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

By Peter Montgomery

…Backer of Russian Adoption Ban Don Feder, communications director for the World Congress of Families, told the right-wing WorldNetDaily that head of the Russian parliament’s committee on families Yelena Mizulina was included in the U.S. government’s list of Russian leaders sanctioned in the wake of the Crimea annexation because the Obama administration is “controlled by the gay lobby.” Mizulina is among the organizers of the WCF’s 2014 summit, whi…

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

By Yazmine Nichols

…peaking about the astronomical rates of LBGT homelessness? What would the world look like if we spent less time worrying about giving side-hugs, and more time worrying about the high rates of teen pregnancy in New York City and beyond? What would the world look like if we did not just invite homeless people to church, or revel in annual trips abroad to feed and take care of the poor, but addressed the growing housing and voting crises right here i…

What Liberals Want: A Response to Susan Thistlethwaite

By Frances Kissling

…the progressive, liberal, and centrist wings of religion are especially poorly handled. We don’t like conflict, especially in the family. We can stand up to Bush, but not to each other. There is that moderate element of dysfunctional family, hurt feelings, ego tripping, and clericalism that goes on. We can’t face each other. And so Thistlethwaite holds forth in “On Faith” but does not pick up the phone and call Peter. And Peter in turn rails agai…

The Real Mormon Moment

By Joanna Brooks

…hem too. Over the past few days, I have been getting Facebook messages and phone calls from rank-and-file Mormons not interviewed by the Times relaying that they too have been accosted or called in by their bishops for voicing support for greater equality for women in the church, or same-sex civil marriage rights. “I’m really a nobody,” wrote one woman. “Just a stay at home mom who doesn’t particularly go out of her way to take up too much space o…

Pro- and Anti-Muslim Sentiment in Gainesville

By Julie Ingersoll

…ent will feature prayer and bread breaking, with bread from “all over the world,” much of it donated by local establishments. Pastor Johnson indicated that the event will include a spectrum of religious traditions from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim to Baha’i and Hare Krishna (nearby Alachua is home to home of the largest Hare Krishna communities in the United States). In addition to participating in this event, the Gainesville Muslim Community is…

Are All Religious Experiences Reducible to 16 Desires?

By Andrew Aghapour

…t this point, we’ve assessed the motives of 100,000 people throughout the world, from many cultures in Europe, Asia, and North America. We asked them about every possible thing that could motivate them, and then we take their answers and analyze them statistically. The results show that there are 16 psychological forces that motivate people. All human motives are a combination of these 16 psychological forces. Nothing important is left out. It’s a…

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

By Michael De Dora

…rest of four bloggers who were critical of religion. We quickly organized worldwide protests, letters, campaigns, and political pressure that led to their release. Roy also contributed several articles to our magazine, Free Inquiry, including his last published article. Over the years, we would keep in touch regarding increasing threats to free expression in Bangladesh. Roy was our lifeline into the country. Nearly two years later, I would receive…

Presbyterians, Change Hearts & Minds, Begin Ordaining Gays

By MaryAnn McKibben Dana

…d ran a 50-state, all-173-presbytery campaign.” This included church-based phone banks; ads in national Presbyterian magazines; and letter-writing and story-telling campaigns using traditional mail as well as social media [YouTube, Facebook, Twitter]. “We [also] found church leaders who had changed their mind about homosexuality—what they had been taught about the Bible—and shared their stories in these national ads and through social media,” Adee…

Even Tougher Questions to Ask Mormon Presidential Candidates

By Joanna Brooks

…nti-marriage-equality campaign. High-ranking Church leaders even scheduled phone calls with individual members to make the ask in person. Did Church leaders solicit an individual contribution from you to the Yes on 8 campaign or any other anti-marriage-equality initiative? If so, how did you respond? How would you respond in such a situation? 2. Mormonism is an openly patriarchal religious culture—one of the most patriarchal modern cultures on th…

Eid on 9/11 Anniversary?

By Haroon Moghul

…, I received some of the hate and I knew, immediately, how far across the world the effects of that vile attack would reach. I remember police sirens screaming, panicked rumors, overwhelmed faces, taxicabs turned into ambulances, the sinking feeling of powerlessness. Over and over, I heard “this is like a movie”—because we couldn’t imagine this was happening, that thousands had just perished in the Towers we’d seen every day from campus, filling t…