Search Results for:

VIPREG2024 how to use 1xbet free bet promo code Colombia

RDPulpit: McCain Attack Ad is “Hopeless“

…terpretation will remember that John’s Revelation was written as a kind of code to an audience hard-pressed by persecution and loss. Few believe that its message was intended to be taken literally—much less as a roadmap to events two millennia in the future—but rather to provide comfort and reassurance to a struggling community. It is a bitter irony therefore to see it taken out of context and used to attack a politician offering a platform of hop…

Read More

How to Make Nones and Lose Money: Study Shows Cost of Catholic Sex Abuse Scandals

…end up, in other words, as Nones. The economists involved in this study focused on the zip code where a clergy sex scandal had occurred. They found a “large and statistically significant effect” on charitable contributions in those zip codes after a scandal, and not only to Catholic-based charitable organizations. The researchers theorize that perhaps once a person stops attending church, the social pressure to be charitable declines. Interestingl…

Read More

Conservative Christians Finally Get Serious About Divorce

…e about dreaming a life together; not giving in to the will of another because they supposedly “head” the household. I suspect I’m not alone in this idea of marriage. Another interesting statistic shows that divorce rates are lowest in “blue” states—those states that generally tend to vote for liberals or progressives. The lowest divorce rate can be found in Massachusetts, where gays and lesbians have been able to marry since 2004. The differing v…

Read More

Dear White Evangelicals: A Black Square Ain’t Gonna Cut It

…es not equal passivity. Choose a side. White churches such as Hillsong and Bethel Music would do well to incorporate the Black contribution of gospel music to their worship services instead of segregating the art forms. How do your Black parishioners feel? Included? Celebrated? Appreciated? Probably not. Until white evangelicals are willing to rework the entire framework of their teachings, they can ‘Blackout Day’ till they’re blue in the face, bu…

Read More

The Return of Government as “Idolatry” and the “Second Amendment Remedies”

…ew here that warns of sex (kissing) and nudity (a painting of Adam and Eve that shows Eve’s breast). When asked if she was exploring a presidential campaign in Iowa, Angle replied that she was investigating her options. She has since said she is not promoting the film because she is running for president—though is not the same as saying she is not running. For now it looks like she’ll focus on the congressional race, but in any case she seems inte…

Read More

Obama at Notre Dame: A Chance to Talk to Catholics

…d) will be free to focus on the crucial matter of the latest Dan “Da Vinci Code” Brown adaptation. As of this writing, we are still waiting for advance word on the subject of Obama’s graduation speech. As any professor can tell you, a college commencement address frequently falls into one of three genres. The first strives to inspire with insipid platitudes equal to the occasion. (“Your graduation is a change I can believe in.”) The second ignores…

Read More

Religious and Political Silence on India’s LGBTQ Decision Speaks Volumes

…ally sick people.” Did religious voices largely drop out of the debate because they knew it was a lost cause? The Supreme Court’s decision to end the use of Section 377 to discriminate, harass, and threaten LGBTQ Indians after nearly 160 years is no doubt worthy of attention. Modi’s silence and that of his religious allies, therefore, could be interpreted as progress when contrasted with the vocal homophobic and transphobic pushback that the initi…

Read More

An Unholy Holy Week: Is the All-Male Rule of the Roman Catholic Church Self-Destructing?

…n law as at present). This will happen sooner than previously expected because each act of abuse or cover-up weakens the power of the male hierarchy. Their convoluted reasons for why only men can represent Jesus Christ at the altar are starting to ring hollow. “Call no man father,” warned Jesus in a passionate diatribe against “those who love the place of honor” and like to be called rabbi or teacher (Matthew 23). “Woe to you!” he repeated, descri…

Read More

Gays Losing Value to “Value Voters”?

…said. John Smith, 50, a Republican from Clarinda, opposes gay marriage because of religious reasons, but he supports civil unions. “I’m going to nursing school now, and part of the nursing code is to be nonjudgmental,” Smith said. “In hospitals, if a same-sex partner couldn’t visit or get information about their partner’s health? I just think that’s wrong.” With election season right around the corner, the “value voters” in Iowa agree with those w…

Read More

The Democrats Got Religion, At Huge Cost

…e vague references to “strong feelings on both sides” and that the final House bill didn’t preserve the “status quo.” What Obama would be satisfied with as preserving the “status quo” (code for no federal funding for abortions) is unclear — and more to the point, what he would be willing to capitulate to is equally unclear. This morning, Rep. Stupak postured that there would be “hell to pay” for the Democrats if his amendment was removed; will tha…

Read More