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Gay Marriage Opponents Running on Empty

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…I have hand-counted 29 non-NOM staffers attending the rally—about the same number that have attended every other event on this tour.” They were outnumbered by those who came in support of marriage equality. … about 95 marriage equality supporters marched in to the event to counter-protest NOM on a sidewalk across from the event. Impressive. Once again, NOM has been embarrassed on this tour, drawing significantly fewer supporters to their event tha…

Yes, It Can Be Hard to Be an Atheist in America; Now We Have the Data

By Chrissy Stroop

…sus and to refuse to participate in religious activities is also to experience violence. As a transgender woman and ex-evangelical, these issues are very relatable to me, as they are to many who have left high-control religious groups, and it’s my fervent conviction that they need to be part of our public discourse. According to Reality Check: Nearly one third (31.4%) of participants mostly or always concealed their nonreligious identity from memb…

Is It OK To Use a Cellphone in Church? Pew Surveys the New Etiquette

By Michael Schulson

…the Pew study asked respondents to gauge the appropriateness of using cellphones in various places, including whether it is “generally okay or not okay for people to use their cellphones…at church or [a] worship service.” A full 96% of those surveyed chose “generally not okay,” which was slightly higher than those who condemn mobile use in movie theaters. This finding indicates not only that the secular chambers of the cinema still don’t command…

Religious Hostility to Gay Nigerians; The Pope’s Visit To Africa; Ireland’s Religious Schools Can’t Discriminate Against Gays; Orthodox Church in Georgia Leads Anti-Gay Forces; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…ts major presence in education and healthcare, and “its willingness to be inclusive and syncretize local traditions into the broader framework of Catholic faith.” Examples include churches decorated with pictures of Jesus depicted as an African, and unique liturgical styles—such as the so-called “Congolese Rite”—being approved by Rome, according to the Wall Street Journal. “The Catholic Church is a very African institution in Africa,” says Gina Zu…

Are You There God? It’s Me, Donald: A President at Prayer

By Peter Laarman

…political activity. Trump appeared to be unaware of Mr. Jefferson’s insistence on a “wall of separation” between church and state. One imagines that President Trump might actually have had a go at prayer on the eve of yesterday’s breakfast appearance. What follows is an imaginative reconstruction. ___________ Dear Father God. Hello? I can call you Father, right? or maybe Jesus? And who’s the third guy? I forget. Whatever. I’ll just say “God.” OK?…

Will Catholic Voters Support LGBT Rights in Washington State?

By Joanna Brooks

…the decision will be made. We are participating in a Catholic-to-Catholic phone bank that Washington United for Marriage has set up on Wednesday nights and we assist with the larger phone bank at the Jewish synagogue downtown. A great deal of our work is communicating with Catholics on our email list and Facebook. As a Catholic, how does your faith shape your views on marriage for LGBT people? My faith blossomed in the 1960s after Vatican II. I h…

The Problem with Pew’s Science & Religion Poll

By Andrew Aghapour and Michael Schulson

…eport offers some useful data about public perceptions of religion and science, including fine-grained details about American attitudes towards GMOs, nuclear power, and other science-and-society issues. But while they may offer rough estimates of public opinion, these results are far from objective or clean. Beneath the colorful surface of each graph lie a series of filters, amplifiers, and cultural biases that mediate any representation of public…

Vatican Considers ‘Disordered’ Language; HBO Doc on LGBT Persecution in Russia; Nigerian Bishop Shifts on Anti-Gay Law; Arson at ‘Open Mosque’ in South Africa; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…and confiscated Mr. Cole’s phone. They then used images they found on the phone as evidence to arrest and convict Mr. Cole for homosexuality. Homosexuality is a criminal offense in Morocco, and relations outside of marriage can also be punishable by law. Italy: Mayors Resisting National Govt on Registering Gay Couples Several mayors are pledging to disobey the Interior Minister’s announcement that gay couples married overseas cannot be includes i…

Cloverfield: Sin & Redemption, with Monsters

By Gabriel Mckee

…onds, people have lined up in front of it to take pictures with their cell phones. They’re distanced from what’s happening around them, oblivious to what it really means. Many reviewers have made the obvious connection to 9/11, and it’s certainly true that the monster’s initial rampage eerily evokes that day’s images. But there’s a deeper level to it. At one point, the characters are caught in the middle of a firefight between the monster and a Na…

Sex, Violence, Art, and Religion

By Kent L. Brintnall

…atment of Bacon particularly inspiring or insightful.) There were other chance encounters: reading Georges Bataille’s Erotism for the first time and being utterly blown away. The release of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ (and the almost complete absence of gender in commentary on the film). And, of course, wondering why so few people share my passion for reading Freud and trying to give an account of why I think he remains valuable to thin…