Religion Dispatches
…stake tensions for incompatibilities or inherent opposition. I know a fair number of African Americans, Hispanics, and Muslims who once voted Republican. They no longer do—not because they disagree with the Republican Party, but because they feel it has no room for them. It seems opposed to their presence in America. A good number in the Muslim-majority world feel the same way about the place of Islam in the world: there is no room for it. It isn’…
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…ant anti-LGBT laws like North Carolina’s House Bill 2, Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and any number of ill-fated attempts to block the forward march of marriage equality. But my professional pedigree also breeds skepticism. And although it’s long been clear that the current administration is hell-bent on turning back the clock on basic civil rights for anyone who’s not a straight white evangelical Christian man, I often wonder wheth…
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…, homeschooling and Sunday School curricula, and even its own TV streaming service—is based on the concept that “mainstream” science is fundamentally flawed in its approach to evidence. Secular scientists might claim that they allow observation and replicable experimentation to dictate their conclusions, but Answers in Genesis argues that scientists are deluding themselves about their true “starting point.” Ham famously argues that there are only…
Read More…gh participation rates are increasing among these types of churches, they represent a small percentage of all churches. Fulton explains that a lot of this increase is due to the debates over immigration reform; but even factoring that in, Hispanic churches are becoming more politically active. The number of congregations might be few, but they may also be larger communities, representing a substantial number of people. In any case, the trend will…
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…is designed to recognize Americans “who have performed exemplary deeds of service for the nation.” What of Colson’s service to the nation? He was an avid supporter of the Vietnam War, a willing architect of, and participant in, the Nixon administration’s attempted shredding of the Constitution. He spent seven months at Alabama’s Maxwell Prison for his involvement in the Watergate scandal, and he was an erstwhile co-conspirator, according to Senat…
Read More…the height of the battling, that it was all not such a big deal, that the number of dissidents was actually quite small and that he thought his church would be better off once they were gone. Indeed, according to Wikipedia there are over 7,000 Episcopal congregations in the US with over 2 million members, though the significance of that number is unclear since, as the priest in the church where I was baptized once teased me: “when you’re baptiz…
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…ify hate and violence. And while the coincidence of being born under the “Sign of the Beast” in Topeka 666 is still a little unnerving, there are differing opinions about the number’s translation. Some theologians suggest the number should really be 616, in which case, all eyes on Peoria, Illinois….
Read More…nd other Christians marching together at Pride. In recent years, the small number of Christians who turn up to protest against Pride have been vastly outnumbered by the Christians participating in it. Hill also noted religious support in the UK last April for a new law “to allow religious elements in civil partnerships, while last year the Quakers became the first major Christian denomination to resolve to carry out same-sex marriages.” Even here…
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…Mathew Bowman, who is now a lawyer for the Department of Health and Human Services, came from the Alliance Defending Freedom, where he represented Conestoga Wood Specialties in its successful challenge, along with Hobby Lobby, to the contraceptive mandate. Bowman argues that there is no evidence that the mandate reduced the number of unintended pregnancies and has disputed that there are any ill health effects related to unintended pregnancy. All…
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…hose reports often take an especially truculent, pro-Kremlin stance. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty posted a photo essay chronicling the “rollercoaster” of attitudes toward Russia’s gay community since the fall of the Soviet Union, including “a grim U-turn under Vladimir Putin.” Cayman Islands: Coalition of church leaders launching campaign for ‘Bible-based values’ The Cayman New Service reports that a coalition of church leaders, including Angli…
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