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Burning Down the Temple: Religion and Irony in Black Rock City

By Sarah M. Pike

…hting of the temple began and everyone became transfixed by the fire. Each year I find the temple and its fiery demise the most moving experience on the playa; even if someone is hollering obnoxiously or playing with a laser pointer. If every other playa site invites irreverence and irony, this is still the one that takes meaning most seriously. It is a site of both voyeurism and participation, where our deepest fears and most painful losses are a…

Trans Protections in India and Malta; Death-by-Stoning Law in Brunei; Church-State Divides on Marriage

By Peter Montgomery

…ir potential, irrespective of caste, religion or gender.” In December, the Indian Supreme Court reinstated a colonial-era anti-sodomy law, recriminalizing same-sex relations. Buzzfeed’s Lester Feder writes that this week’s “third gender” ruling could make it easier for the Supreme Court to overturn December’s ruling: For the past 12 years, the Indian LGBTI rights movement had pinned its hope to a challenge to the country’s colonial-era sodomy law,…

In the Aftermath of the “Himalayan Tsunami”

By Luke Whitmore

…ds, and bridges. It is too early to know how many people have died but the number will probably be in the thousands. The numbers may be low compared to global-scale disasters of recent years, but there is a wrenching poignancy to what is happening in Uttarakhand right now. Many of the forces that frame daily life in South Asia are suddenly on display like a raw wound: the wages of development and globalization, the power of the natural world, divi…

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…

Our Failure To Understand Ferguson: A Cognitive Explanation

By Andrew Aghapour

…em, he seemed to be saying, is with blaming in the first place. Blaming an airline is disorienting because it applies a human-oriented inference system to an entity that simply doesn’t act like a person. So if we find ourselves blaming institutions, I asked him, are we already using a set of flawed psychological mechanisms? “It’s not that we’re using flawed psychological mechanisms,” he responded. “We’re using the only psychological mechanisms we…

Pricking the Conscience of Churches: From AIDS Activism to Ending World Hunger

By Susan Henking

…amount of poverty. It is not accidental that South Africa has the highest number of persons infected with HIV—the consequence of apartheid has been poverty, lack of education, unemployment, hunger, and disease. In India, HIV spreads among the most impoverished and poorly educated. This theme of poverty takes me to a few more questions. You co-authored a book entitled Ending Hunger Now with Senators McGovern and Dole. And you had previously writte…

New Mormon Anti-Gay Policy Sparks Mass Exodus From Church; Christian AID Workers in Africa Refuse to Help Gay Refugees; Ukraine Rejects, Then Accepts EU-Required Gay Rights Law; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…Queer Diasporas: Islam, Homosexuality and a Micropolitics of Dissent. UK – India: LGBT Exhibit Coincides With Diwali “Asian Future” – an exhibit being held this week as part of London LGBT arts festival GFEST – coincides with Diwali, the Hindu and Sikh festival of lights that took place this year on November 11. According to Joe Williams at Pink News, Challenging perceptions of Asian LGBTQI identities, ‘Asian Future’ offers a rare glimpse into a w…

Mexican Bishops Exorcism Against Equality; African Bishops Oppose ‘Enemy of Human Race’; Israeli Islamic Leader Anti-Gay Op-Ed

By Peter Montgomery

…y in a country torn between conservative mores and proximity to the West.” India: Actress discusses role as lesbian in film banned in India Preeti Gupta, a popular TV and theater actor, plays a lesbian girl Leela in Unfreedom, a movie released in the U.S. in May but banned in India. The film, by US-based Raj Amit Jumar, is set in New York and Delhi. The Hindu published an article and interview with Gupta on June 19: The film approaches sexuality a…

Inside Outsourced: Come See Where Your Jobs Went

By Haroon Moghul

… I think it helps that the film production community is more familiar with India and Indian culture than, say, 20 years ago. People have filmed there or have been invited to visit by friends or have been exposed to its culture through Bollywood or the music scene. So the knowledge of India reflected in the show is coming from a more realistic place, and the show can play with stereotypes Americans have of Indians in an honest way. Of course, there…

More Mixed Signals from Pope Francis; Church of England Wrestles with Rifts; Faith Groups Lobby Pro & Con on Irish Referendum; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…ty that the definition of marriage is protected, sustained and supported.” India: Couple’s high-profile marriage in defiance of anti-gay law BuzzFeed reported last week on a gay couple that was married in a religious ceremony at the end of January. “A Sanskrit teacher conducted the ceremony in a traditional Marathi fashion,” the couple told BuzzFeed India. “And all the ceremonies including Mehendi, Haldi, Sangeet were performed….The couple faced a…