Religion Dispatches
…e religious traditions. It did this by invoking the rhetorical distinction between “spirituality” and “religion.” Indeed, scholar Robert Fuller has argued that the phrase “spiritual but not religious” was coined by AA. Over time Western societies have liberalized, leaving AA to the right of present cultural norms. The “God of your own understanding” sounded so liberal in the 1930s whereas now, mention of the word “God”—regardless of the qualifiers…
Read More…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…
Read More…, but we still think that to speak about homosexuality is a ‘Western’ fad. New Zealand: New Prime Minister left Mormon Church over anti-gay doctrines Jacinda Ardnern, the country’s new 37-year-old prime minister, is a former Mormon who left the church when she was in her 20s, “mostly as a consequence of its anti-homosexual stance.” From the New Zealand Herald: “For a lot of years, I put it to the back of my mind. I think it was too unsettling. If…
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…activists around the globe, including an attack on “gender ideology.” This new “gender ideology” which is increasingly being imposed on society by Western governments, undermines the fundamental understanding of what it means to be a human. In seeking to make every individual completely autonomous, it destroys the understanding of the family as a community designed for the rearing of children. In this radical new understanding of sexuality, childr…
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…te and advance a conversation. Clarkson has previously written that Moore knew his defiant actions—whether in placing a 2.6-ton Ten Commandments statue inside a state courthouse or instructing probate judges not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples—would ultimately be overruled. But his insistence that he was on sound moral—and therefore legal—ground did indeed spark nationwide conversations about the very issues at the center of Moore’s…
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…kinds of Muslims after converting—and seeing how little most non-Muslims knew about them—spurred my interest in trying to conduct a research project that got inside the social worlds of Muslim Americans. Keeping It Halal: The Everyday Lives of Muslim American Teenage Boys John O’Brien Princeton UP September 12, 2017 After approaching the leaders of a local mosque about the project, I became an active member of the community, and got to know one g…
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…hard-hearted pride (see Ezekiel 16:49-50). It’s also notable that the one New Testament passage that speaks most graphically about male-male sex (Romans 1:27) makes no reference to Sodom. For the theological definition of “sodomy,” we have to jump to medieval Rome and Peter Damian, fierce monk and sometimes cardinal. He defines four varieties of a sexual sin that he names “sodomy.” The varieties are (in modern terminology): male masturbation, mut…
Read More…ident comes on the heels of growing threats to indigenous sovereignty by a new right-wing administration in Brazil. President Jair Bolsonaro assumed office in January after running a campaign largely hostile to indigenous rights. Bolsonaro supports assimilation of indigenous communities and opening their resource-rich reservations in the Amazon to commercial interests, including large-scale farming, logging, and mining. Although the Brazilian cons…
Read More…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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…cent person who agreed to do an elected official’s job is briefed on their newfound duties and sworn in to perform them. So much for your “special day” being filled with nothing but love, joy, and hope for a bright future together. That last scenario is admittedly extreme, but it would be entirely permissible if SB 522 becomes law. The bill also highlights the fact that Texas marital code still only identifies “a man and a woman” as the two partie…
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