Religion Dispatches
…ionships, rather than particular acts.” It also urges faith communities to promote sex education, reproductive rights, and full inclusion of women and LGBT people in religious life and society at large. “We need to move religion away from saying homosexuality is wrong, or masturbation or abortion, or oral sex, or sex outside marriage,” Haffner explained in an interview with RD. “The point is, what is the quality of the relationship?” While recent…
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…very idea of finding a tent in the house was so foreign, and truthfully so welcome, that it could only come from a source that was Wholly Other. Irrespective of anything that might be regarded as proof, at least until my father announced plans for an upcoming camping trip, that novelty and unforeseen possibility had no other name for me than Santa. “Sorry, I didn’t really get to talking about God,” Hook told me when I went up to congratulate him a…
Read More…ting federal hate crimes laws comes too late from my friend’s son – but is welcome future protection for our community. Those on the religious right, however, have been sounding the alarms over the measure for months, claiming it will “silence” the Christians who want to preach against homosexuality as a “sin.” Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council called the legislation a “thought-crimes bill” that would give “special rights” to homosexuals…
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…zation took center stage, preparing the way for a modern period that would welcome both humanistic individualism and the eventual triumph of reason and science. The early modern world was astir with cultural renewal, technological innovation, and religious reformation. The printing press captured the oral tradition on the written page, and the printed word became a matter of depersonalized, static precision. Henceforth, all religious quarrels (bot…
Read More…as one of President Obama’s “spiritual advisors,” and was one of the early promoters of, and advisors to, Obama’s Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. But on this issue, Wallis seems to have lost—if he ever actually had—his influence. As E.J. Dionne (also a fan of government partnerships with faith-based groups) wondered in the Washington Post yesterday, in reacting to Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget proposal: Will President Obama welcome…
Read More…o Gallagher, my marriage to my wife is morally suspect. That’s okay. She’s welcome to her belief. I believe the marriage of Newt Gingrich to his several wives are morally suspect as well — but that doesn’t give me the right to deny him the right to marry and divorce as many women as he pleases, even though I believe such acts degrade the institution of marriage. Gallagher is wrong, however, to assert that she is being painted as a bigot by some ha…
Read More…. My mother said, “I think it’s wrong, but I love you and you’ll always be welcome in my home.” She made good on those words, always treating my partners as members of the family—even if, at her heart, she believed I was outside God’s will for my life. (My journey to reconcile my sexuality and spirituality was a long process, but much of that journey can be found at my magazine Whosoever or my bookBulletproof Faith.) Many LGBT people don’t experie…
Read More…esota’s biggest Boy Scout group said Tuesday that gays and lesbians remain welcome in its troops, despite a national announcement that the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) will continue to bar leaders, employees and members who are “open or avowed homosexuals.” “We’re a reflection of the community,” said Kent York, spokesman for the Northern Star Council, which has 75,000 Scouts in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. “Our commitment has been to reach out…
Read More…ial candidate motorcade. But if you think what they offered Romney was a welcome to the league of Christian gentlemen, you should really read the letter for yourself. Here’s the opening paragraph: In this election year, matters of religious belief are once again highly visible in the public square. Some have tempered their enthusiasm for sound governing principles by their concern over differences in a candidate’s theological doctrine. It is tim…
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…ent. Because he held those roles, it meant that I should be respectful and welcome him when he came to my home and that I should accept callings (church service assignments) from him. I’d had other bishops I’d felt comfortable talking over personal or spiritual issues with. I learned, though, that probably Mitt was not that person. Not all bishops are alike in their pastoral or counseling abilities. Right. Later bishops treated me with respect. B…
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