Search for "cheap airline ticket from orlando/miami to rio phone number 1-800-299-7264"

Beyond Alarmism and Denial in the Dominionism Debate

By Anthea Butler

…ople have their home church, they’re marinating, so to speak, in the the various teachings of a number of people. I’ve covered many an event where I’ve been waiting in line to get in, and the inevitable conversation with the people around you goes something like this: they ask first where you go to church, and second which teachers you admire, and then you get into a long conversation about the relative virtues of all of them. A really good exampl…

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…

Sacred Texting: When Religious Writ Gets Wired

By Rachel Wagner

…ability of cell phones to be used for impure activities, some Jewish cell-phone users have requested so-called “kosher” phones. The idea is to offer conservative Jews a phone that is free of “corrupting influences” of the sort that are already avoided by ultra-orthodox Jews through a ban on television and some radio. Reuters reported in February 2008 that Bezeq Israel Telecom launched a new “kosher” landline phone service, which will block calls…

Why The Book of Mormon (the Musical) is Awesomely Lame

By Jared Farmer

…Heavenly Father sent him to Uganda instead of his favorite place on Earth—Orlando! The recurring musical outbursts about Orlando, Florida, were for me the funniest parts of the show. There are indeed striking similarities between Temple Square and Disney World: the fantasy-castle architecture; the immaculate, artificial neatness; the perky helpfulness of “cast members”/missionaries; the imagineering and the edutainment in service of a well-groome…

We Went Through Amoris Laetitia Section by Section So You Wouldn’t Have To

By Anthony Adams

…who receive it turn a blind eye to the poor and suffering, or consent to various forms of division, contempt and inequality, the Eucharist is received unworthily. If that’s true, I know a planet full of popes, cardinals, bishops and priests who ought to be denied Communion! Section 202 of the sixth chapter is eye-popping in that it is the first clear indication that Pope Francis is in favor of a married clergy. He says that pastors have shown a la…

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

By Peter Montgomery

…ciety,” he said. CNN traces the start of the backlash to early 2016 when a number of political leaders began making “unprompted attacks on Indonesia’s LGBT community.” It notes that conservative Islam is a growing political force, evident in the arrest and conviction of Jakarta’s Christian governor on blasphemy charges. The report says human rights activists have been disappointed by President Joko Widodo’s “lackluster” defense of LGBT people. Sal…

Is New Pope’s Take on the Poor All That New?

By Silvia Alves Fernandes and Manuel A. Vásquez

…ports have surfaced that the Vatican has asked the country and the city of Rio de Janeiro to pitch in an additional $39 million to cover a shortfall in funding for the visit. Brazil and Rio had already forked over close to $65 million, most of it to cover the cost of security, counting on two million expected pilgrims to take care of the rest of the bill totaling $150 million. However, as only 320,000 pilgrims have registered, the Vatican has chos…

LGBT Victories at Olympics, Struggles in Brazil; Catholic Bishops Organizing Anti-Marriage Equality Protests in Mexico; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…ians Outsports.com tracked the success of LGBT athletes at the Olympics in Rio, as well as more than a dozen who narrowly missed making the medal podium. Italian Rachele Bruni dedicated her silver medal in the 10k marathon swim “to her girlfriend as well as her family and coach.” Journalist Nico Hines left the country in the wake of controversy over his Daily Beast story, which was eventually deleted, about athletes using the gay hook-up site Grin…

New Study: Three-Quarters of American Giving Goes to Religion

By Jay Michaelson

…ample. But that narrow exemption is a trickle compared to the flood of the RIO. RIOs are big business. Fully 69% of donations made for non-religious purposes went to religiously identified organizations. And if the Religious and Tea Party Right(s) have their way, these institutions, supported by non-religious-purpose donations, can fire gays, banish contraception from their employees’ health plans, and maintain discriminatory practices like refus…