Religion Dispatches
…lanned Parenthood is one of the primary providers of abortion services because the intimidation of and restrictive legislation promoted by anti-choice activists have driven other providers out of business?) But the Republicans refuse to admit the clear evidence: that not a single dollar of federal money pays for anyone’s abortion, and that all the federal money that pays for family planning services is spent with the aim of preventing unintended p…
Read More…n. It is unacceptable for employers – especially for-profit companies – to use their personal beliefs as an excuse to deny critical health coverage to the people who work for them.” She added, “This is not religious freedom, this is discrimination. Real religious liberty gives everyone the right to make their own decisions about their own health, including whether and when to use birth control. It doesn’t give anyone the right to impose their beli…
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…onservatism? On page four, Dreher writes, “To avoid political confusion, I use the word “orthodox”—small “o”—to refer to theologically traditional Protestants, Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox Christians.” Besides the fact that “orthodox” and “Orthodox” are used inconsistently at various points in the text, here he clearly distinguishes the political from the theological. But what exactly is the relation between the two? Is “conservative Christian”…
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…lic was from a concerned Catholic layperson. He had sent us a document because he thought his bishop was being deceitful in his public statements about a clergy sex abuse case. It wasn’t confidential and it had circulated in his parish, but he called me several times, leaving increasingly urgent messages. When I called him back the first thing he said to me was, “Do you remember what I told you about my wife? She works for a parish. And if my emai…
Read More…g at Democratic respondents. Just 30% said businesses should be able to refuse service to LGBT people (vs. 67% who disagreed), while 68% said trans people should be able to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity (27% were opposed). In fact, when respondents were separated by religious affiliations, a majority of Catholic, Jewish, Black Protestant, and unaffiliated Americans said businesses should be required to serve everyone…
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…“aborted a much-needed public debate over whether identity-based bathroom use can and should be regulated as a legal right, or merely left as an option.” But despite the fact that Schuck professes to believe transgender equality is a noble cause, he unnecessarily belittles and trivializes the position transgender kids are in, saying the “only value in play here is transgender people’s desire to affirm their gender identity during their few minute…
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…ed by Christianity and U.S. foreign policy. There are many examples of the use of dubious archaeological evidence to advance narratives of racial, religious, and national superiority, and all too frequently, they have been marshaled in an effort to justify policies of conquest. In a speech in 1811, New York Governor DeWitt Clinton argued that the complex burial mounds found throughout North America were built not by American Indians, but by member…
Read More…increased risk for turning into a carrot. Now I suppose that living in a house with electricity does probably make you more likely to use an electric shaver, but it’s still a leap to go from there to the conclusion that everyone else has a “facial hair problem.” Age, income, overall health, and ancestry can all affect body weight, and they may also correlate with different patterns of religious activity. Perhaps these things were controlled for. (…
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…issue. Part of the intent of the book is to give people the words they can use when someone challenges them about being supportive they have some notion of what to say. My hope is to give them a sample of the kinds of words they can use when they are challenged. Why is marriage so important for gay and lesbian people, and why should straight people be supportive? This is about achieving full and equal rights, and it has as much to do with respect…
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…ear. The Islamic State began in 2004 as al-Qaeda’s Iraq affiliate, not because its then-leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, discovered that female motorists populate America’s highways, but because America had just invaded Iraq. We can and must fight back against ISIL. We have a moral obligation, not to mention a national security obligation. But we must be careful in that response that we do not fall prey to ideas that have already failed before (and i…
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