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Romney Credits “Culture,” “Hand of Providence” for Israel’s Economic Superiority over Palestinians

By Sarah Posner

…a better culture or advanced culture,” said Saeb Erekat, a top Palestinian official. In Haaretz, Barak Ravid writes: [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu embraced Romney as no Israeli prime minister has ever before embraced a candidate running against an incumbent U.S. president: Aside from their working meeting in the morning, Netanyahu also hosted Romney and his wife and sons for dinner at his official residence. Romney’s entire visit to…

‘Religious Freedom’ for Atheists

By Austin Dacey

…A government that singles out some citizens’ conceptions of the sacred for official protection is guilty of a gross failure of equal treatment. This principle of equality is supported by recent developments in international human rights law. Last summer the United Nations Human Rights Committee commented that laws restricting blasphemy are inherently discriminatory because they give to traditional believers a legal protection that is not available…

Both the Joy and the Uproar Over the Pope’s Blessings for LGBTQ Catholics are Small Potatoes Compared to this Age-Old Church Problem

By Mary E. Hunt

…rdinary ministers of the sacrament while the priest or deacon is simply an official witness. So why not follow that model here, encouraging people ineligible for the sacrament to bless one another and move right along? This is just one more clue that something else is going on here—namely, an awkward attempt to give the illusion of change and acceptance while keeping the major pillars and powers of the church solidly in place. Blowback against the…

Exclusion is Causing Great Harm: A Conversation With Suspended UMC Pastor Rev. Cynthia Meyer

By Joel Pitney

…sen— in the wake of their church’s decision this past spring to uphold its official policy that homosexuality is “incompatible with Christian teachings”—to risk their careers and go public. Meyer’s announcement was not embraced by the regional church leadership with open arms. In fact, within days charges were brought against her for violating the UMC’s official policy against openly gay individuals practicing as clergy. Despite the fact that her…

Amid Horrors, Muslim ‘John Hancocks’ Forge Secular Sudan

By Frederick Clarkson

…… sharia and Islam will be the main source for the Constitution, Islam the official religion and Arabic the official language.” Such statements have provided opportunities for those seeking to impose a Manichaean narrative on the conflict of Muslim persecution of Christians. But even as Khartoum does in fact target Christians, the broad struggle is more accurately seen as one between rising state-sponsored Arabist Islamic nationalism, against raci…

Cafeteria Christianity in the Age of Social Media: What’s Old Is New Again

By Kate Blanchard

…on of Christianity would prevail, developing a biblical canon, determining official formulae for Jesus and the Trinity, and approving only certain ways of doing baptism and communion. By the end of the century, Theodosius I would outlaw all “wrong” forms of Christian belief and practice and punish them severely. The emergence of an “official” or “orthodox” or “pure” Christianity in the fourth century, however, does not mean Christians haven’t cont…

Conservative Republican Muslim Condemns Fox Report on Congressional Staffers as “Anti-Muslim Bigotry”

By Sarah Posner

…so CMSA members, under the auspices of the House chaplain; they are not an official function of the CMSA. Regarding the Fox piece, Khan said, “since 9/11 there have been a couple of individuals that have been spending a lot of money to cull through tapes and videos of conferences and TV programs and the Internet to look for information that is critical of Muslims and Muslim-Americans getting involved in public policy. They compile that into a guil…

Global LGBT Recap: Asylum for Victims of Homophobia Exports; Orthodox Church Sees Anti-Gay Campaign Turned Toward Itself

By Peter Montgomery

…any other country, except here they have to nod along with the homophobic official rhetoric. Meanwhile, a story in the Globe and Mail says that homophobia in Russia “isn’t just about Mr. Putin – or the skinheads, church activists and often-hostile police who show up at Moscow’s occasional gay-rights demonstrations. Opinion polls show that 80 per cent of Russians support the new law – in fact, many want the Kremlin to go much further.” The story b…

Humiliating “Kim Davis Bill” To “Protect” Anti-LGBT County Clerks Passes Texas Senate

By Sunnivie Brydum

…who dare to ask their elected officials to perform a key function of their official capacity, and legally recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex. While several county clerks offices have already implemented procedures to allow clerks to hand off marriage license duties to another clerk if they have a religious conviction, SB 522 goes much further, the Tribune notes. The bill goes into great detail about the chain of recusal, layin…

Massacre in Mindanao: The Irresistible Urge to Blame Religion

By Bruce B. Lawrence

…m Mindanao (ARMM). Specifically, the GPR does not want the ARMM to acquire official status. On paper there has been a commitment to pursue and even to grant autonomy for Muslims in this area, the southernmost of the three principal regions that (with Luzon and the Visayas, consisting of the Panay, Negros, Samar, and other islands) define the Republic of the Philippines. An agreement brokered over 15 years ago remains unimplemented, allegedly due t…