Religion Dispatches
…, in sub-Saharan Africa, and is even making significant inroads in the Far East. And what these emerging Catholic populations want is a culturally conservative theology (recall the uproar in these same regions when the openly gay Anglican bishop, Gene Robinson, was confirmed). The code word for most of that uproar is “anti-Modern.” So the irony of Catholic anti-Modernism multiplies, morphs, turns back on itself. The logic of Catholic anti-Modernis…
Read More…not uniform and can change based on interpretations of religious texts or between religious leaders. In some countries, a resurgence of conservative interpretation of religion has been associated recently with a rise in violence and intolerance of LGBTI people. Homophobic sentiments are believed to be especially high in countries that are more religious and/or theocratic, with correlation also found between homophobia and gender inequality. Gende…
Read More…rriage into the country’s constitution, which currently refers to marriage between “partners” without specifying gender. The statement comes amid concerns from some that the conservative East European nation will align with other EU nations and permit gay marriage. Romania currently does not recognize marriages between people of the same sex. The church, to which more than 85 percent of Romanians belong, said Friday it supports a recent proposal m…
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…elivered—dissent and approval, femininity and righteousness and pleasure—encoded the proceedings with a special kind of attention, another layer to Supreme Court ritual. Those fabric beacons shone powerfully for those of us who have experienced marginalization, had to code switch from setting to setting, or learned to express ourselves through subtle cues beyond formal language. While it’s not a huge surprise that some of Ginsburg’s collars will r…
Read More…all over the streets that are in some of the countries over in the Middle East, just blowing up a super market with not even soldiers, just people, when 250 people die in a super market that are shopping, where people die in a store or in a street. There’s a lot of hatred there that’s some place. Now I don’t know if that’s from the Koran. I don’t know if that’s from some place else. But there’s tremendous hatred out there that I’ve never seen any…
Read More…omosexuality is largely taboo.” Nestled in the Caucasus, at the crossroads between East and West, Georgia has witnessed a cultural clash between liberal forces and religious conservatives over the past decade, as it embarked on radical reforms and rapid modernization. Its leaders have worked hard to westernize the country’s image but homophobia remains widespread, rights groups say. Bokvadze was an organizer of “a now-infamous rally in 2013 agains…
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…located near Mumbai and Westerner-friendly. In fact, both had developed an East-West hybridity that extended from Americans in key leadership roles to a spiritual eclecticism with room for Jesus, New Age and Zen. So after flying 20-plus hours from Los Angeles to Mumbai and driving another eight hours to Pune, I’d dropped half of the students at the rural Ananda retreat and alighted at Osho with the rest. The Osho International Meditation Resort is…
Read More…uko, the heterosexual executive director of the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum, was part of the case that Sexual Minorities Uganda and the Center for Constitutional Rights have brought against American anti-gay activist Scott Lively, JJuuko sais it could put an end to “evangleicals coming here and importing homophobia,” adding, “You can’t promote hate in other countries. You can’t export hate.” Jjuuko is optimistic about the long-term…
Read More…arian Ali Motahari as asking “why the West is moving toward animalism, and promoting affairs such as homosexuality that go against the human nature?” Chile: Marriage equality opponent wins presidential election; Congress will have pro-equality majority Sebastián Piñera, Chile’s president between 2010 and 2014, will return to office in March after winning a runoff election in December. Piñera is an opponent of marriage equality for same-sex couples…
Read More…of sex (kissing) and nudity (a painting of Adam and Eve that shows Eve’s breast). When asked if she was exploring a presidential campaign in Iowa, Angle replied that she was investigating her options. She has since said she is not promoting the film because she is running for president—though is not the same as saying she is not running. For now it looks like she’ll focus on the congressional race, but in any case she seems intent on insuring that…
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