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Why the Women’s Ordination Question Will Shape the Future of Mormonism

…and a more equitable role for women in LDS Church leadership and service. Today, the global operations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are governed and directed by an all-male organizational chain of command.  Mormon women may participate in some decision-making at the congregational level.  But at all levels most forms of institutional power—from the power to shape the church’s global policies and finances to the power to bles…

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In Just 10 Years ‘The Book of Mormon’ Musical Has Gone From America’s Darling to America’s Latest Problem — The Inverse of the Mormon Story

…developed a dynamic culture and practice of musical theater that persists today, which importantly set the stage for Broadway’s satirical, full-circle swing back to Mormons in 2011—over 180 years and several iterations later, Mormonism was back in New York where it had started. Mormons were something of an easy target in 2011, what with the Mormon Church’s opposition to marriage equality and Mitt Romney’s seemingly picture perfect life running pe…

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No Time for Casual Faith: The First Unitarian Woman Elected President on our Urgent Moment

…experienced a notable growth spurt in the early 2000s and your membership today is holding fairly steady, whereas the forecast for many of the mainline groups remains quite dire. What would say is the message here? Being ahead of the curve in some ways—certainly on LGBTQ equality—has been helpful to us. And we have grown relatively more in the South, where there is still the expectation of people going to church. We need to explore new ways to ga…

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Can the Catholic Church Survive Trump?

…taining a prohibition on public funding of abortions justifies support for today’s Republican Party. But bishops should be wary of such a judgment. Today’s Republican Party is not an appropriate or reliable vehicle for the advancement of Catholic teaching in the medium and long run because of the simple but profound fact that no American political party ever is such a vehicle or ever will be. But the association with Trump leaves a particularly da…

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Southern Baptists Embrace Minorities, but Not Gays

Southern Baptists are feeling pretty good about themselves today. Eleven years after the denomination apologized to African-Americans for supporting segregation and slavery, it elected a black man as its first vice president of the convention—“the highest position yet held by an African-American” in the denomination, the New York Times notes. Fred Luter Jr. pastors a largely black church in New Orleans and is apparently an “overwhelming favorite…

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Americans Say Religion is “Losing Influence”

Today Gallup announced the results of a survey in which 77 percent of Americans “say religion is losing its influence on American life,” which represents “the most negative evaluation” of religion’s impact since 1970. Writing today in Religion Dispatches, I have to wonder about the future of any publication with “religion” in its name. Is it time for a mission overhaul or simply rebranding? It’s not that RD has been oblivious to the trend. An int…

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“A Feminine Complaint Against Theologians”

…Saiving and are surprised to discover her work. Witness the blogosphere of today. Theological Nostalgia “I am a student of theology; I am also a woman,” wrote Saiving in the first two sentences of “The Human Situation.” She was recognized in that issue of Time alongside reports of the Nixon/Kennedy rivalry, of unrest at Vanderbilt over the expulsion of “Negro Divinity Student James M. Lawson Jr. for promoting sit in demonstrations,” and of various…

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Touched by a Michael Landon: America’s Jewish Angel

When actor, producer, and director Michael Landon died 20 years ago today, many in Christian America thought they had lost one of their own. After all, this was the man responsible for Highway to Heaven, the weekly extrusion of spiritual melodrama that first convinced network executives that American viewers would enjoy being touched by an angel. If further proof were needed, Landon appeared on The 700 Club describing feeling “electric” when play…

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“Pregnancy is Not a Disease”: Birth of an Anti-Contraception Rallying Cry

…e lifespan was far shorter and average living conditions more squalid than today, outbreaks of plague were frequent, and death in childbirth was commonplace. In that context, it would have made no sense to say that pregnancy and childbirth were fundamentally safe, well-designed, healthy, blissful processes that if left alone would result in a healthy mother and baby. That idea wouldn’t come along until… Grantly Dick-Read and the early natural chil…

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Heaven On Earth: A Non-Hysterical History of Shari’ah

…e the matters that are causing greatest damage to inter-communal relations today. That means, regrettably, devoting attention to conflict—not just the ‘jihad and terrorism’ you mention, but also the harsh attitudes toward criminal justice, gender politics and religious toleration that have been hardening of late in some ostensibly Islamic states.   Another writer might well have struck a different balance, but that would simply have drawn criticis…

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