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Gays Losing Value to “Value Voters”?

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…en though opposition to same-sex marriage seems to be cooling its heels at number three, it’s presence is still felt in just about all aspects of the “value voters” belief system. With abortion remaining at the number one spot, it’s clear that all things sexual continue to occupy the minds of those who seem the most opposed to anyone actually having sex. It’s interesting to view the “value voter” summit in juxtaposition with a new survey conducted…

Is Stephen Pinker’s Controversial Polemic in Defense of Scientism As Bad As They Say?

By Michael Schulson

…sable in all areas of human concern, including politics, the arts, and the search for meaning, purpose, and morality. Religion, of course, fits into science’s purview: To begin with, the findings of science entail that the belief systems of all the world’s traditional religions and cultures—their theories of the origins of life, humans, and societies—are factually mistaken. Now, instead of religious belief systems, the worldview that guides…

Australians Vote Overwhelmingly For Marriage Equality; and More in Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…ts in Australian society. Opposition was concentrated in suburbs with high numbers of working-class immigrants on the suburban fringes, including locations popular with Islamic communities. Brazil: Conservative Christian activists protest gender theorist Judith Butler At Inside Higher Ed, philosopher and gender theorist Judith Butler describes to Scott Jaschik her experience earlier this month in Brazil, where “she faced an ugly protest at which s…

Another Judge Rejects Religious Arguments Against Marriage Equality

By Sarah Posner

…x exempt status,’ fueled the proposed legislation,” she noted. The growing number of courts striking down bans on same-sex marriage hasn’t made these arguments disappear — in fact, the parade of horribles becomes more intense, and more imaginative. Activists and lawmakers are seeking religious exemptions (not just for churches) from recognizing the validity of legal same sex marriages at the state level, and at the federal level, members of Congre…

Pope Francis meets with bishop who blessed gay couple; Proposed NGO law in Uganda threatens LGBT groups, civil society; Interfaith sexuality organizing in Indonesia; global LGBT recap

By Peter Montgomery

…s of YIFOS dialogues is always to put young people first, allowing them to search out grounds of commonality, negotiating religious values and issues of concern around sexuality and the LGBT community, without fear of judgement. The inclusion of religious authorities in debates on sexuality is a new phenomenon in Indonesia. The country has seen the emergence of interfaith organisations such as Interfidei in Yogyakarta in 1991, or the Regional Inte…

Eat, Pray, Trash: What the Critics Don’t See

By Ben Brazil

…gh, Eat Pray Love’s critics seem to have little problem with a therapeutic search for a whole, balanced self. Their criticism is that the book and movie lead down unhelpful or unethical paths. It’s at this point that the concept of authenticity turns back on itself, becoming increasingly problematic. In part because the industrializing West has become increasingly “inauthentic,” Latin America, Africa, and (especially) Asia have been deemed “authen…

Way Beyond Atheism: God Does Not (Not) Exist

By Paul Wallace

…talk about God, to critique the very ground upon which theology stands, to search for that place—if there is a place—where concepts fail. Also on this third level is found the insistence, made for centuries by theologians throughout Christendom, that God transcends the distinction of being and not-being. Therefore, if we use the conventional definition of existence, God does not exist. Our category of existence does not apply to God. Put another w…

Rubio Leaves Science to the Theologians, or the Free Market. Or Something.

By Sarah Posner

…because you will discover that the creationists are actually very good at search engine optimization. And maybe Rubio did Google it, and discovered a jumble of results, including the scientific answer that it’s about 4.54 billion years old, give or take a bit, and also that a site claiming the earth is about 6,000 years old comes up before the scientific answer. You could see how that could be confusing for someone who’s “not a scientist.”) But h…

Harold Camping, Prophet of Apocalypse, Dies at 92

By Daniel Silliman

…d. Therefore, we should not be surprised at what we are learning about the numbers God has placed in the Bible. We should not be surprised at the new insights many believers are receiving, insights that relate to the timing and the details of the end of the world. There were about 80,000 copies of the two books in print when the end didn’t come. “So that was inaccurate,” Camping told Christianity Today. The error didn’t cause Camping to reform. If…

Sacred&Profane: From Bono to the Jedi Police—Who Needs God?

By Gary Laderman

…ry for all things spiritual, Beliefnet, confirms the force of the Force. A search of the Jedi religion brings a wide range of opinions, commentaries, and stories about this cultural phenomenon, including “The Force is With…Everyone” (you can be a good Christian, Jew, what have you, and still follow the religious teachings of Jedi masters) and “Why I Want to Be a Jedi,” by a Muslim writer looking to apply principles of the Jedi to the world we live…