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Francis Visits the Church that John Paul Broke

By Patricia Miller

…umber of marriages within the church has declined by nearly half. Only the number of Catholic funerals has held steady. And while the number of Catholics overall has remained level, that’s largely due to Hispanic migration to the US; some 40 percent of those born Catholic have left the church. But numbers don’t tell the whole story. The church Francis will encounter is fundamentally different in character from the church of John Paul in two import…

What a Turn-of-the-Century Anti-Abortion and Contraception Crusader Reveals About GOP Efforts to Ban Abortion Pills by Mail

By Steven K. Green

…ck. In 1878, the Supreme Court upheld a law banning the mailing of lottery tickets—and by implication the Comstock Act itself—with the opinion declaring that: “[t]he power possessed by Congress embraces the regulation of the entire postal system of the country. The right to designate what shall be carried necessarily involves the right to determine what shall be excluded.” (Ex parte Jackson, 1878) The point being that precedent exists for a nation…

Refusing the Monsters on Maple Street: A First-Person Commentary from the Mass Hysteria at JFK

By Marion Grau

…ion, with no clear instructions, we stood there, left to ourselves. In the days after the event, I watched a YouTube video which showed airport police heavily armed in riot gear coming into what looks like JFK’s Terminal 8 to do a sweep. I was reminded of the insistence, by Black Lives Matter activists, that effective policing has to be more than police in riot gear rushing in with big guns—that it’s about being present, building trust, soothing p…

An Open Letter to CEO Jeff Smisek On United Airlines’ Blasphemous Safety Video

By Austin Dacey

…ual recompense. In the video message that was played before my last United Airlines flight, you expressed your desire to greet each and every passenger; you invited us to sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight. If I could greet you now, I would want to know: were you unaware of the monstrosity that was about to follow? There, rising above the hiss of the pressurized air, as the video monitors snapped to the image of an engorged sun bursting from be…

Gingrich Downplays Adelson Money, Stokes Fear of “Second Holocaust” at Florida Church

By Sarah Posner

…ingrich received the endorsement of Herman Cain, and Santorum cancelled Sunday’s campaign stops in Florida after his daughter Bella was hospitalized.) Organizers said they had distributed 1,800 tickets, and the pews in the church were nearly full, with several hundred, if not nearly a thousand people in attendance. Gingrich was the only candidate to appear; Staver, the “forum’s” moderator took pains to point out that they had invited the other can…

Religious Affiliation, ‘Mankind’: India’s Anti-Corruption Activist Leads Second Freedom Struggle

By April L. Bogle

…fficult and dangerous prisoners to be locked in a secluded location for 10 days without speaking, meditating about 12 hours each day, guided by two teachers. There would be no guards with weapons, no prison officials allowed inside. “After it was over, we learned the prisoners had threatened to kill the teachers several times. But the teachers never told us. They just kept the session going,” she said. By day six, the turning point for most people…

‘Anti-Romeo’ Vigilante Squads Target Men Suspected Of Being Gay; More in the Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…lectorate than it is with straight voters. LePen’s Party, which includes a number of openly gay officials, still pledges to roll back the marriage equality law in favor of civil unions. As AP notes, LePen is not the only nationalist leader who uses fear of radical Islamist violence to attract LGBT support: In the Netherlands, Party for Freedom leader Geert Wilders said that his party, which is hostile to Muslims and wants to halt immigration, shou…

Snake-Handlers, False Messiahs, and a Few Great Souls: 14 Who Died in 2014

By Daniel Silliman

…94. David Eugene Sorenson An elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, David E. Sorenson was executive director of temple building at a time when the church built more temples than ever before. Under the direction of Gordon B. Hinkley, who authorized a smaller, less expensive temple design, Sorenson oversaw the dedication of 71 temples between 1998 and 2005. These included three at historic sites: the Palmyra New York Temple, the W…

Waiting for Lightning to Strike: A Wobbly Agnostic among the Atheists

By Carolyn S. Briggs

…with indecipherable names, but still I persisted in reading who begat whom day after day, year after year. There’s a break finally. Nancy and I wander through the room where merchandise is displayed: books, bumper stickers, jewelry. I was born OK the first time. At first they burn books, then the people. I excuse myself and use the restroom. There are atheists in there discussing American Idol and what happened the night before. That helps me calm…

Pride Month & Prejudice; ‘Worrisome Time’ For LGBT People; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…been “some tentative steps forward,” including public events on World AIDS Day and the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. Malaysia: Government hosts competition for videos to ‘prevent’ homosexuality The health ministry launched a competition offering cash prizes of up to $1,000 for the best videos explaining how to “prevent” homosexuality. More from AFP: Activists on Saturday said the move will further spread fear amon…