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When Mormons Mobilize: Anti-Gay Marriage Prop. 8 Effort ‘Outed’?

code (or “ward”-level) supervisors for grassroots campaigning. One LDS zipcode supervisor reported that the Mormon Church was “the only member of the Protect Marriage coalition” to participate in the Yes on 8 ground campaign. On August 16, the Yes on 8 ground-campaign began its voter-identification phase, with a reported 15,000–30,000 Mormon precinct walkers knocking doors each weekend in August to identify “yes,” “soft yes,” “undecided,” “soft n…

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Obama Calls for Repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in SOTU

…itary. Right from the start, gays and lesbians are expected to break every code of honor in the service just to get the chance to do what they feel called to do. That’s unfair, as well as immoral. If gay and lesbian people are willing to give their lives in service to this country, they must be able to honest and open about who they are. Anything less is cheapens their lives and their courage. It’s a promise the gay and lesbian community has heard…

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Record Number of Stealth Creationism Bills Introduced in 2011

…, critique and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in the course being taught.” As always, since intelligent design was ruled unconstitutional in Kitzmiller v. Dover, the introduced bills rely on such creationist code words as “teaching the controversy,” “academic freedom,” or “critical analysis.” However, in the case of Florida, the bill’s sponsoring lawmaker Rep…

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Conservative Points in Pope’s Speech Include Liberal “Chasers”

…human life at every stage of its development”—which has long been Vatican code for abortion—Francis doubled back to a progressive agenda, coupling it with a call to end the death penalty: “This conviction had led me, from the beginning of my ministry, to advocate at different levels for the global abolition of the death penalty,” he said, causing progressives to jump to their feet as conservative attendees looked confused at the switcheroo that F…

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Angels & Demons: America’s Preeminent Pop Theologian Takes on Religion and Science

…leased in mid-May. Angels & Demons is the successor to 2006’s The Da Vinci Code, which its star Tom Hanks called “just a good story loaded with hooey and nonsense.” Of course, he only has to say that because it’s not true. Everybody knows that despite getting most of his facts wrong, Dan Brown is American culture’s preeminent religious thinker and, in particular, our most trusted interpreter of Catholicism. Even though the Vatican decided to play…

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Texas’ Anti-LGBT Adoption Bill Is Unconstitutional and Unnecessary, Say Texas Law Professors

…To the extent that H.B. 3859 can be understood specifically to protect and promote certain conservative beliefs about sex and sexuality, it raises serious Establishment Clause questions.” The legislation passed the Texas Senate on a primarily partisan vote early Monday morning, and is currently awaiting the governor’s signature. If Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signs the bill as anticipated, Texas will join South Dakota and Alabama in granting uniqu…

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Policing Academic Freedom: A Book, a Controversy, and the Ominous Aftermath

…ing house, arguing that the book violated Article 295A of the Indian Penal Code, which forbids “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class of citizens.” The school teacher was Mr. Batra, a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindu nationalist organization. As early as 2001, Mr. Batra has engaged in political and legal measures to affect educational curriculum through his organization…

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#TeachAcceptance and the Fight for the Soul of SF’s Catholic Schools

…ting a committee of four theology teachers to review the proposed morality code, which created in uproar in the local community by declaring that teachers should “conform their hearts, minds and consciences, as well as their public and private behavior” to orthodox Catholic teaching. Among the rules that teachers are to “affirm and believe” are the “sinfulness of contraception,” that “all extra-marital sexual relationships are gravely evil and tha…

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UPDATE: An Abrupt End to Quebec Separatist Plan to Ban “Ostentatious Signs” of Religion

…f which do happen to wear (typically small) crucifixes—and thus the visual code aimed its sights more narrowly on undesirable religious minorities, while at the same time allowing the government to proclaim the even-handedness of its approach.  But whatever the actual intentions of the government, the deployment of this category of the ‘permitted sign’ wonderfully epitomized a much larger and more longstanding liberal project to (re)construct mode…

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God Bless Islam with Courageous Leadership

…ely and help people think imaginatively? Or does he focus on impieties and promote the virtues of paraphernalia like the dress code and the mandatory length of facial hairs? If the imam is as wise as the religious leader in the Canadian sitcom Little Mosque on the Prairie, it will be a huge step up. Mosque committees share their burden of responsibility too. Often they appoint preachers by applying the lowest and cheapest standard; theological div…

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