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For Conservatives, the Future Looks Dim… and Gay

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…er’ to one out of four young voters. And it’s not just the marriage issue. Younger Republicans don’t like how the GOP treats the poor and immigrants, branding the party as “closed-minded, racist, rigid, old-fashioned.” Perhaps voices from the next generation of voters will finally provide the GOP with the courage it needs to focus on its future and boot conservative Christians from its ranks and leadership if they’re to avoid being on the wrong si…

Conservative Evangelical Eric Metaxas, Doing Twitter Theology, Claims ‘Jesus Was White’

By Eric Vanden Eykel

…axas, this claim could not be more perverse or more dangerous. Claims of ownership aren’t new for Metaxas. Those familiar with his work know that in 2011 he penned a biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian who was imprisoned and executed by the Third Reich for participating in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. After it was published, Metaxas’s biography was strenuously criticized by Bonhoeffer scholars around the world, and for a…

It’s The Apocalypse, Stupid: Understanding Christian Opposition to Obamacare, Civil Rights, New Deal and More

By Daniel Silliman

…few quick steps to the rise of the religious right. That’s incorrect. They never gave up. They never withdrew or disengaged from culture. In the 1930s, for example, most of these fundamentalists were very critical of the New Deal. For Americans who were actively looking for signs of the coming Antichrist in the context of the 1930s, in the context of Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini, Roosevelt had all the markings of someone setting the stage for the…

Obama’s Gay Marriage Support Shocks Black Church

By Anthea Butler

…s, stunted sexuality, homophobia, and sexual abuse are competing for issue number one in their churches; at many, they are tied at the number one slot. It is high time to for the leaders of the black church to ‘put away childish things’ and to engage in a real conversation about sexuality, same-sex marriage, and the homophobia embedded in the black church community. Pontificating and posturing props up preachers, and does little to edify congregat…

Growing Up Gay in 666: Fred Phelps in Retrospect

By Scott Blaine Swenson

…r’s violent rage seem safe and normal. When they were home, Nate says, no one knew what might trigger the next tirade. When it did come, about twice a week on average, Nate explains, “You didn’t dare back away. There is an instinct in you to avoid his attack, but if you retreated too much that would make him angrier. There was this crazy balance between presenting yourself for violence and protecting yourself from it.” “It made for a very difficul…

Religious Leaders On Anti-Muslim Frenzy: “Silence Is Not An Option”

By Sarah Posner

…r events hosted by religious right groups. Richard Cizik, president of the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good, speaking to evangelical Christians engaging in or promoting anti-Muslim bigotry, said, “Shame on you . . . as an evangelical I say you bring dishonor to the name of Jesus Christ.” Many speakers, including Cizik, chided unnamed purveyors of anti-Muslim fervor as antagonists of the First Amendment. Richard Killmer of the Nation…

Elaine Howard Ecklund Wants to Dispel Myths Surrounding Religious Resistance to Science

By Sammy Feldblum

…climate care and climate change in these faith communities are changing. That would be an awesome study. My sense is that after big storm events, each time a big city gets hit, that city becomes more attuned to climate change. That certainly seemed to be the case in New York, with Sandy. I think of that as being the case in New Orleans as well. Well, we have noticed the city looking to Rice University for expert help: on how should we do our levee…

Conservative Hardliners at Synod Prompt Question: “What Are We Doing Here?”

By Patricia Miller

…ng a sense of ‘pastoral despair.’ However, one of the German bishops cautioned that holding the hard line on the communion teaching in the face of the realities faced by divorced couples makes people “doubt God.” Archbishop Heiner Koch said, “More than a few people concerned leave the Church with their children on the basis of what they see as a rejection,” reports Joshua McElwee in the National Catholic Reporter. And that’s the fundamental questi…

Exclusion is Causing Great Harm: A Conversation With Suspended UMC Pastor Rev. Cynthia Meyer

By Joel Pitney

…in a very odd position. The agreement leaves my charges pending until the next General Conference in 2020, or it could be as early as 2018 or 2019 if there’s a special conference held to look at these issues around LGBT inclusion. In either case, that’s a long time to be waiting and to not know what’s going to happen. Right now, I’m really open to the possibilities for ministry and work that is meaningful, and I’d love to do that within the Unite…

Islamic Intellectual Leadership at a Crossroads

By Amina Wadud

…the world of ideas in any way, but in particular in such a way that everyone benefits from the contributions, then we also contribute to Islam. This week, Tariq Ramadan wrote a piece for the Guardian lamenting the constraints of being described as a “Muslim intellectual and scholar.” It was the same as being assigned a pre-determined category which must speak about certain topics or his intentions are suspect. Among the topics he mentioned: secul…