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U.S. Religious Right Groups Support Move Toward ‘Illiberalism’ of Hungary and Poland; and More in Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…foundations. Romania: U.S. Religious Right Groups Back ‘Illiberal’ Path A planned referendum to place a ban on same-sex couples marrying into the Constitution could “put the country on an ‘illiberal’ path alongside the likes of Hungary and Poland,” notes Claudia Ciobanu in Politico’s Europe edition: The planned vote — which could be held as early as November — is the result of a campaign by “Coalition for Family,” which brings together more than…

Eclipseville, USA: The Birthplace of ‘Little Green Men’ Proudly Hosts The Point of Greatest Eclipse

By Matthew Bowman

…le’s boosters promise that the town has enough bed-and-breakfasts and cell phone towers to transform the eclipse into a comfortable tourist experience, there is a fundamental strangeness to the whole affair that no amount of merchandizing can fully defang. That it’s hard to reduce the weirdness of things like the eclipse hasn’t stopped Hopkinsville from trying. More than a half-century ago, on Monday, August 22, 1955, news media around the country…

Southern Baptist Convention Kicks Out Gay Attendees, Waffles on White Supremacists

By Sunnivie Brydum

…youth. He told RD that SBC leadership had responded and acknowledged FIA’s plans, and that during those exchanges, “we received no pushback.” He stressed that when they were removed, none of the activists were engaged in any form of direct action, protest, or confrontation. In fact, as Robertson wrote on his Huffington Post blog about the incident, he was coming off a first day of the conference that was “filled with wonderful conversations with p…

Maybe The Question Is: Should Shabbat Be The New Yoga?

By Michael Schulson

…a nonprofit that creates unconventional Jewish programming, including an iPhone app designed to help people disconnect and unwind on Friday afternoons. The organization has a simple, ten-principle Sabbath Manifesto that’s “designed to slow down lives in an increasingly hectic world” by giving people a “provisional guide to observing a weekly day of rest.” (Manifesto principles include “Avoid technology,” “Get outside,” and “Drink wine.”) Reboot a…

Duterte Cites Catholic Heritage in Opposing Marriage Equality, and More in the Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…d identified them as members of the “LGBTI community”. Germany: Government plans to overturn convictions under sodomy law Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet approved legislation “to quash the convictions of 50,000 men sentenced for homosexuality under a Nazi-era law which remained in force after the war,” reports AFP, which says that about 5,000 of those who were convicted are still alive. Merkel has consistently opposed calls for marriage equalit…

The “Marginalization” of Tim Keller: When Anything Short of Adulation Is Oppression

By Anita Little

…not give Keller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church founder and prolific church planter, the award came after an outcry from many PTS students, faculty and alumni who felt honoring the conservative theologian ran counter to the mission of the PCUSA seminary and showed disregard for its women and LGBT students. (As a neo-Calvinist, Keller objects to the ordination of women and LGBT people.) In his column, Merritt wrote: If Christians like Tim Keller are…

Does It Matter If Islam Is A Religion? An American Ahmadi Explains The Effects Of Religious Discrimination

By Daniel Schultz

…ll for either of them. Bhutto was executed in 1989, and Zia died in a 1988 plane crash rumored to have been an assassination. Yet the anti-Ahmadi laws remain, according to Khurram Ahmad, because “nobody wants to now tackle this beast.” Even to suggest reining in the law can be dangerous: two legislators were murdered for trying to put safeguards around the law. *** Ahmad is the unassuming leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Society in Oshkosh, Wisconsi…

Under Water: Waiting for the Flood (of Awareness) in Louisiana

By Drew Konow

…ion has a strange way of inspiring reflection on personal property. On the phone, I told my mom, “I love your house. It is so perfect for you.” And I do. I love her house not because I grew up there (I did not) or because I’ve spent much time there (I’ve only visited once) or because of anything to do with the way it looks. I love her house because of what it stands for. It’s a symbol of her freedom. Freedom from every man who raised a hand to her…

Good Mourning Modeled by Chaplains and Clergy at the Oakland Ghost Ship Fire

By Kaya Oakes

…as drunk, which was the only way she could handle getting up behind a microphone. God was barely mentioned. When asked about the secular nature of the vigil and why he agreed to participate, Rios responded that “it is always the responsibility of clergy to act in moments of disaster, regardless of the secular tone and style.” Throughout the vigil, he said, “[I] kept thinking of Jesus and where this radical Rabbi was in moments of disaster. I kept…

Why We Can’t Afford to “Wait And See” How Trump Dismantles LGBT Rights

By Sunnivie Brydum

…tic to oppose LGBT equality, as Salon explains. Just three years ago, on a phone call with faith leaders supporting the Tea Party movement, Price agreed that there are “consequences of activity that has been seen as outside the norm,” suggesting that increased health care costs for LGBT people are a result of some abnormal activity. (Yes, that’s code for anal sex. Or gender-affirming surgeries. Or marrying the person you love most in the world, if…