Religion Dispatches
…same-sex marriage. The bill now moves to the floor of the House. The state Senate passed the bill on Valentine’s Day and Gov. Pat Quinn is ready to sign it into law. See a synopsis of the hearing from Windy City Media….
Read More
…is time for someone else to take over. I applaud his move and read it as a sign of hope in a dreary ecclesial scene. Speculation about his health is rampant. As with many elders whose offspring plot to take away the car keys, I suspect there was some backdoor lobbying to make this retirement happen. But I dare to hope that it was at least in part the considered judgment of an octogenarian who saw his predecessor propped up long after his prime and…
Read More
…stry on the part of traditional religious leaders, it nonetheless seems to signal the enduring, if redefined, significance of at least the concept of prayer: the idea of a reaching out, however momentarily, however noncommittally, to an imagined digital cosmos and whatever greater power makes it hum for a blip of connection and solace. Perhaps, in aggregate, that spiritualized pause in the noosphere is not nothing, mere microblinks of expression c…
Read More
…iring practices (and, like many of the HCSMs, it requires all employees to sign a Christian statement of faith). If the new evangelicals were to be part of a successful coalition to persuade Congress to pass, for example, meaningful legislation on gun control, immigration reform, or climate change, that would certainly be a positive development for evangelical political advocacy. But what sort of cracks would then develop? Will evangelicals, for…
Read More…had the most enormous big gay rainbow across my electorate. It has to be a sign. He also compassionately addressed those who expressed real concerns. We are allowing two people who love each other to have that recognized, and I can’t see what’s wrong with that for love nor money, sir. I just cannot. I cannot understand why someone would be opposed. I understand why people don’t like what others do. That’s fine. We’re all in that category. But I gi…
Read More
…nd that is how Brooks sells himself and his politics—he is a choice engine—promoting choice, heralding the individual, and spreading the gospel far and wide, enabling more decisions to be executed by you by making your life easier—you do not have to read Taylor after all! And here I must offer a requisite disclosure: I have read A Secular Age and I am on record as a critic of Taylor’s framing of modernity. Although I am fearless when I talk trash…
Read More…Martin Richard’s gap-toothed grin, to the way his “No More Hurting People” sign was clearly carefully printed yet switched between upper and lower case, to the long eyelashes that his head had yet to really grow into… these are things I’ve seen in my own house, that I associate with one of the people I love most in the world. And, yes, God help me, the fact that Martin Richard is white, lives in the U.S., and speaks English makes it seem like “he…
Read More…te anti-gay messages. Childers said that he was once one of the people who promoted anti-gay messages. “I am thankful that I was allowed to be liberated from that prejudice,” he said. He urged pastors who are asked to partner with the organizations attending the Values Voter Summit not to “make a mockery of their faith” by embracing the harm those groups cause. NALT co-founders John and Catherine Shore spoke about leaving their first church home w…
Read More…d (and much prevarication after its discovery from Giglio), is certainly a sign that homosexuality, for the large portion of the population, will soon be a non-issue. David Cole gives a good rundown on the recent progress gays and lesbians have made: Today, two-thirds of Americans, including Rush Limbaugh, support civil unions for same-sex couples; nine states and the District of Columbia have recognized gay marriage; and nine more have recognized…
Read More…egically At least two gatherings in the past week focused on the strategic promotion of LGBT equality abroad. On Friday, December 6, in Washington, D.C., the Center for Transatlantic Relations, which is part of the Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, hosted a presentation called “LGBT Rights: A Geostrategic Issue for Democracies.” The panel, part of a series of discussions on the topic, featured Elizabe…
Read More