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Can the Religious Left be Effective Again? Short Answer: No

By Daniel Schultz

…ivists, but they tend to be in lefty paradises like Madison or Berkeley or Boston. Outside those areas, they’re much fewer and farther between, and in total, they’re outnumbered by the partisan-neutral churches. That’s not nothing to the religious left! A neutral church is not a conservative church, and that helps. But in terms of political effect, it blunts the liberal thrust. Along the same lines, religious lefties often don’t wear their faith o…

Occupy’s Sacred Mob and the Politics of Vagrancy

By Vincent Gonzalez

…ch some faithful 99%-ers may be opposed. The “Sacred Space” tent at Occupy Boston invites meditation between a Buddha statue and a picture of Christ. Occupy Phoenix built an improvised shrine where First Nations traditions interact with Catholicism and Neo-Paganism. On Zuccotti Park’s makeshift community altar, Gandhi shares space with Alex Grey, John the Baptist, and Kwan-Yin. Here, in sites of religious conjunction that must repel some participa…

AIDS Progress is Paradoxical

By Susan Henking

…What’s wrong here? Perhaps the same thing that is wrong when we see rising numbers in various populations globally and locally? Wedding Bells and Decriminalization And yet, not all the news is depressing. Not even all the news at the intersection of AIDS/HIV and religion is depressing. American governments and courts are hard at work legalizing same-sex marriage which, despite the cynic in me that thinks marriage equality involves joining the cons…

Cardinal Dolan Softens Pope’s Anti-Capitalism Rhetoric

By Patricia Miller

…war issues of abortion and same-sex marriage.” Francis’ closest advisor is Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley, “a Franciscan in robes and sandals who speaks fluent Spanish and champions the poor.” But like any political faction temporarily out of power, the right wing of the bishops conference continues to advocate for its constituents, specifically the pro-business, anti-gay and –reproductive rights interest of the Republican Party. Dolan penned an op…

Meet the Real Mitt Romney

By Joanna Brooks

…ch’s challenges retaining converts and the struggles of its feminists, the Boston area being home to an historically strong Mormon feminist community. At a time when America is trying to come to terms with Mormon difference, by focusing on congregational and community life—rather than esoteric elements of doctrine—the Times has helped unlock one of most significant distinguishing features of contemporary Mormon life: the intensity and intimacy of…

Beyond Radical: Mary Daly, Feminist Theologian, Changed Worlds

By Susan Henking

…and promotion to full professor, and forced into retirement, the longtime Boston College professor’s career spanned world transformations of Roman Catholicism, higher education, and American culture’s treatment of women. Beginning with her degrees from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, where she was the first woman to receive a theological degree, through her witnessing of the debate of Vatican II, her authorship of transformational phil…

Are the Southern Baptists, America’s Largest Evangelical Denomination, About to Get Even More Conservative?

By Chrissy Stroop

…wife to stay with her husband and to try to change him through prayer. As Boston University Professor emerita Nancy Ammerman and the SBC moved in divergent ideological directions in the 1980s, she became a scholar of the denomination she grew up in. As a young sociologist, Ammerman sought to understand the processes that fuel a denominational split, and her efforts yielded critical documentation of how the “conservative resurgence” played out. On…

Pope Backs Anti-Gay Referendum; Islamic State Executions Include Gay Syrian; ‘Conscience Clause’ Debated in Northern Ireland; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

The Boston Globe reported this week that the U.S. State Department will appoint a special envoy “to advocate for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people overseas.” Legislation calling for such an envoy had been introduced in Congress last week. But in Congress, Rep. Chris Smith, who heads the subcommittee whose jurisdiction includes human rights and international organizations, declared, “I am a strong believer in traditional…

Oprah, Terrorist Cells, and the Meaning of Life: An Interview with Paul Froese

By Andrew Aghapour

…r of the Baylor Religion Surveys. The Cubit recently reached out to him by phone to discuss purpose, religion in modernity, and the brilliance of Tony Robbins. This interview has been edited for clarity and length. In your book you argue that modernity has brought about a kind of existential confusion, and you discovered this in an interesting way: by comparing levels of happiness and purposefulness to per-capita GDP. Could you tell us more abou…

Joyless Primaries Grind On

By Joanna Brooks

…g, highly observant LDS father. My friend described a brief, tension-laden phone call between father and son, wedged into a few free minutes after a church meeting. “Now, I’m going to serve my family,” said the father, bringing the call to a close. “Because that’s what I do.” And Mitt Romney is going to serve his country. Because that’s what he does. Like it or not. That joyless put-your-shoulder-to-the-wheel tenacity is setting the tone for the G…