Search for "cheap airline tickets from california to maui hi phone number 1-800-299-7264"

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

By Peter Montgomery

…ic religious groups, a faction with whom it has had a challenging relationship. This is a particularly sensitive time for that relationship. Political commentator and religious history scholar Altay Goyushov notes that the LGBT raids come during Muharram, one of the holiest times in the Islamic calendar, which may be an effort to appease religious groups. Nils Muižnieks, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, sent a letter to the…

Presbyterians, Change Hearts & Minds, Begin Ordaining Gays

By MaryAnn McKibben Dana

…personal and pastoral arguments. “Time after time, when issues stop being philosophical and start being personal, for a lot of people that makes the difference,” says Kirby. “Gay people aren’t scary, because [commissioners] know gay people, so they’re not going to be caught up in mysterious ‘what-ifs.’ Amendment 10A is about that person I know. How can we be a church who doesn’t understand that this person is gifted and called?” Organizing Strateg…

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

By Michael De Dora

…the writers 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 af…

Pro- and Anti-Muslim Sentiment in Gainesville

By Julie Ingersoll

…s on Others.’” For their part, Muslims are doing what too many other Americans seem unable to do: draw a distinction between a small group doing something offensive and all the others—in this case Christians—who disapprove….

Electionpocalypse, Part I (Christianity)

By Sarah Posner

…American to “repent” for legal abortion. “[I]f America does not repent of this hideous sin then for every single baby legally aborted God will require the blood of the same number of people, which is between 30-50 million Americans!” he writes. (NB: this “pro-life” position bears more of a relationship to a book on numerology than the Book of Numbers.) Anti-marriage equality crusader Bishop Harry Jackson, who is African American, urges readers to…

The Real Mormon Moment

By Joanna Brooks

…s own web-based resources to acknowledge and address its own controversies—historic and contemporary. This, we thought, was a good sign. A sign that might not need to fear losing our membership, our place, in a cherished tradition, just for having and voicing questions, doubts, and differences. We told ourselves to not to be afraid. And even when we were afraid, many of us, we just kept on writing. Even though we knew we were being monitored. And…

What Liberals Want: A Response to Susan Thistlethwaite

By Frances Kissling

…omen or how the NAACP saw SNCC in the 60s. Poorly handled disagreements within movements are nothing new; in my humble opinion, disagreements among the progressive, liberal, and centrist wings of religion are especially poorly handled. We don’t like conflict, especially in the family. We can stand up to Bush, but not to each other. There is that moderate element of dysfunctional family, hurt feelings, ego tripping, and clericalism that goes on. We…

Sometimes Salvation Looks Like Rage: An Open Letter to “Non-denominational” Churches

By Yazmine Nichols

…ossess knowledge.’ But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God. Why would Paul start his letter with a cautionary note about love? The answer is this: we all eat food sacrificed to idols; and we can all be like the people of Babel (Genesis 11:6), wanting to “make a name” for ourselves. “A church is only as strong as the people who resi…

Bad News for LGBT Anglicans, Mormons, Adventists, Norwegians, Russians, Georgians, Egyptians, Kuwaitis, Saudis…

By Peter Montgomery

…uth Sudan, Pakistan, Nigeria and other places would be absolutely catastrophic. Everything we say here goes round the world.” As the Guardian report noted, Anglican churches in Uganda and Nigeria have backed the brutal new criminal penalties imposed on gay people in those countries. Mormons: Apostle Affirms Commitment to One Man-One Woman Marriage Mormon Apostle Neil Andersen, speaking at a biannual national conference in Salt Lake City, affirmed…

Cross-Burning Hearing Ends, Trial Set to Begin

By Lauri Lebo

…ney. Then he wanted to know if I was a Christian. In short, Freshwater and his supporters have done everything but accept personal responsibility for his actions. I have not spoken to Zachary’s mother Jenifer about this (The judge has issued gag orders in both the termination hearing and the civil case.) but with the trial still weeks away, I wouldn’t be surprised if she has grown so weary with the personal attacks made on her family and the amoun…