Religion Dispatches
…eased a letter denouncing marriage equality as a “fiction” that “nature itself tells us is impossible.” Marriage equality, the letter says, would be in opposition to “the common good of society” and “the common sense of the human race.” The bishops even announced they’ll repeat this year’s failed “Fornight for Freedom” campaign in 2013. But as last year’s elections made clear, the Pope, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and their allies in…
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…a might result in a sense of physical and emotional freedom. What could be better? Hell, they might make it as far as throwing off their yoke and joining the ranks of the liberated. Swimming is probably the best form of cardiovascular exercise for almost everyone, including individuals with depression, obesity, arthritis, diabetes, and various age-related ailments. Unlike jogging, it does not cause strain to your joints. Water calms you. Swimming…
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…h genes” and then suggests it might rather be seen as the divine making itself felt in the world. Bloom treats this line of thought as little more than a variation on the intelligent design argument. Briefly, he attributes to Collins the view that there is an innate and universal moral sense which urges us to perform acts of radical self-sacrifice even towards strangers despite the fact that it doesn’t appear to promote the reproductive fitness of…
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…ve, but church laws have been made on flimsier data. Further study is unlikely to yield new information, simply more opinions about history. As investment brokers say, past performance is no guarantee of future results. So it is in the Roman Catholic Church. Third, the real question at hand is whether women deacons will be ordained as men are, both to the transitional and to the permanent diaconate, or whether women will be siphoned off into a spu…
Read More…s, and neither are Real People of Faith. There are great faith stories to tell in New York City, and Berkeley, and LA, and all those other safe blue enclaves. I’ll bet you could find a liberal campaigner talking to people about their faith in one of those areas. I’ll bet you could find a bunch. Then too, the Dems-Should-Talk-More-About-Faith narrative generally means Candidates Should Talk More About Faith, ignoring the average party members. It’s…
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…ty or character to come into question,” she added, denying that she would deliberately associate herself with a discredited and frankly absurd conspiracy theory. However, Judge Patrick’s claim that she “didn’t know anything else about any conspiracy theories” is much harder to accept at face value, given that she evidently subscribes to the kind of charismatic, spiritual warfare-focused Christianity that I would argue is inherently conspiratorial….
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…r efforts, as the Catholic bishops have done. These gestures appear to be deliberately meaningless, or hopelessly naive. Is it realistic to expect a kinder, gentler abortion ban from the people who burned everything down to overturn Roe, especially in the states that are the most likely to criminalize the practice? Don’t bet on it. And certainly don’t bet on the bishops threatening to withhold communion from a politician over it. No follow-up ques…
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…ation? Improving educator training so they can do this effectively? Absolutely. I bet more Americans would be attracted to, appreciate and consider careers in science (the number is decreasing annually). I bet we’d have more productive conversation among students and leaders of science and religion around the many profound issues in our nation that engage both: abortion, medical care, stem cells, homosexuality, and genomic research. The battle rhe…
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…l American LGBT refugees The Washington Blade’s Michael Lavers writes from El Salvador about LGBT migrants fleeing poverty and violence in Central America. Japan: Report on scope of school bullying According to a survey by a nursing school professor in Osaka. “More than half of LGBT people in Japan were bullied in school and nearly 70 percent of them said their teachers did not help them at all. Canada: Government not so liberal when it comes to L…
Read More…abortion laws in predominantly Catholic countries like the Philippines and El Salvador have made serious injury or death by illegal abortion routine for poor and working class pregnant women saddled with caring for large families on substandard wages. According to the Guardian, three women die every day in the Philippines from abortion-related complications and “More than 65% of women don’t use modern contraceptives, and maternal mortality rates w…
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