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New Resource for LDS Families with Gay Children Links Acceptance and Health

By Joanna Brooks

…the way services for LGBT youth conceive of families. We’ve trained 30,000 service providers and families since 2005. When we have visited LGBT youth service centers, we’ve found that the model that emerged in the 1970s was to not engage families, or even to position families as adversarial. Some say, “We don’t talk about families. It’s too painful” for the adolescents. We’ve done surveys hat found a dearth of resources and activities for families…

New Mag Provides a Platform for Christians of Color

By Anita Little

…he editor in the inaugural print issue, you mentioned how churches pay lip service to racial conciliation, but “white privilege is never nailed to the cross.” What do you think causes this disconnect between what leaders say and what actually ends up happening in churches? There is disconnect because there is a lack of empathy, lack of deeper understanding, a lack of walking in the other person’s shoes and taking on their perspective. We need to m…

A Journalist in Church, Hiding in Plain Sight

By Andre Tartar

…l-too-spiritual tingle as I crescendo-ed in collective song. During church services, I began sending up prayers for the health of my loved ones, something I hadn’t done since a boy, kneeling by my bedside and clutching a pendant with an image of my guardian angel, to whom I would pray to intercede with God to cure my stutter and wandering eye. I even volunteered to start a discipulado, or Bible study, with Pastor Valmir Delgado, of the Comunidade…

“Joseph Smith Himself Viewed Women as Priesthood Holders”

By Joanna Brooks

…aunch ordainwomen.org? Because women in the church give countless hours of service and still we are severely underutilized. The LDS Church is run by a lay clergy—all men over the age of twelve are eligible for ordination; women are not. In seeking ordination, we seek a greater role in service to our faith. Our movement is an act of faith in the Mormon Church—our leaders, our community—that the institution can be more inclusive. Tell me about the w…

RNC Takes America to Church, Mormon Style, as Rank-and-File LDS Step Up

By Joanna Brooks

…sibilities of an LDS bishop—not theology, not ritual, but rather practical service that ranged from counseling physically, economically, and spiritually distressed parishioners to “shoveling snow for the elderly” and folding chairs after church meetings. Next came Ted and Pat Oparowski, Mormons from New Hampshire who Romney had visited every month when he was serving back in the 1970s as a “home teacher,” a volunteer position held by virtually eve…

NPR Largely Misses Critical Distinction on Religious Freedom vs. LGBTQ Rights

By Sunnivie Brydum

…ut mention of the finer distinctions the reader is clearly being done a disservice—which in this case happens to benefit “religious freedom” advocates. Or, for those who balk at the use of scare quotes in that phrase, let’s call them “discriminationists.” *This post incorrectly stated that Catholic Charities discontinued adoption services in Massachusetts because its public funding put it at odds with the state’s nondiscrimination law, as was the…

The Curious Case of Mormons and LGBT Rights

By Alan Michael Williams

…ment, enter temples and are usually not allowed to hold church “callings” (service responsibilities). The reality is, the situation is very uneven. One can still find new accounts online of those disciplined for merely “coming out.” Conversely, I have a friend in Seattle who was called to the stake Sunday school presidency even though his stake president knows that he dates men. Negotiated cases like his are the result of a local service need for…

“Under God…It’s a Great Thing”: Trump Delivers for His Christian Base

By Diane Winston

…nts—Carter, Reagan, Bush 1 and 2—and were always disappointed. Despite lip service, their hallmark social issues went unaddressed. Trump is addressing those issues with a rapidity and determination that many of us find shocking. He also is strong on evangelical economic and political concerns, including small government, reduced regulations, and putting America First. When Eisenhower addressed the first Presidential Prayer Breakfast, as the event…

The Deafening Silence of “Religious Freedom” Defenders on Trump’s Muslim Ban

By Sunnivie Brydum

…an interpretations of the law. So while groups like Becket and ADF pay lip service to “religious freedom for all,” their actions speak louder than any boilerplate rhetoric ever could. Organizations that fight tooth and nail to make sure Hobby Lobby employees don’t have access to reproductive healthcare (like Becket has), or who proudly challenge trans-inclusive interpretation of federal nondiscrimination law using provably false transphobic scare…

New Report: White Evangelicals are America’s Most Anti-Trans Demographic, But Encouraging Data Overall

By Chrissy Stroop

…that most Americans (63%) “oppose allowing small business owners to refuse service to LGBTQ people if doing so violates their religious beliefs.” By contrast, per PRRI: “white evangelical Protestants remain the only major religious group in which a majority favors religiously based service refusals, and their support for these exemptions is increasing. A majority of white evangelical Protestants (62%) say that they support allowing small business…