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Vatican’s New Media Evangelizing Strategy Can’t Save it from All The Bad News

By Anthea Butler

…mmunications,with its theme “The Priest and Pastoral Ministry in a Digital World: New Media at the Service of the Word,” and you begin to understand that the Roman Curia is really in its own world, a world that increasingly behaves like North Korea with its lauding of a corrupt system, and the treatment of those who have been harmed by ineffective, dodgy administration over abuse cases. In the fantasy world of Vatican City, you can tell priests th…

Top Ten Peacemakers in the Science-Religion Wars

By Paul Wallace

…a full-size, all-wood Ark, which should become the largest timber-frame structure in the USA.” All year, I have been watching the fundraising thermometer at the Ark Park blog. It’s been moving really slowly. I wish I had recorded the data as the months rolled by, but it seems safe to say that, at current rates, it will take another five years to meet the $24.5 million goal set by the Ark Encounter masterminds (this is a small fraction of the proj…

Conservative French Catholics a ‘Rightwing Patriarchal Bunch’?; Indonesian Prez Decries Anti-LGBT Discrimination; Romanian Prez Warns Against ‘Religious Fanaticism’; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…otland: ‘Profound cultural shift’ behind embrace of gay politicians In the New York Times, Katrin Benhold writes about a “profound cultural shift” that has led to the country’s embrace of openly gay politicians, including leaders of three of the five major political parties, four government ministers, the secretary of state for Scotland in Britain’s government, and “the gayest Parliament in the world.” In the span of a generation, Scotland has she…

Cue the Kool-Aid: Watching Jonestown Docs in the ‘Fake News’ Era

By Rebecca Moore

…s could well understand the concern that locals had about the influx of thousands of newcomers, but they could also appreciate the frustration the Rajneeshees experienced as they attempted to construct a large religious community in a sparsely populated area. In addition, the difference between re-enactments and reality footage was crystal clear. The Way brothers utilized animated sequences to portray discussions for which they had no film. There…

Harry Jackson Fundraises for Anti-Obama Campaign

By Peter Montgomery

…hostage to the Obama administration’s efforts to promote LGBT rights internationally. Also speaking was Aaron Manaigo, a political strategist Jackson has hired to run the campaign. Manaigo described himself as having gotten into politics as one of the “young gunslingers” for the late dirty trickster Lee Atwater, and he was reportedly an advisor to Herman Cain during the primaries. Manaigo said marriage is under a “barrage of attacks” and cited po…

The ADL is Correct that Antisemitism is Rising — But the Main (and Most Dangerous) Source Isn’t the Left, It’s Always Been the Right

By Shane Burley

…ssential to the Right’s popularity and success. This is the intellectual structure of the National Conservative and MAGA movement’s populism, requiring conspiracy theories that place blame on (((certain people))) while leaving untouched the systems of deregulated capitalism that actually bear responsibility for their misfortune. As a 2023 study showed, a propensity for conspiracy thinking and totalitarian political ideas are most closely correlate…

Walking Dead and Zombie Ethics, or “Don’t Fight the Zombies. You Can’t Win”

By Kelly J. Baker

…is no shortage of theories. David Denby, writing about World War Z for the New Yorker, notes, “The zombies aren’t like us; they are us, just degraded a little.” But what do zombies symbolize really? Are they us or aren’t they? Or are they symbolic of larger themes like consumerism, terrorism, neoliberalism, or epidemics? And how did these monsters become representative of our current moment? Much of this ambiguity comes from the nature of the zomb…

Facebook Doesn’t Kill Churches, Churches Kill Churches

By Elizabeth Drescher

…be digitally magisterial. Along the same lines, Rome recently announced a new Facebook page that promotes the beatification of Pope John Paul II. Monsignor Paul Tighe tells USA Today that the page is a move in the direction of greater interactivity: “What we found is that Facebook doesn’t just share information, it creates community. People begin talking to each other and sharing ideas.” He’s right! Just probably not on the John Paul II Facebook…

New York Marriage Equality Set to Begin, Minus Two Clerks

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…. The state is expecting such a flood of same-sex applicants that day that New York City has even implemented a lottery for 764 slots for Sunday. Two clerks who won’t be busy will be Rosemary Centi of Guilderland and Laura Fotusky of Barker. Both women have quit their jobs, saying granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples violates their religious liberty. “I believe that God designed marriage as a divine institution to protect our families an…

Why It’s Heresy to Read the Bible Literally: An Interview with John Shelby Spong

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…image in the Bible is a minority image. The Christian church is to be the yeast in the bread, the light in the darkness, the salt in the soup. It’s never supposed to be Christendom running the world. We are to give a flavor to life. We’re remnant people walking into the mystery of God and we have to walk faithfully….