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Closed-Door Conference in Poland Shows How US Conservative Christian Networks Export ‘Conversion Therapy’

By Antonia Gross and Rina Nikolaeva

…ans, German doctors, British pastors, and Norwegian anti-pornography activists; Christians from the UK, from the Faroe Islands, and from Barbados. Yet, while the bulk of the attendees hailed from Eastern Europe, notably nearly half of the 23 announced speakers were US-based. Every speaker was predictably affiliated with an anti-LGBTIQ Christian organization, the majority of which are evangelical (though some are Catholic). Some claimed to be scien…

Is LGBT-Muslim Clash Aiding Rise of Right in Europe?

By Peter Montgomery

…op of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN), “one of the largest Christian denominations in the country,” denounced same-sex marriage during a sermon in Windhoek: He said God has created marriage as a vehicle of generational renewal and childbirth, and it is from that perspective that ELCIN views marriage and will only allow a marriage between a man and a woman and not those between same-sex persons. “There is no procreation in same-s…

The Religious Mourning of ‘Saint’ Kobe Bryant Continues

By Terry Shoemaker

…urning of Bryant’s passing. American society is heavily influenced by Protestant Christian ideas. An important move of the Protestant tradition—a reform movement of Catholicism—is the elimination of formal sainthood processes. Protestants argued that saints were not needed as mediators between humans and the divine, and that saints bordered on idolatry. With no formalized ways of declaring sainthood in American society, broadly speaking, there are…

Are Muslims Nuts?

By Haroon Moghul

…sad regime’s brutal crackdown against fellow Muslims and Arabs? Hurt and mistrust exists among Westerners and those in the Muslim world, and these can be addressed, or used to further cement those feelings in a cycle of violence. Those who called for protests, like those who make mocking movies, know well what they do, and what the consequences could be. In an age when the opinion of Muslims has begun to matter, and ideas can rocket around the pla…

Secularist Activists Are Being Murdered in Bangladesh: An Ongoing Crisis Causes Many to Flee

By Michael De Dora

…enous in their religious beliefs. Attacks in Bangladesh have targeted atheists and apostates, yes, but what victims have generally shared is something more fundamental: a willingness to live according to the dictates of their own consciences, and to pursue an open, pluralistic, and democratic society. Outrageously, the Bangladesh government has done little to address this emergency, failing to instill the political will or provide the resources to…

Sometimes Salvation Looks Like Rage: An Open Letter to “Non-denominational” Churches

By Yazmine Nichols

…ate the first-century church. The purpose of this language is two-fold. First, it distances the non-denominational/evangelical church from historical moments of crisis such as the Crusades; and second, it is thought to bring its subjects closer to Jesus. The word “disciple” is said to be a more accurate description of “true Jesus followers,” since the word “Christian” only appears a few times in the Bible and is described somewhat offhandedly (Act…

Emanuel’s Pulse: A Plea for Black Church–LGBTIQ Solidarity

By J. Kameron Carter

…ector of religion or ideology. . . . Those of use who believe in justice must stand against [radical hatred] by working to pass sane gun laws, better [understand] how all of our religions can be turned toward hatred if we are not ever-vigilant. . . Yes. And just as we must better understand how any religion can be turned toward and made to express hatred, so too we can and must give ourselves to turning our faith traditions against such hatred so…

“Americans Hate Muslims, Too” (And Other Impediments to U.S. Advocacy for Religious Freedom Abroad)

By Chad Bauman

…hate crimes committed against Muslims in America, where, according to FBI statistics, and proportional to the respective national populations, they are roughly as common as attacks on Christians in India. (One of the reasons that this problem is of particular interest in India, of course, is that those intending to attack Muslims in America often mistakenly attack Indian American Sikhs or Hindus, as reported in this Times of India story.) All of…

US Offers Help For Investigation of Bangladesh Killings

By Peter Montgomery

…difficult to confirm data about gay people charged under Saudi Arabia’s justice system, as consensual homosexual acts are often legally indistinguishable from rape or paedophilia under the country’s laws. But it was reported last month that prosecutors in the country are pushing to enforce the death penalty for homosexuality – because social media is turning people gay. In the interview, Salman Odah stated that “even though homosexuality is consi…

“Even the Rich Suffer”: An Interview with Google’s Jolly Good Fellow Chade-Meng Tan

By Max Zahn

…food. And then you move closer to capitalism like that seen in the United States. You still have problems. You don’t have enough money for infrastructure. If you did have enough money for infrastructure, you wouldn’t have enough for poverty alleviation or for libraries, and so on. But maybe what we have in America is just about right: a system near the middle, trending towards the capitalist end. Then we can rely on inner development to create mo…