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“Not a Fan of the Undergarments”: A Mormon Mother Blogs

By Karen Maezen Miller

…urch—it’s often overwhelming. Mormon women tend to interpret the tools for service as obligations. One more damn thing! And we’re supposed to do it all without stimulants (coffee) or relaxants (wine). It never surprises me when they report that Utah has the highest per capita rate of antidepressant prescriptions. To be fair, the church authorities tell women over and over not to be so hard on themselves. It’s tricky to find the balance, but that’s…

RIP: Bishop Otis Charles and Rev. Robert Nugent

By Peter Montgomery

…ry 1 at age 76. The Washington Post carried Kevin Eckstrom’s Religion News Service obituary of Nugent, which notes that Nugent had been silenced by the Vatican for his work with LGBT Catholics. In many ways, the scrutiny of Nugent’s activism symbolized the Vatican’s approach to all talk of homosexuality under Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI — what one gay Catholic group called a “witch hunt” — compared with the more tolerant “who am I to judge…

Georgia Gov Vetoes Right-To-Discriminate Bill

By Elizabeth Reiner Platt

…services—such as musicians, florists, or caterers—to discriminate against customers based on religious beliefs, since providing these services may require attending a wedding. This section of the bill contained no ban against invidious discrimination otherwise prohibited by state or federal law, and therefore may have empowered government officials and wedding-related service providers to refuse to attend interfaith or interracial weddings. Allow…

New Book Reveals How Faith is Like a Covert Operation for the Bush Family

By Frederick Clarkson

…Author Russ Baker shows, among other things, that Poppy Bush’s well-known service as a Navy pilot in World War II was also part of his work for Naval Intelligence. This set the stage for an astonishing double life participating in covert operations of the Central Intelligence Agency throughout his career. The story of the reinvention of the religious identities of two presidents and their faith-based political strategy could be easily obscured am…

How Evangelical-Friendly Are Scientists? A Response

By Jonathan Orbell

…evangelicals are not actually that “science-friendly.” While they pay lip service to the idea of closer collaboration with the scientific world, they are only open to this increased engagement once certain conditions are met; once the scientific community becomes more “evangelical-friendly.” The old faith versus reason dichotomy lives on. While Aghapour’s points are well taken, I believe his analysis omits a crucial factor in this discussion: the…

What Irish Marriage Vote Means for Catholic Church; The Lonely Fight for Equality in Belize; Progress and Backlash in Tunisia; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…oup opposing Orozco’s lawsuit. A 2013 report from the Southern Poverty Law Center documented the role played by American religious conservatives supporting the criminalization of homosexuality in Belize and elsewhere in the Caribbean. Tunisia: LGBT advocacy group gains official recognition, experiences backlash and support Shams became the first LGBT rights group to win official recognition by the interior ministry. The group had applied in Decemb…

Openly Gay Mormon Appointed to LDS Church Leadership Position

By Joanna Brooks

…o reaching out to the many LGBT Mormons who live within his congregation’s service area. “We have so many people on the Church records who are inactive, whose families are still members. Many of them served honorably as Mormon missionaries. Many identify as LGBT. I want them to understand that like me they do have a home here,” Mayne says. “As an openly gay priesthood leader, I hope my example also shows that not only do they have a home here but…

Jesus, Gentrification, and the Hypocrisy of “Diversity”: An Interview with D.L. Mayfield

By Kaya Oakes

…the hospital, help with learning English, and help with navigating social services. Mayfield’s mission these days can more aptly be described as a hyper-local mission of showing up to help. It is a book that challenges many preconceptions about evangelicalism, missionary work, and what it means to live a life of social justice and faith. _______________ Kaya Oakes: Let’s start with the end of your book (without any spoilers), when the meaning of…

Sharing Many of the Same Flaws as its Subject ‘The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill’ Podcast Puts Blame Anywhere But Where It Belongs

By Jessica Johnson

…those are topics that “concern women,” and yet survivors of abuse are not centered in these discussions. Episode Six—”The Brand”—directly follows the episode that tackles Driscoll’s teachings on sex, but there’s no segue into a discussion of how sex was used as a tool of branding, commodified and packaged to accrue publicity and men’s service to the church. Instead, Cosper begins the episode with an audio clip of John Piper’s “seashells” sermon a…

Anti-Gay Celebration in Uganda; Weddings in England; ‘Francis Effect’ at the Vatican

By Peter Montgomery

…cts the image of God. Excerpts from Josephine McKenna of the Religion News Service: “When a man and a woman celebrate the sacrament of marriage, God is reflected in them,” the pontiff told an estimated 45,000 pilgrims who gathered in St. Peter’s Square. “As ‘one flesh’, they become living icons of God’s love in our world, building up the Church in unity and fidelity,” he said. “The image of God is the married couple — not just the man, not just t…