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A Reforming Tradition Struggles With Change

…p called Lutheran CORE (formerly Coalition for Reform, now Coalition for Renewal) met in assembly in September of 2009 to discuss the possibility of forming a new Lutheran church body in North America. Those discussions resulted in the announcement of the North American Lutheran Church (NALC), which will include disaffected “confessional” Lutherans from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Lutheran CORE will remain as a network for dissenting Lu…

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The New Age Fantasy of a Celtic Church that Revered Nature and the Divine Feminine Never Existed — So What?

…d Chasing Dreams explains that today the myth of a Celtic Church attracts “New Agers, post-modernists, liberals, feminists, [and] environmentalists.” While it’s true that many of these groups’ tales of their own origins are mythic—as with any religion, denomination, or sect—the mythic has always served a purpose: to generate usable history, helpful fiction. While Arnold J. Toynbee in the second volume of his landmark A Study of History describes a…

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The Good Liberal Fear of a Yoga Planet

…part. Don’t ever give in to—dare I say it—opening your heart. The presumed New York Times reader is similar, I think: basically secular, basically liberal, and basically intellectual. S/he probably drinks a lot of coffee, spends a good deal of money on food and clothing, and is, in essence, a good person. But anything New Agey or touchy-feely—in fact, anything more demanding than whining about neuroses on the couch of a ritzy psychotherapist—well,…

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Margaret Cho: God Bless You, F***ing F***ers 

…dy for some serious War on Culture…er…culture war. So there’s Christian as code-word for ‘evangelical.’ Like when Republican politicians say it. And there’s Christian meaning Protestant, as opposed to Catholic. And there’s Christian the way a missionary might mean it, (as opposed to heathen?). And there are those “anonymous Christians,” or involuntary Christians…was that Rahner who devised that category? Does anyone outside of seminary or grad sch…

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Angels & Demons: America’s Preeminent Pop Theologian Takes on Religion and Science

…ination, one that could embrace a revolution led by Freemasons and uncover new scriptures written on secret golden plates. Free from the burden of Europe’s institutional rivalries, it has always refused to see scientific reason as a threat to faith. In the 19th century, it gave birth to “metaphysical” movements like Christian Science and spiritualism, which staked a claim to science convincing enough to attract the interest of some leading scienti…

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Texas’ Anti-LGBT Adoption Bill Is Unconstitutional and Unnecessary, Say Texas Law Professors

…To the extent that H.B. 3859 can be understood specifically to protect and promote certain conservative beliefs about sex and sexuality, it raises serious Establishment Clause questions.” The legislation passed the Texas Senate on a primarily partisan vote early Monday morning, and is currently awaiting the governor’s signature. If Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signs the bill as anticipated, Texas will join South Dakota and Alabama in granting uniqu…

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Policing Academic Freedom: A Book, a Controversy, and the Ominous Aftermath

…Religious Studies major before law school, and now an advocate engaged in promoting an accurate understanding of Hinduism and countering misrepresentations on a near daily basis, four words in the AAR statement—to offer any interpretation—leap out at me. To a lay person who deeply respects my religious tradition, it is this unconditional and self-proclaimed right ‘to offer any interpretation’ which lies at the root of what is wrong with religious…

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2017 Around the World: Progress and Persecution For LGBT People

…uld be outlawed A parliamentary commission on religion is advocating that “promotion of atheism” be criminalized; according to Pink News, the commission “ruled that atheism can cause ‘mental imbalances’ which in turn leads to homosexuality.’” It is believed that the commission hopes that by pushing through the law it will support the bid of another law which has been deemed the most homophobic law in the world. The second law which is currently be…

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#TeachAcceptance and the Fight for the Soul of SF’s Catholic Schools

…d has been involved in the protests, the archbishop’s soft-pedaling of the new restrictions follows a familiar pattern. “The Diocese of Oakland dealt with the same situation last year,” he said in an email. “The situation there followed the pattern of an initially harsh opening move from the bishop, a general outcry from parents and teachers, a period of reflection and reconsideration followed by the release of language that is less prescriptive i…

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UPDATE: An Abrupt End to Quebec Separatist Plan to Ban “Ostentatious Signs” of Religion

…f which do happen to wear (typically small) crucifixes—and thus the visual code aimed its sights more narrowly on undesirable religious minorities, while at the same time allowing the government to proclaim the even-handedness of its approach.  But whatever the actual intentions of the government, the deployment of this category of the ‘permitted sign’ wonderfully epitomized a much larger and more longstanding liberal project to (re)construct mode…

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