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The Right Wing Slant on Religious Freedom is a Slippery Slope

By Frederick Clarkson

…,” Gabriel Rutan-Ram said. “If an agency is getting tax money to provide a service, then everyone should be served—it shouldn’t matter whether you’re Jewish, Catholic or an atheist. We’re all citizens of Tennessee, regardless of our religion.” Defenders of the bill deny that it’s discrimination to deny anyone service who doesn’t conform to their doctrines. Bradley Williams, president of the formerly Methodist-affiliated, Holston United Methodist H…

In His ‘Forgiveness Day’ Sermon — a Slightly More Sophisticated ‘GloboHomo’ Rant — Kirill Lays Out an Authoritarian Vision in Which His Version of God Might Dominate and Rule the Human Race

By Sarah Riccardi-Swartz

…rs and clergy bow to each other and ask forgiveness. It’s a highly kinetic service. Bows. Prostrations. Kisses. Weeping. It’s a service meant to bring out humility and social solidarity. The fact that Kirill used this Sunday to politicize the death of innocent Ukrainians is theologically corrupt. The sermon, which has yet to be officially translated into English, opens in a similar fashion to many of Kirill’s public speeches. He congratulates the…

Burning Man: Fear of an Alternative Pagan Social Order

By John W. Morehead

…nstallment in the series, but can also be found in an article he published online and in radio interviews. In consideration of Burning Man’s origins, Matthews critiques the “creation myth” of the event. Matthews views the popular portrayal, provided by founder Larry Harvey, as suspect and he provides an alternative understanding that relies on the testimony of Michael “Flash” Hopkins, a friend of Harvey’s who claims to have been a key collaborator…

Mormons Prepare to March in Seven LGBT Parades this Weekend

By Joanna Brooks

…ns are happening on a daily basis in person, in the media, in churches and online as LGBTQ members and allies find one another and give each other strength to carry on, both in and out of the church. Compton has also noted that the Proposition 8 moment served as a turning point for many moderate and progressive Mormons, pushing them to confront their own discomfort with aggressive political campaigning against the civil rights of same-sex couples…

Give Me That Small Screen Religion

By Diane Winston

…deathbed confession that moved some viewers, but left others apoplectic. (Online chatter continues as to whether or not Jack converted.) In its own bludgeony way, 24 substantiates the torture/terror debate better than the news media does. Maybe it’s the fist-in-mouth dramatization or perhaps it’s the fictional distance. But it also could be that TV is permitted to pose and explore ethical questions (what kind of country are we?) and spiritual one…

Five Social Media Trends that are Reshaping Religion

By Elizabeth Drescher

…e if you really want to connect. 2. Ministers-On-The-Go The location based service (LBS) Foursquare reached a milestone over the summer, topping 10 million users—a 10,000 percent increase over its member base in 2009. While there are questions about whether all those members are active, and bigger ones about whether Foursquare will be able to hold its own against LBS applications now offered by Facebook (which just acquired LBS competitor Gowalla)…

Religion or Insanity? Two Upcoming Murder Trials Will Ask the (Burning) Question

By Joseph Laycock

…that his victims shared his beliefs. The three apparently met through the online organization “Joy of Satan,” and Kolchak argues that murders resembled rituals described on the website. According to Dobson, the three had gone to the hotel room to perform a death ritual so that they could travel to “another galaxy.” “Joy of Satan” promotes “theistic Satanism” and is an extremely fringe group even among Satanic organizations. Its website is rife wi…

Shariah-Approved Sex Aids, Abstinence-Only Goes to China, and Abercrombie Hijab…

By Michael J. Altman

…es can find “shariah-approved” products for “sexual health” at El Asira—an online shop attracting 30,000 visits a week. Teetotaling Mormons in Idaho grow barley for beer brewers. A Muslim mason who worked to rebuild the Saint Jean Cathedral in Lyon, France, has been immortalized as a winged gargoyle on the facade of the church. The inscription beneath his stone image reads “God is great.” In Germany, a team of researchers have built digital models…

The Church of Man-Love: How I Lost One Leper Messiah, and Gained Another, Part 7

By Mark Dery

…’s pensive, doe-eyed Head of Christ (1941), distributed by the millions to servicemen during World War II, to the Fabio-haired prizefighter messiah of Stephen S. Sawyer’s Undefeated (1999), have left an indelible stamp on the inner lives of believers. “When devout viewers see what they imagine to be the actual appearance of the divinity that cares for them,” the art historian David Morgan contends, the picture in question “becomes an icon”—an imag…

Scott Lively Defends Anti-Gay Uganda Work in Federal Court

By Peter Montgomery

…ay activists in the public arena. Lively’s lawyer, Harry Mihet, said in an online conversation hosted by The Huffington Post on Tuesday that the case is “ridiculous and frivolous.” He echoed claims that Liberty Counsel has been making that the lawsuit is an effort to silence Lively and others for expressing their personal beliefs about homosexuality. CCR Attorney Pam Spees countered that Lively’s work in Uganda has gone well beyond the expression…