Search for "cheap lan airlines december tickets phone number 1-800-299-7264"

Civil Unions Battle Heats Up in Italy; Church Leaders in Malawi Defend Criminalization of Homosexuality; Report on LGBT Student Group Sparks Backlash in Indonesia; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…at 43 percent of people who identified themselves as having a Church of England, Anglican, or Episcopal affiliation and living in England said they think same-sex marriage is “right” and 35 percent say it is “wrong.” Three years ago, the numbers were nearly reversed, with 47 percent against and 38 percent in favor. Germany: More than Two-Thirds of Catholics and Protestants Back Marriage Equality A poll released this week found 68 percent of German…

Gandhi, his Grandson, Israel, and the Jews

By Shalom Goldman

…tly regarded as an unwarrantable encroachment upon their country. Later in December 1938, a month after Gandhi published his views on the Jews in Germany and the question of Palestine, he was questioned by visiting American Protestant clergymen about the German takeover of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. Gandhi counseled that the Czechs adopt a nonviolent strategy. One clergyman said “you do not know Hitler and Mussolini. They are incapable of…

A Writer’s Murder Raises Fears of Death-by-Decree

By Shalom Goldman

…that interview. He had lived under threat for five years. Ayatollah Fazil Lankarani, the cleric who had called on believers to kill Kagi in 2006, has since died but his son, Mohammad Javad Lankarani, also a cleric, applauded Rafiq Tagi’s murder, praising the killers for “sending the reprobate who insulted the Prophet to hell.” And one of the official Iranian newspapers wrote approvingly that “Azerbaijan’s Salman Rushdie is dead.” As 70% of Azerba…

On the Ethics of the Tibetan Self-Immolations

By José Cabezón

…shogs gtso chab brag lha mo skyabs,” in Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, no. 28, December 2013: 117. † Ibid. ‡ There is considerable discussion in the Tibetan community over whether self-immolation can actually accomplish viable, longterm goals. But even those who are skeptical about the political efficacy of self-immolation mostly acknowledge that the act is not inconsistent with the teachings of Mahāyāna Buddhism, where the moral status of action is e…

This Year in Satanism

By Joseph Laycock

…ay, The Satanic Temple drew national media attention after they announced plans to hold a black mass at Harvard University as part of a series of cultural performances. Conservative Catholic bloggers whipped up a frenzy with speculation that a consecrated host would be desecrated during the performance. The black mass was cancelled at the last minute as 1500 protesting Catholics held a Eucharistic procession down Massachusetts Avenue. Some observe…

Why Virginia Governor’s ‘God is Everywhere’ Statement isn’t a Simple Answer to Those Who Want to Worship Together

By Karen E. Park

On December 12, Bishop Robert Barron, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles founder of Word on Fire, a “nonprofit global media conglomerate,” and social media superstar, tweeted a video containing a fascinating rebuke of Virginia governor Ralph Northam’s recent statement on churches and Covid-19, one that deserves a closer look. He was responding to statements Governor Northam made at a press conference on Thursday, December 10 where…

The Convergence of Passover and Easter Can Leaven (or Unleaven) the Interfaith Family’s Holiday

By Samira K. Mehta

…rgely surrounded the phenomenon of families looking, for better or ill, to borrow from other traditions’ toolkits. For interfaith families on the other hand, Passover and Easter, or “East-over” as my sister has taken to calling it, is, in many ways, more of a balancing act, as families seek to honor competing observances and traditions even as they try to steer clear of everything from anti-Semitism to the potentially exclusionary language of the…

Conservatives Accuse Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of Misconduct

By Elizabeth Drescher

…st” in which the cartoon image of said “Antichrist” bears a striking resemblance to the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, the retired Bishop of New Hampshire, or a two-headed representation of both as the Earl of Hell. Or, 4. All of the above. Still, dissenters complain that the “acting in a way” provision has allowed Jefferts Schori and her agents to act imperiously in dismissing from the Episcopal Church those with whom they disagree on…

Gambian Voters Reject Anti-Gay Strongman Jammeh; Activists Ponder Trump Impact on LGBT Human Rights; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…on at the ILGA World Conference which was held in Bangkok on November 30 – December 2. From his remarks: Various historical antecedents and narrow interpretations of religions and beliefs aggravate the situation as part of the political-cum-cultural challenge. The classic case is the variety of laws in a number of countries derived from the colonial era which still criminalize same-sex sexual conduct, even when and where the colonizing power disca…

5 Key Moments From the Year of the ‘Exvangelicals’

By Chrissy Stroop

…in Newsweek twice, including in the cover article of the print edition for December 21. The biggest exvangelical media breakthrough thus far, however, is surely the CBS special “Deconstructing My Religion,” written and produced by Liz Kineke, and which began running on CBS affiliate stations earlier this month. The special prominently features Linda Kay Klein, author of Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Shamed a Generation of Young Women…