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Spiritual Unplugging, Or What to Do When There is Wifi at the Ashram

By Matt Hamilton

…self-interrogation boiled, my hand extended to the right. I reached for my phone, but I found nothing. At first I laughed at my instinct, my muscle memory. The phone, with its glowing screen, gave me solace and control. But I was tied to my cushion for another hour, and in this ashram for another day, so email would have to wait. I panicked. My heart raced. Would my editor be asking for me? Would a reply from that politician’s secretary sit unansw…

‘Rising Global Tide’ Of Anti-Gay Crackdowns; More in Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…ly warms my huge, queer heart.” Marriage equality advocates are meeting in Costa Rica November 8-11. Tajikistan: Government compiles list of LGBT people A newspaper published by the state prosecutor reported that authorities have compiled a list of 319 gay men and 48 lesbians who will be “required to undergo testing to avoid ‘the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases,’” reports AFP: Unlike in neighbouring Uzbekistan, where “sodomy” is illegal, h…

Gay Marriage Supporters Rally People of Faith for Washington’s November Vote

By Nicole Neroulias

…arriage Equality and Mormons for Marriage Equality. Both groups marched in Seattle’s Pride Parade last Sunday, and had representatives at the coalition’s first “people of faith” phone bank on Tuesday. Religious volunteers, they believe, can sway values voters by sharing personal stories about their own faith journeys toward supporting marriage equality, gay relatives and friends, explained Andy Grow, Washington United for Marriage press secretary….

What Fidel Castro’s Death Means for LGBT Rights in Cuba and More, in This Week’s Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…A group of Latin American countries – Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico and Uruguay — countered the African Group’s efforts to postpone the new mandate. A petition to protect the position launched by ILGA garnered the support of 850 human rights organizations from 157 countries. Last Monday the human rights committee of the General Assembly narrowly voted down the suspension attempt and then voted 94 to 3 with 80…

UN Human Rights Council Creates LGBT Watchdog; Orthodox Council Affirms Traditional Teaching on Family; Pope Francis Says Church Should Apologize to Gays; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…y call them gangs or hooligans. They don’t call them as organized groups.” Costa Rica: Activists celebrate progress, look for marriage equality Noting that LGBT activists have won passage of anti-discrimination policies and the extension of health-care benefits, but that a marriage equality bill has stalled in the Legislative Assembly, The Tico Times asked participants in the country’s recent price celebration, La Marcha de la Diversidad, how they…

Global Anti-Gay Forces Plot Against ‘Satanic’ Equality Movement

By Peter Montgomery

…include: Australia, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Cambodia, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Japan, Kosovo, Latvia, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nicaragua, Peru, Philippines, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, and Vietnam. Vitaly Milonov, a member of the St. Petersburg city council and author is its anti-gay “propaganda” law, responded by saying , “They can marry monkeys and register perverts for all I care.” Mexico: Supreme Cour…

How Much Did Jesus Care About Sex?

By Peter Laarman

…cost of true discipleship. The price it was called upon to pay was all too cheap…We gave away the word and sacraments wholesale; we baptized, confirmed, and absolved a whole nation unasked and without condition…Was there ever a more terrible and disastrous instance of Christianizing the world than this? It’s regrettable, I think, that “cheap grace” has turned into a kind of meme that Rod Dreher can toss into his debate with Andrew Sullivan without…

Beyond Alarmism and Denial in the Dominionism Debate

By Anthea Butler

…as a Master’s student at Fuller working the switchboard part-time, and the number one phone call that came through went something like this: “Can you connect me to C. Peter Wagner’s Church Growth Institute? I’d like to buy some materials.” No one was happier than I was when he retired from Fuller and moved to Colorado Springs! I felt like I worked at a catalog call-in center. Seriously. I would never have expected to be talking about Wagner in con…

Episcopal Church Assault Data Reveals the Dark Side of Inclusive Christianity

By Charlotte Dalwood

…those victims who did report their victimization to Episcopal leaders, the number one assessment from both trans/non-binary and cisgender respondents was that “little or no change” came about as a result. 20.6% of transgender and non-binary survivors reported that they simply left the church altogether. By comparison, “only” 10.7% of cisgender women felt they had to leave. (Curiously, there’s no data on this front for LGB-identified Episcopalians….

Power Up: Turn Off the Cell Phone

By Daniel Schultz

…plugged-in lifestyle doesn’t really get at the heart of the issue. I think the Amish, of all people, have it right. It’s not so much about what you as an individual are doing or not doing, as the effect technology has on the community: Why not make life easier and just put [a phone] in the house? “What would that lead to?” another Amish man asked me. “We don’t want to be the kind of people who will interrupt a conversation at home to answer a tel…