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Why We Must Reclaim “Religious Freedom” from Christian Conservatives

By Bill Berkowitz

…(which is disturbingly similar to arguments against recognition of interracial marriage and relationships in the last century) is that a business discriminating against same-sex couples is exercising a reasonable extension of their religious opposition to marriage equality. State legislation that included the Hobby Lobby principle in this way has been attempted in several states, but has so far only been enacted in Mississippi. A Hobby Lobby-type…

A Reforming Tradition Struggles With Change

By Brent Hege

…barring women from ordained ministry now deny that vocation to gay and lesbian pastors who desire the joys and blessings of a committed relationship, yet these women do not recognize the inconsistency (at best) or hypocrisy (at worst) in their position. And thus there is a perceived need for a new church body that will continue to ordain women (itself a departure from their own reading of scripture, tradition, and the confessions) but will deny th…

For Buddhism, Science is Not a Killer of Religion

By Paul Wallace

…So it embarrasses me somewhat to admit that although my language is Christian, my stories are Christian, my Scriptures are Christian and my baptism is Christian, in truth I live in the hinterlands of Christianity, just a short distance away from Buddhism’s border. I’m a Christian all right, but I can see Buddhaland from my house. It is my proximity to Buddhism that allows me to reconcile science and Christianity in a way that may seem contradicto…

A Rationalist’s Ghost Story

By Gary Jansen

…worked in the industry I wanted to be respectful about that. There were a number of frightening episodes that my wife experienced that I didn’t have time to flesh out as well as I would have wanted so I dropped them. There was also a rather scary moment in my basement near a long, dark crawl space that I decided to cut because I didn’t have time to do it justice. Maybe someday I’ll do an extended version of the book. What are some of the biggest…

The Episcopal Church ‘Takes a Flying Leap’ into Controversies Old and New

By Elizabeth Drescher

…e Church in the 1970s, and through the long debates over the rights of lesbian and gay Episcopalians through the intervening years, controversy at this year’s General Convention centered primarily on resolutions related to sexuality, gender, and identity. At the center of this were resolutions ensuring access to all aspects of the Church for transgender persons (D002 and D019) and providing liturgical rites for the blessing of same-gender relation…

Will Pope’s African Tour Change Attitudes on Divorce and LGBTQ Among African Catholics?

By Kaya Oakes

…of Catholics in Africa has gone through a startling increase in recent decades. Since 1980, the number of African Catholics has grown by 238%, in contrast to Europe, where it has grown by only 6%. Some of this may be attributable to higher fertility rates in African countries, but it also reflects the church’s success in missionary efforts. And where there are a decreasing number of vocations to the priesthood in Europe, where vocations have decli…

ABC’s Hit Sitcom Black-ish Does God, Pushes Theological Respectability

By Anthony B. Pinn

…in the face of a growing trend, tracked by pollsters. The Nones, or unaffiliated, represent a growing percentage of the US population. And African Americans represent an important demographic within this growth. Keep in mind, too, that the number of African Americans falling into this category has almost doubled over the past thirty-years. Belief in God doesn’t bind African Americans to one other, and it is unfortunate to assume—even with a laugh—…

Trump’s Pathological Devotion to Border Walls Isn’t Political, It’s Theological

By Alana Massey

…ut borders. I had grown up walking easily in and out of Mexico along the pedestrian corridors of the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Watching my country erect fences against so generous and faultless a neighbor as Mexico in the wake of 9/11 committed me to their abolition ideologically before I could even vote. I did not even see that this personal commitment had been so wounded by a terrorist attack while watching it unfold from my own country—which wa…

Bill Gates’ Comments on Covid-19 Vaccine Enflame ‘Mark of the Beast’ Worries in Some Christian Circles

By Christopher James Blythe

…ile the spread of a vaccine-linked conspiracy theory has been spearheaded via social media and YouTube, there are also proponents among local church leaders and national Christian figures. Ronnie Hampton, cited above, warned his congregation against the vaccine via social media. “They’re gonna come up with a vaccine and in that vaccine everybody is gonna have to take it … and inside of that vaccine there’s going to be some type of electronic compu…

Park51 and the Ground Liberals Are Forced to
Fight On

By Sarah Posner

…u might be a Muslim. The President continues to tell everyone he’s a Christian but yet the number rises. See that? Which came first, the thought he was a Muslim or the lack of trust? If he is a Muslim, he can’t be trusted? Or if you can’t trust him, he must be a Muslim? In any case, Obama strained mightily to placate the likes of Graham and Brody while he was campaigning for the presidency. His “faith outreach” played up his faith in Christ, but t…