Search for "cheap airline tickets to fl from va phone number 1-800-299-7264"

US Names Int’l Envoy for LGBT Rights; Marriage revolution spreads in Mexico; Scott Lively Warns World of Anti-Christ; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…s of discussions with global LGBT activists, this one with Anastasia Smirnova, who fled the country after having been arrested for psoting an LGBT banner at the Sochi Olympics. Mexico: ‘Quiet marriage equality revolution’ spreads BuzzFeed’s Lester Feder, with research assistance from journalist Rex Wockner, reports on the wave of marriage equality rulings in Mexico since a Supreme Court ruling in late 2012 in favor of a lesbian couple from Oaxaca:…

Escape From Manhattan: Tech, Tragedy and Storytelling in Sandy’s Wake

By Rachel Wagner

…And nobody can deny the convenience of ready access to information, maps, phone numbers, calendars, and social satisfaction that our reliance on technology provides. Technology is a tool, right? It doesn’t change who we are, right? It doesn’t blind us—it reveals reality by connecting us and showing us the world via our screens… right? Look, I know that our new imaginative, mediated work is doing good. I know people can feel a real sense of empowe…

Aliens Are Fattening Us Up For the Rapture

By Mark Hulsether

…ed more light on this subject and explain that I am slow in noticing this evangelical theme—but since I teach about end-times discourse I try to pay at least passing attention to evolving trends, and this twist seems mildly noteworthy because I have seldom heard it. Although I spoke of Lindsey’s “short answer,” I hasten to add that viewers will learn it only after lengthy sequences about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to the United Nations, a case fo…

With Release of Pentagon Report, UFO Narrative Belief System is Suddenly Supported by Military Witness Testimonies

By Diana Pasulka

…AP witness reports. Extraterrestrials are believed to be technologically advanced and are often thought to be supportive of humans’ best interests. Harvard researcher Dr. John Mack’s bestselling book Abduction: Human Encounters with Aliens (1994) featured the testimonies of people whose encounters with alleged extraterrestrials are best characterized as beneficial and spiritual, if frightening. Current UAP military narratives counter the testimoni…

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

By Chad Bauman

…over for anti-Muslim activists, many of them associated with the Sangh Parivar, a conglomeration of various social, cultural, religious, and political organizations (including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party) that perceive and promote Hindutva, or “Hindu-ness” as the essential characteristic and genius of Indian national identity. While American diplomats often advocate for religious freedom in India in general terms, their w…

Dispatches From the Beltway: Horton Hears Progressive Religion

By Robert P. Jones

…4. This coalition effort involved mirrored websites, with SBC hosting ivotevalues.com and FOF/FRC hosting ivotevalues.org. The fact that progressives are still fighting off the misleading stereotypes of “values voters” in the media is testimony to that effort’s relative success. But since 2006, progressive religious voices have begun to organize and are now proactive, forcing the right into reactive mode. During this extended presidential campaign…

Cross-Burning Hearing Ends, Trial Set to Begin

By Lauri Lebo

…Hamilton was unable to attend the meeting because he had not one, but two flat tires. The trial is scheduled to begin July 26. I’ll be honest, every time I think of the case, I just feel sad. From the moment Freshwater feared losing his job, he has tried to present himself as a martyr to religious discrimination. He has argued that the case has been about the fact that he kept a bible on his desk. (In their lawsuit, the Dennis family never mentio…

Bad News for LGBT Anglicans, Mormons, Adventists, Norwegians, Russians, Georgians, Egyptians, Kuwaitis, Saudis…

By Peter Montgomery

…tection.” More from the Windy City Times’ Jason Carson Wilson: Religious influence, particularly the U.S brand of conservative Christianity, has created and exacerbated issues facing LGBTI people in the United States and abroad, which Byarugaba and Alexander have learned from experience. “I’m uncomfortable in those spaces,” Alexander said. “I’m not sure how I’ll be perceived.” Their experience has made religious institutions suspect to them. Byaru…

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

By Yazmine Nichols

…die at the hands of police every year? As much as non-denominational and evangelical churches zero in on so-called “sins of the flesh” (Galatians 5:19-21), hubris is perhaps the most frequently mentioned sin in the entire Bible. This brings me to my second point. Self-righteousness—the belief that one has exclusive access to divine knowledge and is therefore justified in what one does—is appalling to God. The implication of self-righteousness is…

What Liberals Want: A Response to Susan Thistlethwaite

By Frances Kissling

…lor was problematic. The fact of the matter is that there are very serious value differences among the various parties to both liberal and progressive religious advocacy. We have different bottom lines. Thistlethwaite speaks of the danger of common ground resulting in a lowest common denominator value base, promptly moving on as if it is a given that this has not become a problem. Some of us think it has. The fact that one can talk to those one di…