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Prop. 8 Upheld: Bad Religion’s Comeback in the Golden State

By Peter Laarman

…lifornia Supremes have now spoken and have backed completely away from the spirit of their decision of one year ago—the decision arguing persuasively that the principle of equal rights under law applies to gay people, too. Now these same justices say that the people of California have a perfect right to decide core constitutional issues via plebiscite. In oral arguments earlier this year, Chief Justice Ronald George—the principal author of the fir…

Beautiful Dreamers: A Documentary Asks “What is God”?

By Nathan Schneider

…God a policeman? A scapegoat? His discoveries, if anything, fall into the spiritual-but-not-religious sensibility that has been ascendant in popular culture for the last half century or so. Religion, with all its tribalism and corrupt leadership, is pretty much bad. God, or spirit, and the power of individuals to decide for themselves, are good. As he crosses the border between Kenya and Tanzania, at one point, he discovers, having felt no tremen…

Homegoing: Historian Explores the World of African-American Funerals

By Joanna Brooks

…also functions in African American religious experience as a tool to give spiritual support in times of tremendous loss and to celebrate the spirit of a deceased person. This is clearly evident in the New Orleans jazz funeral, which is a dramatic musical performance that expresses both the grief and joy embedded in the African American funeral.” Smith’s book is taking a place on my bookshelf next to one of my favorite cultural studies books of al…

Who Are the Waldensians and Why Did the Pope Ask for Their Forgiveness?

By Ed Simon

…hether among schismatic groups like the Hussites, the Brethren of the Free Spirit, and Waldensians; or within the Church itself with groups like the Beguines, the Beghards and indeed the Franciscans (all of whom also had their periods of persecution). Pope Francis’ Turin apology could be read as an acknowledgement of this historical complexity, and of the shared history between the Church and the many Protestant denominations. His predecessor Pope…

Don McLeroy’s Texas Textbooks Would Replace Historical Characters With Fictional Ones

By Lauri Lebo

…of immigrants including Jean Pierre Godet as told in Thomas Kinkade’s The Spirit of America.” Sure, Mr. Godot doesn’t exist, as McLeroy probably figured out after he proposed the change, which may be why he opted against presenting it formally for a vote. But that’s no reason why we can’t quote Mr. Godet to our children not saying things like, “I love America for giving so many of us the right to dream a new dream.” As McLeroy wrote, “Such words …

Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, and Pro-Home Birth

By Katherine Don

…ess along. “Everybody will lay hands on the mother, and we invite the Holy Spirit into the event,” she explains. “This will happen spontaneously. There’s nothing more rejuvenating and encouraging for a mother than listening to people pray for her.” Prentice, like many midwives practicing in rural Christian communities, is “naturally pro-life,” but she sees legal access to home birth care as a “choice” issue. “I fully believe in a woman’s right to…

Gay Pride Weekend Draws Mormon Allies and Equality Supporters

By Joanna Brooks

…ation not only honored our LGBT brothers and sisters, but also honored the spirit of Mormonism at its very best.” Tresa Edmunds, a straight LDS ally and mother, made a 3-hour drive into the city to march with her sign: “Gay kids grow up Mormon, I’m here to keep them safe.” As in Seattle, San Francisco marchers reported tearful parade-route meetings with gay Mormons estranged from the community. In Chicago, a contingent of 15 LDS marchers, organize…

Synod ‘Fight for Soul’ of Catholic Church, Flap On English Translation of Key Report; Anti-Gay Law Advances in Kyrgyzstan; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…em spiritually. But when you lead a person into heinous sin, you kill them spiritually in this world and the next world.” All the hoopla led to a bit of bactracking, at least rhetorically, but liberals and conservatives jockeyed over the extent to which the Vatican’s statements clarifying the relatio’s role in the process marked any walk-back from its ideas. In response to such reactions, the Vatican backtracked a bit Tuesday. In a statement, it s…

Catholic Bishops End Family Synod With Little To Say To Gays; World Congress of Families Has Plenty To Say, None of it Good; How Same-Sex Marriage Came to a Buddhist Temple in Japan; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…he true defenders of doctrine are not those who uphold its letter, but its spirit.” Joshua McElwee at National Catholic Reporter reported on the pope’s closing homily, in which Francis “warned against a temptation to practice a ‘spirituality of illusion’ that ignores people’s struggles or sees things only as we wish them to be.” The remarks follow strong words given by the pope at the end of the work of the gathering Saturday evening, when the pon…

God TV: Televangelism 2.0

By Sarah Posner

…laims God told her, “the stupor and the slumber and the secular humanistic spirits that have bound My people in this nation shall start to uproot.” In early 2007, she claimed that God told her He was preparing, “to pour out from heaven the ferocious fire of my spirit” on the West Coast of America—a “fresh new breath upon California” and not, Alec insisted, a mere repeat of the 1906 Azusa Street Revival. She said God promised a “cleansing” of Los A…