Religion Dispatches
…n of the Holy Spirit. It means that LGBT Christians have the same place at Christ’s table as anyone else. The chorus of the praise song, “We Are One in the Spirit,” echoes Paul (Galatians 5:22) when it repeats the refrain, “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” It is in this Spirit that we can “out-evangelize the evangelicals.” And so, when LGBT people freely embrace and live…
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…imony to Jesus, which of course was the most excluding aspect of his prayer, was, in a way, only personal to him—Jesus as the one who changed my life. To be fair, how could an evangelical Christian pray at all, except in that vein? Nevertheless, these Christian references represented, inevitably, a claim about the Christian tradition and its dominant place in American life. In contrast, civil rights leader Rev. Joseph Lowery, who gave the benedict…
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…this law goes against God and goes against the bible,” said Franco Pantuso, 71, a retired waiter from the central city of L’Aquila who had came to Rome especially. “Our children and grandchildren must be protected.” Latest opinion polls say that 70 percent of Italians believe that same sex couples should be granted legal protection, such as inheritance rights. However, only some 24 percent think that any adoption rights should be granted to gay c…
Read More…pus Dei, is like sticking one’s toe in to test the temperature of the water, and, finding it tepid, deciding not to jump in. For a deep dive into the Washington scene, Charles Pierce’s 2003 piece about Opus Dei in the Boston Globe magazine adds important context not only to Santorum’s flourishing into a rigid Catholic ideologue, but to the Beltway political culture in which such conservative politicians were groomed. The piece also helps explain,…
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…Just as it’s significant to change public perception of who is a terrorist, so, too, is it important to alter the idea of what constitutes terrorism. However, the abiding debate over gun rights and current gun laws will undoubtedly hamper attempts to also include such weapons in the calculus of terrorist crime. A call for holistic justice In the direct aftermath of September 11, 2001, the Department of Homeland Security was established to ensure…
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…plurality of evangelicals, splitting the top honors with Ben Carson. Still, though, he sits atop the GOP field, something that would be difficult to accomplish without at least some evangelical support. For some weeks, his vitriol against immigrants has troubled evangelicals like the Southern Baptist Convention’s Russell Moore, who is deeply conservative but is urging evangelicals to take a turn away from harsh religious right political rhetoric….
Read More…I believe such acts degrade the institution of marriage. Gallagher is wrong, however, to assert that she is being painted as a bigot by some hateful cabal of gay and lesbian operatives. Instead, she is simply discovering herself on the wrong side of history as the world begins to understand how ridiculous it is to bar two consenting, unrelated, adults from forming a civil contract called marriage. A new CNN poll shows 51% of Americans believe gays…
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…l (jivatman) united with the universal-soul (paramatman).” If Godfrey, Jois, Zed, and Alabama legislators are correct in identifying yoga as a religious practice, then restricting yoga instruction in public schools aligns with legal precedent. The Supreme Court ruled in Engel v. Vitale (1962) that schools cannot provide instruction in religious practices such as school prayer—even if students are allowed to “opt out” by remaining silent or leaving…
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…k American voters like some “low-rent televangelist,” as he had with the GBUSA, but rather as the neighborhood sneaker vendor. Unlike the GBUSA website, The Never Surrender High-Top Sneaker site doesn’t make grand claims about patriotism and values. Moreover, there’s no formal advertising campaign, and the site is much less polished. In addition, unlike its counterpart, it lacks photos of families, celebrities, and politicians proudly brandishing…
Read More…And those seeking to be elected, that you would be against the life of some, well, I am reconsidering my support of you! If you are for the death penalty of a rapist, what assurance do I have that you will not find another “right reason” in the future to be in favor of endangering, thwarting, or ending the life of some other sort of person? Any attempt to say that those seeking to be elected have a special dispensation because if they do not speak…
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