Religion Dispatches
…less than two miles from Village L’est, which is shared by Vietnamese- and African-American families. New Orleans East is home to 23 illegal dump sites and two toxic landfills. It’s also home to the Central Wetlands and the Bayou Savage Wildlife Refuge, both plentiful with photogenic birds and sparkling fish. Officials from the city and the Louisiana Department of Quality plead (incorrectly) that the unlined landfill posed no health hazards, but t…
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…k with the past and probably make headlines around the world.” Added Irish Central: “This is not your grandfather’s Ireland any more folks.” China: Propaganda officials tell media to play down Taiwan marriage ruling According to Radio Free Asia, “China’s state propaganda machine has warned the country’s media not to ‘make a big deal’ of” Taiwan’s marriage equality ruling. The government of Hong Kong has appealed a ruling by the city’s high court t…
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…at teaching this nation’s Christian heritage. “This is a guy talking about freedom of religion as part of the history of the United States,” said Dan Quinn of the Texas Freedom Network. “And what happened to Ann Hutchinson is why separation of church and state is so important. And now they want that example taken out of the standards.” “It’s a perfect example of censoring ideas you don’t like and distorting history to feed an agenda.” Panel Leader…
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…ne. Humans should be mature enough to develop and maintain our own ethical code informed by scientific knowledge of its consequences, he argues, rather than rely on an ancient moral code inscribed in scriptural texts of human origin composed in a different era for reasons that no longer apply. Dawkins finally brings the story to where Rev. Adam Sedgwick feared that it would end 150 years ago when he read this pre-publication copy of Origin of Spec…
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…amily. “This ruling undermines democratic freedom. It undermines religious freedom. It undermines free speech.” The McArthur family, which owns the bakery, has “been supported by the Christian Institute, which has organized public rallies and garnered financial backing for the case.” Nigeria: Human Rights Watch reports on impact of law banning same-sex marriage Human Rights Watch released a report this month documenting the impact of the Same Sex…
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…bortion.” Sponsored by Catholics for Choice (then known as Catholics for a Free Choice), the full-page New York Times advertisement declared “a diversity of opinions regarding abortion exists among committed Catholics.” Many theologians, the statement read, believed abortion “can sometimes be a moral choice.” Feminist theologian Margaret Farley, novelist Mary Gordon, and then-New York Gov. Mario Cuomo were among the signers. More than two dozen or…
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…of a great degree in America was led by Richard Allen, the founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first black denomination in America. He was a former slave who purchased his own freedom. Allen started the first nonviolent protests of church segregation after a Methodist Episcopal church in Philadelphia would not allow him and other slaves to worship with white congregants. That’s what the black church has always been and should s…
Read More…l orientation in public accommodations, did not violate the photographer’s Free Speech or Free Exercise rights, nor did it violate the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The photographers sought review from the United States Supreme Court on one issue: whether the state human rights law violated their free speech rights. They did not seek review on the other questions. The New Mexico Supreme Court is the court of last resort on the questio…
Read More…ew ways to read the Bible and what it has to say about sexuality and other central issues in the lives of African Christians. These new readings of old texts encourage Christians to accept LGBT people as God’s children. Even so, progressive African Christians are fighting an uphill battle. The voices of strident homophobic leaders in Africa have been amplified by large infusions of money from American right-wing culture warriors such as Howard F….
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…s with regards to same sex marriage and the ordination of gay clergy. Many Africans in the Anglican Communion and the Methodist Church are opposed to both. They claim that this position is an expression of their identity as Africans. This is a way that the personal becomes political for them. This of course stands in sharp contrast to the desires of the LGBT community in the west—another objectively marginalized group. Such tensions create great d…
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