Religion Dispatches
…reby violate their religious freedom? “[W]e have trouble understanding how signing the form that declares Notre Dame’s authorized refusal to pay for contraceptives for its students or staff, and mailing the authorization document to those companies, which under federal law are obligated to pick up the tab, could be thought to ‘trigger’ the provision of female contraceptives,” he wrote. But, as noted above, other courts have found just the opposit…
Read More…ld prohibit the Internal Revenue Service from denying or revoking a church’s tax-exempt status for its opposition to same-sex marriage. That may be a solution in search of a problem, but it’s a sign of how the conservative campaign for its version of religious freedom isn’t going to be quelled by the actions of so-called “activist” and “arrogant” judges….
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…a religious point of view, having less sex may actually be a good thing, a sign of maturity, a graduation from those irrational days of childhood when we are barely higher than the beasts. Most of Christian tradition, for example, has seen sex as a necessary evil, presenting marriage as a remedy for those unable to control their bodily urges; even within marriage, some tried to practice continence. In recent years most Christians have cultivated a…
Read More…took bread and wine and announced that they were his body and his blood. A sign fastened to the cross declared him “King of the Jews” in various languages. Jesus and those who killed him were not the only ones focused on material objects. When the devil had come years earlier, he tempted Jesus to change rocks into bread and that if Jesus would bow down, the city and all its materials would be his. The release of Son of God and the exceptionally s…
Read More…said he views the church as teaching joy, which he called the “infallible sign of the presence of God.” “I love my church — warts and all,” he said, before an audience of about 3,000 cheering students, who posted his quotes on Twitter using the organizers’ #dolancolbert hashtag. Colbert said people in comedy often make jokes at the expense of religion, but he makes jokes about what he called people’s misuse of religion in politics and other arena…
Read More…s in Shariah courts in the wake of President Goodluck Jonathan’s January 7 signing of a draconian anti-gay law there. Last Thursday, Associated Press reported, “Thousands of protesters threw stones into the Shariah court in a north Nigerian city Wednesday, urging the speedy convictions and executions of 11 men arrested for belonging to gay organizations.” This week, Agence French Press reports that two Islamic courts “have been forced to suspend t…
Read More…yer representing the nuns, has repeatedly called the form the sisters must sign to self-certify as exempt from the mandate a “permission slip for abortion drugs and contraceptives.” Becket argues that the form serves as “trigger” for a third-party provider to provide contraceptives so it’s the same as requiring the nuns to provide contraceptives themselves. From a Catholic point of view, this is a neat theological sleight of hand because it collap…
Read More…church supported me but the Southern California conference forced me to resign. Technically, I’m still a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and have my ministerial credentials though I suspect they will take them away eventually. In fact, I’ve performed a few same sex marriages since I was asked to leave my position. What happened at Azusa Pacific University and Fuller Theological Seminary? Both institutions basically told me I needed to…
Read More…priests in good standing; of mothers of priests’ children being forced to sign confidentiality agreements to get any support at all. These issues—forcing children to bear children, forced child relinquishment, abandonment of children by Catholic priests—were not the main subjects of this hearing, but that they were mentioned is noteworthy because the church’s history of child abuse has taken many forms. And that history is tied intimately to the…
Read More…isappointed human rights activists and drew international condemnation for signing a harsh anti-gay law that calls for long jail sentences for people who join in a same-sex union, participate in a gay organization, or display same-sex affection. A presidential spokesman defended the signing, saying “”More than 90 percent of Nigerians are opposed to same-sex marriage. So, the law is in line with our cultural and religious beliefs as a people.” Sam…
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