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Are All Religious Experiences Reducible to 16 Desires?

By Andrew Aghapour

…years than I probably have. So that’s another thought that goes through my mind. I’m very much trying to do what I think I can, and to at least say things that I can, for the most part, back up. I’m sure the 16 strivings is not the last [version] we’re going to see. I will suggest that while they can be improved on, they’re a heck of a lot better than what other lists have come up with. So you try to take a step forward, and you try to do what you…

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

By Michael De Dora

…iters to die. One of the writers, Ranadipam Basu, was able to reach his mobile phone and post about the attack on Facebook, prompting police to respond and help those attacked to the hospital. They would all survive, though with injuries of varying severity. Sadly, another publisher wounded in a connected attack later that day, Faisal Arefin Deepan, would not survive; he was killed in his office, his body found by his father. Immediately after the…

Presbyterians, Change Hearts & Minds, Begin Ordaining Gays

By MaryAnn McKibben Dana

…terson, a pastor who helped organize the pro-10A response in north-central Illinois’ Blackhawk Presbytery, acknowledged that while a handful of pastors have left her presbytery, this year’s first-ever “yes” vote resulted from the swing of more than 36 votes. In an interview with The Presbyterian Outlook, Gradye Parsons, stated clerk of the PC(USA) (the chief ecclesial officer), speculated that many moderates have grown weary of the debate and wer…

Even Tougher Questions to Ask Mormon Presidential Candidates

By Joanna Brooks

…estioning gauging candidates’ commitment to the values of a pluralistic civil society, even if that commitment cost them the votes of the religiously zealous. No more doublespeak. No more coded encouragements to extremist religious voters. No more breezily righteous jabs at science. Wrote Keller, “I do care if religious doctrine becomes an excuse to exclude my fellow citizens from the rights and protections our country promises. And I care a lot i…

Eid on 9/11 Anniversary?

By Haroon Moghul

…very, very far from the truth. I hope my message reaches the hundreds of millions of Americans who weren’t in New York that day, but who were hurt, and angry, and still feel the wounds of that day, as I do. I pray they see that we were all attacked that day. And we responded together, we banded together, we did what we had to do for each other, for complete strangers—those first responders, some of them Muslim, some Christian, some Jewish, and al…

‘Rising Global Tide’ Of Anti-Gay Crackdowns; More in Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…t ruling in 2013. Even if it is de-criminalised, our patriarchal Indian families will continue to insist that their kids get married. Gay people themselves will do so because of social resistance. In recent years, we are seeing a different portrayal of LGBTQ characters in the popular media and advertisements. This is a welcome development, to the extent that it can generate awareness and change mindsets. But the media can’t be trusted entirely, fo…

The Brutality of the American Eden

By Paul Harvey

…al examination might have also told the story, from the underside of that millennium, that while American ideas of freedom promised universalist visions they delivered a Republic that was, in practice, racially exclusivist and white supremacist. That was a tragedy, but it wasn’t an accident. The chosen nation myth, so frequently invoked in this show, was dependent on a false notion of innocence. The American Eden was a brutal one for its victims,…

Gay Marriage: Religious Right Cranks Up the Fear

By Bill Berkowitz

…ut homosexuality being an abomination â€” you will lose your license. You will go to jail.” McPherson pointed out that if the Bible is taken out of society “you have complete anarchy. If you take God and the Bible out, then murder is no longer right or wrong because God is the one who said that murder is wrong.” He said that when man and woman join in marriage, “that’s the fullness of [God’s] image. You’re back the way [God] originally had you,” a…

But ‘Natural’ is Better, No? ‘How Faith in Nature’s Goodness Leads to Harmful Fads, Unjust Laws, and Flawed Science’

By Andrew Aghapour

…mful Fads, Unjust Laws, and Flawed Science Alan Levinovitz Beacon Press April 7, 2020 I know that synthetic vanillin is chemically identical to natural vanillin. I know that my tongue can’t pick up on natural vanilla’s extremely subtle complexities. (In blind taste tests, people actually prefer the artificial stuff, probably because it’s more potent.) And yet, when faced with the choice, I most often buy what’s natural. The expensive stuff comes f…

“Symbolic” Personhood Bill Could Kill

By Sarah Morice-Brubaker

…Crain’s office did not return repeated phone calls, but according to The Daily Beast, he “said the bill is simply a statement that Oklahoma is ‘pro-life.’” Senate Pro Tem Brian Bingman said much the same thing, according to Reuters, offering that “Oklahoma is a conservative pro-life state—we are proud to stand up for what we know is right.” Well, yes, it feels very good to be proud of things, doesn’t it? Might I suggest that not everything one is…