Religion Dispatches
…eld off on an endorsement of Huckabee, who appeared to be an ideal evangelical candidate) fixated on Dobson, for some evangelicals his aggressive role in presidential politics has been irrelevant or even detrimental, even if they long admired his family and childrearing advice. In 2008 and 2012, there were several Republican candidates who fit the conservative Christian mold, and who competed for the evangelical vote. None emerged as the eventual…
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…e and nobody is allowed to persecute people for their sexual orientation because of so-called traditional values based on conservative religious norms. A truly democratic society can’t accept abuse in the name of religion. . . ‘A proper probe and justice for the killings won’t do much protect the community. The government must ensure that the discrimination of LGBT people ends in this country even though the so-called protectors of Islam might not…
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…rebuff “control” by ecclesiastics; because they are disgusted by the clerical scandals – indeed, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin is himself disgusted by what he has had to read in the archives; or because sex, drugs and accumulating electronic gadgets are more “relevant” to modern life than “God and Mary, His Mother”, as the traditional greeting in the Irish language puts it. And yes, the forename of “Mary”, once so common that half the clas…
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…have always been a self-defined identity rather than a strident one. My So-Called Catholic Life Some Catholic millennials, however, cleave tightly to church teachings, and because many come from loosely Catholic homes, much of their faith formation takes place when they are college students. The recent Planned Parenthood sting video was put together by the anti-abortion group Live Action, which was founded by a Catholic millennial and convert. Lil…
Read More…Justice and Constitutional Development Advocate Michael Masutha last week called on African nations to defend the rights of sexual minorities, reports Mamba Online. He was speaking at the Africa Regional Seminar on Finding Practical Solutions for Addressing Violence and Discrimination Against Persons Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression,” a three-day seminar hosted by the South African government and the South African Human…
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…nasty blowhard from Manhattan. That certainly would give vulnerable Republican candidates cover to differentiate themselves from Trump. Maybe that way they can survive the wrath that is to come in November. We’ll see. Ted Cruz opened door number three on Tuesday: “This man is a pathological liar,” Mr. Cruz said, ticking off Mr. Trump’s distortions, his infidelities, his penchant for conspiracy theories. “The man is utterly amoral.” As I mentioned…
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…attendees shouted “show us some ankle” at women wearing burkas for a satirical musical performance, or when a group of fundamentalist Muslim protesters was encircled by a crowd of hundreds of atheist conference attendees shouting things like “go back to the Middle East, you pedophiles.” We should be free to criticize all religions, Islam included, but that doesn’t mean we should feel free to deride and scorn its adherents. It should go without say…
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…organizations raising similar objections include Concerned Women for American, Americans United for Life, and the American Center for Law and Justice. As to private employers, the proposed rule takes note of the fact that private employers are not entitled to religious exemptions under other federal laws, such as Title VII, prohibiting discrimination in employment. Based on that precedent, the administration declined to extend an exemption to pri…
Read More…roups, noting HAF’s Executive Director Suhag Shukla’s critique of an American Academy of Religions (AAR) statement allowing for any interpretation of religion. Jerryson wrote that “Shukla and the HAF’s stance present several disturbing elements,” citing a supposed mischaracterization of Doniger’s work and Shukla’s take on the academy study of religion, which he called “troublesome.” Over the past week, Jerryson and I engaged via email. Our corres…
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…garded as the grave challenge posed by “degraded” Native Americans and African Americans living in close proximity to whites. Guyatt’s book is divided into three sections, each treating a major theme or phase in the white reformers’ efforts. He devotes four of his chapters to “degradation,” three to “amalgamation,” and four to “colonization.” To be clear, most of the white civic leaders who fretted about “degradation” did not believe that people o…
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