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Death Penalty, Debated (Dedicated to the Memory of Sarah Horowitz)

By Bill Berkowitz

…es capital punishment and compiles annual statistics, reports that for the most part only Southern states resumed executions. Ohio, which carried out two, was the only state outside the South to impose the death penalty in 2008.” (See the DPIC’s “The Death Penalty in 2008: Year End Report” for more information). “2008 can only be characterized as yet another rollercoaster year for the death penalty in Texas,” said TCADP Executive Director Kristin…

South Asian Religious Leaders Challenged to Take on Stigma and Discrimination: Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…WS). “Faith-based organizations should actively reach out to those who are most vulnerable to HIV through the prism of humanity and compassion that all religions advocate.” …The noted Islamic scholar Dr. Akhtarul Wasey, Commissioner of Linguistic Minorities under the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India, contributed to the discussion via a prepared statement. “We all know there are different lifestyles which not all of us might be in…

How to Choose a Tour Company for Your Hajj

By Amina Wadud

…red by the Saudi government before the visa application. It was one of the most exciting moments since I connected with the particular tour company to organize my trip for hajj! Why was I so excited? Maybe having a needle or two stuck in the arm made the proposal for this once-in-a-lifetime trip more of a reality. Surely, it could not be anything more sadistic. Actually, I became excited after I got a phone call from the agency that I chose. Turns…

Conservative Bishops Unhappy At Synod, But Ignore Walkout Call; Australian Religious Leaders Step Up Marriage Equality Opposition; Italy Debates Civil Unions; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…our delegate presidents at the 2015 synod. Wuerl is known as a moderate on most political and theological questions, while Napier emerged during the 2014 synod as a leader of the conservative opposition to progressive proposals on matters such as divorce and homosexuality. Wuerl bristled at suggestions that the outcome of the synod has been pre-determined, which were widely voiced among predominantly conservative commentators prior to the event, a…

Does Record Number of Religious “Nones” Mean Decline of Religiosity?

By Elizabeth Drescher

…naffiliated—the highest percentage tracked in Pew polling; While Nones are most likely to be found among Millennials (32%), GenXers (21%) and Baby Boomers (15%) have likewise grown among the population of Nones; Fewer than half (48%) of American adults say they are Protestant—the first time self-identified Protestants have fallen below 50% in Pew surveys; More than two-thirds of Nones (68%) believe in God, with more than half (51%) praying on a re…

Holey Holey Holey: The Problem with a New Study Valuing Religion at $1.2 Trillion Per Year

By Michael Schulson

…n Grim said that, after they circulated this number among some colleagues, most thought it was way too low. In an interview with RD, Grim was blunt: “I think [this estimate] is wrong.” The second estimate—$1.2 trillion—is the one that has been appearing in headlines and press releases, and it’s the one the Grims argue is most accurate. To get this number, they took the first figure, $378 billion, and then added the estimated economic impact of rel…

The Vatican v. Protestant Free Thinkers

By Louis A. Ruprecht

…y cases adjacent to the reading rooms, dedicated to new publications—books mostly, along with a handful of journal articles. It is always worth taking some time to consult these cases, both to learn what is happening in this corner of the scholarly world, but also to see what the Vatican presses themselves have published recently. An important new four-volume work caught my eye this week. Edited by Ugo Baldini and Leen Spruit, it is entitled Catho…

7 Women Scholars On the Gender Divide in Religious Studies, the Power of Mentors, and Leading While Female

By Rebecca Barrett-Fox

…so wanted to be able to look back on my life and feel like I’d done what I most wanted to do with it. Studying religion seemed like a way to stay focused on the big questions of meaning and purpose in life both in my own life and in the lives of others. My most basic question has been: why do people believe, do, and experience things that to me seem so implausible? Or as my graduate students and I often say: “we are interested in weird stuff!” But…

Catholic Voters No Longer Beholden to Bishops and Abortion

By Mary E. Hunt

…ing on recession and a failed war in Iraq have shifted the moral focus for most people from personal to social ethics, from abortion to the common good. A few bishops continue to rant that abortion is the sole criterion for voting. For example, Bishop Robert J. Herman of the Archdiocese of St. Louis told Catholics in his diocese that “…this coming election may very well be judgment day,” since “The decision I make in the voting booth will reflect…

The Incredible Shrinking Catholic Church

By Paul Gorrell

…e Germany), and Jewish leaders, Benedict’s ecclesial acceptance of someone most thoughtful people would not invite to a cocktail party demonstrated a lack of emotional intelligence when it comes to understanding history and the changing sensibilities of his own flock. The Vatican has not only felt the need to respond to the secular challenges related to this story through an atypical press statement; moreover, it has also come under pressure to cl…