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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…

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It’s Preposterous That We Can’t Question Nominees on Religion

…y a group calling itself the National Conference of Citizens for Religious Freedom, led by Methodist minister Norman Vincent Peale, which claimed that Kennedy couldn’t be trusted to govern fairly because “his church insists that he is duty bound to admit to its direction.” But that attack, while animated by anti-Catholic aniumus, gave Kennedy a chance to explain how his Catholicism would function in relation to his duties as a pubic servant and of…

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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…

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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…

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How (Not) to Understand Romney’s Time as an LDS Bishop

…d the policies of the institution they serve. This, of course, does not excuse Romney’s egregious incidences of coldness and disrespect towards women as reported in Salon and elsewhere. But it’s wrong to depict Mitt Romney as some kind of hardliner, because as far as Mormon men of his generation go, on gender, Romney is rather moderate. Given the scrutiny of Romney’s time as bishop, it also helps to understand more about the roles of bishops in LD…

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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…

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Indonesia’s Anti-Porn Bill is Anti-Pluralism

…pornography casts a very wide net. Defining pornography as things that “arouse sexual propensity, desires or longings” sets a decidedly moral tone without a concrete system of defining methods of evaluating what “sexual desire” actually is or what “incitement” includes. This is especially problematic because conservative Islamic parties, who may define “incitement” differently than Indonesians of other faiths, introduced and backed the bill. And,…

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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…

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The (Mostly Catholic) Anti-Abortion Roe v. Wade Schlep

…addition to being a spiritual exercise the Vigil was also a good way to “house” a lot of people without running into fire code violations. I could not find any other religious events advertised. Could it be that people of other faiths simply held private devotions? Perhaps, but more likely the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., and their friends were the major sponsors of the whole weekend but just w…

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Common Ground: Winning the Battle, Losing the Culture War

…e of faith or who are hostile to religion. This myth is most significantly promoted by Jim Wallis (without any documentation), who uses it to posit himself as a player inside the Beltway. Progressive Idealists are critical of Wallis because of his firm opposition to abortion and his hostility to gay rights. At Talk to Action where I blog, we take the position that progressive people of faith agree on three issues which for us are settled questions…

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