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To Be Queer, Gifted, and Black: A Conversation with Theologian Pamela Lightsey

By Nyasha Junior

…essence, is that God cannot be boxed. Your book engages with the work of a number of womanist scholars. Talk a little bit about how you are using the term “womanist” and how it relates to theology. I use the term “womanist” to privilege the narratives of black women in my research. So throughout my book I’m privileging the narratives of black, lesbian, queer, trans women. I want to think about faith itself more broadly. In the book, I’m trying to…

‘Anti-Romeo’ Vigilante Squads Target Men Suspected Of Being Gay; More in the Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…l of the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo, repeatedly used anti-gay slurs to describe Brewster. A group of Dominican intellectuals and religious leaders last year urged President Danilo Medina to declare Brewster “persona non grata” because of a U.S.-backed education initiative they claimed would “turn our adolescents gay.” Hundreds of LGBT Dominicans took part in a regional leadership event held in March, and some of them are planning to run for publ…

Snake-Handlers, False Messiahs, and a Few Great Souls: 14 Who Died in 2014

By Daniel Silliman

…Mormon, Hinkins was a high school teacher in Southern California when he discovered “soul consciousness.”He founded MSIA—pronounced “messiah”—in 1971, teaching one could achieve a totally positive state of being with the help of the Mystical Traveler Consciousness he embodied. MSIA attracted celebrity followers including Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys, Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington and productivity consultant David Allen. Beset by scan…

“Split at the Root”: Adrienne Rich and (Religious) Identity

By Ryan Harper

…riled by the injustices they perpetuated and from which they benefited, consciously and unconsciously. They were in need of a redemption that required the constant witness of marginalized people. Like Baldwin, Rich realized that “oppressor” and “oppressed” were not simple, static, mutually-exclusive categories with lifetime members. Perhaps more fully than Baldwin, Rich was aware of her own dual memberships. Like Muriel Rukeyser before her, this a…

The Queerness of Christian Ethics: A Conversation with Rev. Elizabeth Edman

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…ooking to the margins, we have to be willing to enter into places that are scandalous. You have to enter places of scandal where you’re willing to really own that stuff when it gets scary and when it defies conventional norms. That’s what Christians take on when we do outreach ministry and go into the margins to address injustice. I understand that your grandfather on your father’s side, Victor Raymond Edman, was once president of Wheaton College….

Enlightenment Values Aren’t Just the Solution to Racism, They’re Also the Problem

By Hussein Rashid

The slaughter of nine worshippers in a Charleston church once more forces us to have conversations we would rather not have. This was clearly an act of terrorism, as defined by the FBI, but we will not call it that because the perpetrator is not a racial or religious minority. He wanted to intimidate a group of people. In his own words, he killed people praying because they were black, but we will shy away from the conversation on race because we…

The Problem We All Live With: Bearing Witness, But Never Finding Justice

By Emilie M. Townes

…and its brother and sister forms of violence, the first anniversary of the Charleston massacre was marked by the blood of queer lives and the collateral damage done to their families and friends and the many of us who were horrified that someone would gun people down in cold blood for little reason beyond violent hatred and loathing. We live in a time when the disregard for human lives in general is astoundingly sanctioned by a legal system that f…

Pride Month & Prejudice; ‘Worrisome Time’ For LGBT People; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…velopment in other Nordic Lutheran Churches. In 2015 The Church of Iceland scrapped its freedom of conscience clause, ending the right of clergy to refuse to solemnize same-sex marriages. The resolution overturned a 2007 statement by the annual Church Council, that held that the “freedom of clergy in these matters must be respected”. In Sweden, pastors have in principle freedom not to minister in a wedding ceremony for gay couples. However, it is…

Lifestyles of the Rich and Pious

By Patricia Miller

…in a charming three-story brick Victorian home valued at $3.84 million. • Baltimore Archbishop William Lori, head of the bishop’s Committee on Religious Liberty—the epicenter of the church’s opposition to same-sex marriage and the contraception mandate—and the man supposedly behind the investigation of the LCWR, lives in a 11,5000-square foot historic mansion that dates back to the first Catholic bishop of the United States. • And last but certai…

Saving Teens from Obama: When Bible Study Goes Wrong

By Vyckie Garrison

…chen, and rent and utility assistance programs. In the midst of their busy schedules, the pastors met with me the first Monday after the weekend to discuss my concern that paying for the teens to watch this movie crossed the line from teaching good Christian behavior to political advocacy. Both were friendly, and our meeting wasn’t confrontational, but several times during our conversation, I felt like I was flashing back to another lifetime, when…