laws was of course clarified by this. But once I began to compare what the Death with Dignity laws make legal—after receiving multiple requ…

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Fear of a Catholic Ghetto

…religious exemption is too narrow to accommodate faithful Catholic health care. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, he says, would create a “Catholic ghetto.”  Currently, Catholic health care institutions are indispensable in the United States, comprising 20% of U.S. hospitals. Those hospitals, in turn, receive large amounts of public funding. Catholic hospitals are so well-integrated, in fact, that they’ve merged with non-Catholic he…

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