…it hadn’t occurred just days after the disjointedly homophobic comments by San Francisco 49ers’ cornerback Chris Culliver about “the gay guys” in the NFL. His full remarks are here, but in short, Culliver let it be known that “I don’t do the gay guys, man,” and besides, there are no gay 49ers, according to Culliver, and they should leave if there are any, anyway. It’s a sign of the age of cultural enlightenment that seems to be dawning in the NFL…
…n in employment decisions by grantees.” After the 2011 hearing, Scott told San Francisco Chronicle reporter Bob Egelko that Holder was “obviously ‘embarrassed to try to explain the policy’” and that Obama could repeal the OLC memo via executive order but had made no effort to. The responses to Scott’s question finally reveal the straightforward answer CARD has long sought. Although it was unclear at the time exactly how the Obama administration wa…
…it mean to cover “religion” as a subject versus preaching, practicing, or promoting it? Is “religion” an historical construction, a Western invention? Is belief critical to religion, or is religion something people do? Is religion a vestige of pre-modernity? Is secularity really religion’s opposite? What about the supernatural? These are just a few of the questions that inspire RD’s coverage of religion, and its ongoing deep-dive into the role of…
…trained lay clergy. Mayne attends a progressive Mormon congregation in the San Francisco Bay area. He remembers that during the Proposition 8 campaign, even as leaders at the LDS Church’s headquarters issued a letter urging Mormons to join the Yes on 8 campaign, there were divergences—sometimes significant—in the level of involvement directed or supported by local leaders Local leaders and even paid LDS strategists, lobbyists, lawyers, and politic…
…nary.org): He (Dean Dunkle) once described Asian transit passengers in the San Francisco Bay area as “slanty-eyed.” In a large community meeting last spring, he compared the technical side of theological education to “looking up women’s skirts.” Before several faculty members and students, he spoke, as an obvious act of intimidation, of how “black people can do such interesting things with their hair,” a comment about which students complained. On…
…and professor-with-flexible-leave-time Harrison Ford make their way to the sanctuary of an ancient temple, where they’re given a test: choose the real Grail from a collection of fancy cups. Glover chooses the fanciest one, drinks from it, and is disintegrated, like so: Then our pal Indy selects the smallest, dustiest vessel, saying, “This is the cup of a carpenter.” He uses his cup to save Sean Connery’s life, the Nazi lady dies, and a thousand se…
…as the Director of Ministry at Saint Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco—has roamed the streets giving ashes to anyone who wants them. Not only are strangers on the sidewalk happy to be smeared with ashes and told they are going to die, but some chased Miles down to get their ashes. In an interview, Miles invokes the term “lived religion” to describe the appeal of Ash Wednesday. Historians of religion know that in practice, religio…
…al from the denomination and its $8.89 million payoff to the Presbytery of San Francisco. Such eye-popping settlements reflect the PCUSA trust clause concerning church property (and California property values). As our Book of Order puts it, all property is held in trust “for the use and benefit of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)”—even a newly built building in Bathgate, population 43. As if theological disagreements are not fraught enough, PCUSA c…
…. Cordileone, an outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage, as archbishop of San Francisco and Leonard Blair, who played a major role in the Vatican investigation of American nuns, as the archbishop of Hartford. Pope Francis was named Person of the Year by both TIME magazine and by the Advocate, the latter choice angering some gay-rights activists. Ethopia: Newsweek Reports ‘Cheered on by Americans, Ethiopia has Declared War on Gay Men” A major st…
…rence Center in Southern California. While hiking and praying there in the San Bernardino Mountains, Graham decided to set aside Templeton’s challenge, to banish his own intellectual doubts, and simply to “preach the gospel.” He did just that, descending the mountain to conduct his famous Los Angeles revival campaign of 1949. Abetted by prodigious advance work, which would become the hallmark of Graham’s evangelistic efforts, Graham, billed as “Am…
