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Australian Church Nixes Straight Couple’s Wedding Over Their Marriage Equality Support; and More in Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…man who now lives in Chicago tells her story of leaving Cechnya, situating stories of anti-gay persecution within the actions of the brutally repressive regime of Ramzan Kadyrov, the Putin ally who rules Chechnya, and the Putin regime itself. Queerfest is under way in St. Petersburg. The educational and cultural festival runs until September 24. Organizers reported a peaceful opening event on September 14, with police helping provide “an atmospher…

The Sacred and the Dead: Operator, Can You Help Me?

By Maren Haynes

…nny familiarity given our distance in physical space and time. I sang in a new church recently where the pastor realized she knew my name from somewhere. “Are you friends with the Hackett family on Facebook?” she asked. “Yes,” I replied. That’s how she knew me. Virtually. Through pixels on a screen and shared aquaintances. Like Pound, I sometimes find it effervescently exciting, all this connection. I’m thoroughly guilty both of offering too much…

I Always Knew Santa Was Make-Believe: A Retired Pastor on Losing Her Faith

By Anne Grant

…epted Jesus as my Savior when I was four at the altar of a revival tent in New York’s Catskill Mountains. Growing up in those woods, I talked to Jesus—not an audible conversation so much as my heart’s constant refrain of love and gratitude. When we married in 1965, I called Phil my “second best friend.” Even after I became a feminist, I seldom questioned familiar creeds. The idea of domination no longer fit my worldview. So, I asked Jesus, “Is the…

To Get Hebdo Cartoons You Must Get Laïcité

By Stephanie Frank

…arism. But nevertheless the two terms have different meanings, different histories, and different politics. Where secularism sprung from a sort of détente, laïcité began from an attack on entrenched power; where secularism has been bound up from the beginning with a protection of—even a celebration of—difference, laïcité has been bound up with an impulse to level difference; where secularism is associated with state “neutrality,” laïcité is associ…

Steve Jobs Reincarnated as Divine Half-Yak

By Andrew Aghapour

…ake you glad, for just a moment, to be alive during this, of all possible, times. Jobs has long been compared to a religious leader himself, and Apple has been variously described as magical and religious. In 2011 the BBC went so far as to claim that Apple products evoked religious experiences in their fans. Thepyanmahamuni claims that Jobs’ good works earned him more not just earthly acclaim, but rewards in heaven, including a six-story mansion m…

Will Mormonism Really Hurt Romney in Iowa?

By Joanna Brooks

…d interest in the caucuses among young people is “pretty low.” While it’s true that on social conservative issues Iowa can be a “polarized place,” small-town good manners rule everywhere except for caucus-related settings. “People know who they can talk to, but they don’t engage with people outside, because that would be considered impolite.” As for anti-Mormonism, Beckstrom says, “I thought it would be more of an issue.” Rival candidates like Ric…

Gaza Reading [UPDATED]

By Sarah Posner

…loc, no injuries.] A tweet from Daniel Seidemann, founder of Terrestrial Jerusalem: By the way: this Zionist, and Israeli patriot says now: missiles near Jerusalem does not make the Palestinian suffering in Gaza justifiable — Daniel Seidemann (@DanielSeidemann) November 16, 2012 More political reading: Matt Duss at The American Prospect on why the military attack on Gaza was a gamble for Israel, and one that won’t solve the problem it purports to…

Christian Conservatives Turn Off A Generation Of Voters (Or Maybe Not)

By Daniel Schultz

…e political dimensions of religion as being conservative, and that’s been true in America over the last 20-30 years, but that’s not been true in America historically….Progressives at their peril ignore the power of religious rhetoric and religious organization and religious motivation for making social change. Nor does disaffiliation mean, as is sometimes argued, that conservative Christians are winning the hearts and souls of the church over more…

International Protest of Anti-Gay Persecution in Chechnya Grows; more in Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…ions, torture and violence in Muslim-majority region of Chechnya. From the New York Times: Homosexuality is taboo in Chechnya and the mostly Muslim surrounding areas of the Caucasus region in southern Russia. “This society is highly homophobic,” said Ekaterina L. Sokiryanskaya, Russia project director for the International Crisis Group and an authority on Chechnya. “Homosexuality is condemned. It is believed Islam considers it a great sin.” Nevert…

Status of Uganda Anti-Gay Bill Unclear; U.S. Religious Right Support Isn’t

By Peter Montgomery

…da’s struggle against HIV, which is on the rise in Uganda, a situation the New York Times recently described as “a success story [come] undone.” Many religious right leaders who’ve been ecstatic about the part of Museveni’s prayer committing the nation of Uganda to following a particular interpretation of biblical principles, have taken less note of a section of the prayer that would seem to fly in the face of the draconian anti-gay bill: “Help u…