Religion Dispatches
…ersion narratives have become mandatory formulations in American politics, signaling simultaneously theological affinity with an important voting bloc as well as the character requisite to serve an executive post with populist humility. As political scientist David S. Gutterman has observed, words of conversion feed multiple audiences: Those who have their own conversion narrative will be able to recognize themselves in another’s story, and those…
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…Over time, the churches that have tried to lighten up the Christian moral code and put forth sort of a kindler, gentler version of Christianity as they see it, have not done well. They have not done well demographically and they haven’t done well financially. Churches that stick to orthodoxy do better over time because in part it’s only those churches that tend to create families that can be of size and carry on the Christian tradition. This hark…
Read More…isturb the public tranquility. Relatedly, Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code, is designed to punish “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.” The relationship between the two laws is instructive. In the 1920’s, in the midst of communal outrage in Lahore against a pamphlet satirizing the private life of the Prophet Muhammed, action was brought against its a…
Read More…veloped world to make our country and continent the dumping ground for the promotion of all immoral practices that have continued to debase the purpose of God for man in the area of creation and morality, in their own countries.” Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama went as far as saying “thank God that this bill was passed.” The failure of the Vatican to oppose or counter such statements implies approval; its hide-and-seek game essentially sanctions the p…
Read More…in the Maldives under Sharia law, and with the publication of a new Penal code in 2014, also under national law, and may be punishable by death penalty. The new Penal code transposes into national law provisions which were previously just in Sharia law and applicable to Muslim citizens. In any case these new provisions have not been put into legal practice so far and there is no record of trials for homosexual practices in the aftermath of the ne…
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…tated during my hearing, I strongly believe that the US should unabashedly promote American values. If confirmed, I will work to advance human rights for everyone.” Likewise, Senator Shaheen asked, “If confirmed, will you work to further the rights of LGBT individuals around the world? Will you continue U.S. participation in the LGBT core group? What other actions will you take to further this important issue?” Ambassador Haley answered, “As I sta…
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…no one to turn to. Nepal: Activists call for changes in civil and criminal code Pahichan reports from Kathmandu that local human rights activists have submitted a memo to Speaker Onsari Gharti calling for changes to provisions of the civil and criminal code that violate the rights of women and gender and sexual minorities. Albania: Activists seek to build on LGBT progress with partnership recognition Kristi Pinderin, head of PRO LGBT, announced th…
Read More…ehearsed (always dry-eyed) poignancy, recounting how his commitment to The Code of Conduct left him to rot for five and half years, how trapped in solitary confinement he was allowed a minute or two outside on Christmas day, and how one guard looked him straight in the eye on that day (that holy day) and “drew with his sandal a cross in the ground.” In recent press events, this moment in Hanoi has become his road to Damascus, the tale told to shun…
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…lation theory Mystwood is playing with—he is the universe, the universe is code, his code is part of the important bit, it’s all a simulation, and he’s ready to play. And, importantly, the rest of us might not matter. The language of programming in A Glitch in the Matrix is compelling and difficult. On the one hand, it is literal computer programming. On the other, intentional or not, the movie invokes the language of “deprogramming” that was comm…
Read More…omen Deserve Better” (than abortion). Feminists for Life has been an early promoter of the increasingly popular prolife emphasis on the harm abortion does to women, and a champion of “father’s rights” with the help of the disgraced ex-Bush appointee Wade Horn (the former pro-abstinence Assistant Secretary of Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services who resigned after funneling one million dollars to his own Nationa…
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