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Episcopal Church Assault Data Reveals the Dark Side of Inclusive Christianity

By Charlotte Dalwood

…those victims who did report their victimization to Episcopal leaders, the number one assessment from both trans/non-binary and cisgender respondents was that “little or no change” came about as a result. 20.6% of transgender and non-binary survivors reported that they simply left the church altogether. By comparison, “only” 10.7% of cisgender women felt they had to leave. (Curiously, there’s no data on this front for LGB-identified Episcopalians….

US Offers Help For Investigation of Bangladesh Killings

By Peter Montgomery

…d. It is a sin that will accompany its committer in the life after death.” Australia: Openly gay Imam tries to smooth path for LGBT Muslims Patrick Abboud profiles Nur Warsame, the country’s first openly gay Imam: Nur Warsame is a prominent and well-respected man in Australia’s Islamic community. He was married and has a young daughter. For decades he has lived for his religion, all the while holding on to a deadly secret, a secret he reveals inti…

Good Mourning Modeled by Chaplains and Clergy at the Oakland Ghost Ship Fire

By Kaya Oakes

…ly Graham Crusade had, according to Landeza, been trying to enter the fire site for days. Landeza, who was born and raised in Berkeley and has ministered in the Bay Area for decades (and had been at the fire site for five days straight by the time this writer was able to reach him), said the Billy Graham chaplains were “not even from the area” and had driven in from other parts of California. “They don’t reflect the diversity of Oakland or appreci…

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Blames Gays For ISIS; ‘Christian Nationalist’ Sworn In As Guatemala’s President; Vatican Resists Civil Unions in Italy; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…British man whose husband was killed in a fall on their honeymoon in South Australia called on the British government for help after South Australian authorities insisted on listing his late husband’s marital status as “never married” on the death certificate. In addition, the surviving husband was given no say in next-of-kin decisions. Following the furor, South Australian premier Jay Weatherill said he would introduce legislation recognizing sam…

Power Up: Turn Off the Cell Phone

By Daniel Schultz

…plugged-in lifestyle doesn’t really get at the heart of the issue. I think the Amish, of all people, have it right. It’s not so much about what you as an individual are doing or not doing, as the effect technology has on the community: Why not make life easier and just put [a phone] in the house? “What would that lead to?” another Amish man asked me. “We don’t want to be the kind of people who will interrupt a conversation at home to answer a tel…

Religious Conservatives Mobilize Internationally Against Spanish Nondiscrimination Bill; And More in Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…classrooms. Anti-marriage equality pamphlets in Chinese distributed by the Australian Chinese for Families Association says “same-sex marriage has nothing to do with equality” and would “threaten freedom of speech and faith.” Nigeria: U.S. based anti-gay group promotes anti-gay propaganda amid increasing official hostility The Mail & Guardian follows up on the July arrest of 52 men at a party in the state of Kano on suspicion of homosexuality. The…

A Pope, a Poet, and a Drug War

By Stephen Andes

…ncil for Justice and Peace. No plans have been made for a private audience with the pope. It remains to be seen what Benedict will say when he arrives in Mexico. His predecessor, John Paul II, was much loved by many Mexican Catholics and went to great lengths to encourage devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe. One famous painting, still visible in Mexico, shows John Paul II embracing the Virgin, with his head laying softly on her breast. Benedict XV…

Burning Down the Temple: Religion and Irony in Black Rock City

By Sarah M. Pike

…hting of the temple began and everyone became transfixed by the fire. Each year I find the temple and its fiery demise the most moving experience on the playa; even if someone is hollering obnoxiously or playing with a laser pointer. If every other playa site invites irreverence and irony, this is still the one that takes meaning most seriously. It is a site of both voyeurism and participation, where our deepest fears and most painful losses are a…

Global LGBT Recap: “Lavender Fascism,” Rage in India, Pope Francis Ousts Culture Warrior

By Peter Montgomery

…he department with advice on the new protocols which they must observe.” Australia: Marriage Equality Law Rejected by Supreme Court On December 12, the Australia High Court ruled that a federal law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman trumps a marriage equality law passed two months ago by the Australian Capital Territory. According to the Canberra Times, the ruling nullifies at least 27 marriages conducted in the five days the law…

Why It’s Heresy to Read the Bible Literally: An Interview with John Shelby Spong

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…f receive their hearing and lame can leap and the mute can sing. “…the opposite of not being literal is not that it’s not true. The opposite of literal is to be interpretive.” Before he tells that story he wraps all the healing stories where Jesus does these things so that when Jesus proclaims these are the things that are happening and this means the Kingdom of God is coming in, then John the Baptist can still be the forerunner announcing that th…