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More Bleak Times For Indonesian LGBTs; South Africa Bans Extremist Anti-Gay US Pastor; Mexican Marriage Struggle Heats Up; Global LGBT Recap

…allow conscientious objection”. “I believe ministers of religion should be free to marry who they want, but the government’s proposal could mean civil celebrants, marriage registrars and wedding service providers like bakers and florists are all free to discriminate.” The Greek Orthodox Church of Australia is among those opposing marriage equality; a recent post on the marriage page of the church’s website explains why the author believes “saying…

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A ‘Vows’ Piece in ‘The Times’ Shows How Doctrinaire Christian Celibacy Has Become Compared to its Ancient Roots

…y. Ephrem reminded Covenanters that foregoing sexual intimacy was meant to free them from themselves, not create a privileged class of Christians. ‘Without good deeds,’ he bluntly affirmed, ‘sexual renunciation is worthless.’ Ephrem’s insights could be arrestingly prescient. He warned that if celibacy were to become institutionalized in the church, it could result in great harm. Ambitious churchmen, he said, might use it as a stepping stone to pri…

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Why I Joined Over a Thousand Faith Leaders in Masterpiece Case Brief

…lem is not theological. It’s that it misconstrues the meaning of religious freedom. Religious freedom is one of the most fundamental principles of American democracy. The Constitution makes plain that the government should not interfere with an individual’s practice of their religion. But religious freedom does not give anyone the right to impose their beliefs on others, to harm others, or to discriminate when they operate as a public accommodatio…

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The GOP’s Race to the
Dark Ages

…administration’s anti-Catholic bias. Catholics beg to differ. The right to free exercise of religion, a First Amendment right, does not entitle a religious organization to a government contract. Nor does it entitle religious organizations to have every one of their beliefs accommodated by the government. The USCCB wants the Obama administration, for example, to exempt all colleges, universities, and hospitals from the requirement under the Afforda…

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What the USCCB’s New “Religious Liberty” Initiative Took from Evangelicals

…and even some Eastern Orthodox Christians joined hands in protecting their freedom from the scourges of LGBT rights, reproductive freedom, feminism, and secularism. At the time, a handful of Catholic bishops signed the document. Now the USCCB seems to have been motivated by its success: it is, after all, touted widely at conservative and religious right gatherings and now claims nearly half a million signers. Religious liberty, the document procla…

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Bishops Have No Religious Freedom Claim

…— free exercise of religion, that in order for a law to violate somebody’s free exercise, it has to impinge — substantially burden — their religious practice. And there is no substantial burden on Catholics’ religious practice by providing coverage — insurance coverage for contraception for other people. No one is making Catholics who do not want contraception to take it. No one is making the bishops take it, and so it’s not really a First Amendme…

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8 Bill Maher Statements For UC Berkeley To Consider Before Commencement

…ding this ruckus, however, are a few missing (and critical) points. First, free speech does not guarantee Maher or anyone the right to be invited by elite institutions to deliver keynote speeches. In no way does uninviting Maher infringe upon his ability to express his views in public. In fact, he does so regularly on his primetime cable television show to roughly 4 million viewers. Second, the purpose of a university commencement address is to sp…

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Morality Police, Jihadists, Religious Competition, Grindr, & Americans Abroad: Global LGBT Recap

…ians view the acceptance of homosexuality by liberal Western churches as a betrayal of the values taught by the missionaries. This sense of betrayal is heightened by Christians’ sensitivity to accusations from cultural nationalists that they have forsaken authentically African traditions. Islamic partisans reproduce a version of this discourse by painting virtually any Nigerian Christian or secularist, or any Muslim who deviates from the orthodox…

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Why Evolution Should Be Taught in Church

…at hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, “This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed”? Instead they say, “No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.” Rather sentimental people often argue that the more science one knows, the less mysterious and wondrous nature becomes. But this is…

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What Does Repentance Look Like For the White Church?: A Conversation with Lisa Sharon Harper

…are so captured by a political identity. They are witnessing a disconnect between their community’s vote for a president who wants to ban immigrants, who says black people are to be feared and locked up, and Jesus who says “Welcome the stranger” and “I’ve come to set the prisoners free.” What’s your advice to people of color in white evangelical spaces? We have done two things for too long. One, we have centered white people in our conversations…

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