Religion Dispatches
…ansgender inclusion and advocacy because they were looking for the radical welcome edge. Rather, their outreach efforts were a pastoral response to the transgendered people who joined The Crossing community. Out of about 75 people who are part of their congregation, she estimates that about a half dozen are transgendered. “If we love those who are part of our community then we need to go out and stand by them and create more inclusive communities…
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…h, and might become more. I expect no fundamental policy changes, though I welcome distributive shifts; and I await no magic kingdom, as Obama’s detractors have long complained he promised us. But what strikes me as undeniable is that the tone just changed, the self-understanding just changed, our face to the world just changed, in however limited a fashion, and to whatever limited effects. I was stunned by the degree to which, in one of the nasti…
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…ats in Vatican City has also birthed a sort of new genre, the formal papal welcome; one that the current Pope has utilized to remind his new partners of just how un-modern, and even anti-modern, their new diplomatic home is. Modernity, after all, is characterized by this Pope as a moment of restless and breathless innovation, in contrast to his conception of the tradition-minded Church which involves passing on, unchanged, the wisdom we’ve inherit…
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…we just see it as a possibility. But we may. And if we do, anyone would be welcome, so if people feel that they haven’t fit in other places and they fit with us, we would welcome them. I think the scripture that keeps coming to mind for me is where Jesus says, “come unto me all ye who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. I will give you rest for your souls.” I think that’s what I woul…
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…rators who would do us harm, but we must always be equally vigilant in our welcome of friends. Of course, how to tell friend from foe, and exactly how “vigilant” to be is the crux of much of the controversy over Trump’s executive action. And while the bishops urge Catholics to “welcome the stranger” and “speak in defense of human dignity,” the statement lacks the urgency of previous exhortations to protect “religious liberty.” When the Catholic bi…
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…coming to appreciate no-touch dating, hearing from family comes less as a welcome reminder of his true self than as nagging. Through a mix of personal moxie and unbelievable luck, Roose had quite the semester. For spring break, he joined a busload of Liberty students on a missionary vacation, “witnessing” to their godless peers at Daytona Beach, Florida. He held his own in Bible studies and received counseling for his masturbation habit. And, on…
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Editor’s Note: Welcome new readers! If you like this post sign up for RD’s daily email newsletter here. —- It was an impressive display—more than two hundred people standing in front of the State House on a blustery November afternoon, demonstrating in favor of marriage equality for gay and lesbian people. What made it most impressive is that the rally was in Columbia, South Carolina, a place not known as a bastion of gay rights activity. As a ve…
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…ke up about 90% of US nuns. It was in that capacity that she was tapped to welcome Pope John Paul II to the US on behalf of American religious women. His life was never the same. On November 7, 1979, at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC, thousands of nuns gathered for their special time with John Paul II. Some stood silently during his remarks wearing blue armbands to signal their support of women’s ordination. It w…
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…as occupiers in over a hundred American cities feel the power of worldwide welcome and affirmation. There is obviously more to be felt and said about this than any journalistic treatment could hope to engage; one senses in many recent commentaries the strain of needing to say more and not quite having the words. Over the course of a couple of days, four regular RD contributors, moderated by Senior Editor Sarah Posner, shared their own thoughts abo…
Read More…osexuality Bill to a vote. According to Burroway, Kadaga received a hero’s welcome on her return from a conference in Canada. She is calling criticism leveled against anti-gay persecution in Uganda by the Canadian foreign minister an attack on Uganda’s sovereignty and culture. She reportedly received a hero’s welcome at the airport. “The rally at Entebbe’s airport was organized by religious leaders, former Ethics and Integrity Minister James Nsaba…
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