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Park 51 and RLUIPA, Or, Conservatives Hoisted On Their Petard

…the Interfaith Alliance’s State of Belief radio show, once again religious freedom means freedom for everybody, not just the people we like. That ought to be an obvious statement, but apparently it takes some spelling out for modern conservatives. It would be nice to say that spelling it out might have some effect, but movement conservatives have demonstrated anything these days, it’s that they aren’t much interested in consistency, or logic, or e…

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Texas Faith Leaders Say Governor’s Use of Pandemic to Ban Abortion is an Attack on Religious Freedom (Updated)

…point of view” not shared by many Texans. “This [is] a matter of religious freedom,” Freedman declared. Indeed it is—and that’s a critical point often overlooked in the contentious wrangling over reproductive rights. Though religious belief is a key motivator for many abortion opponents, especially Catholics and evangelicals, they by no means represent all people of faith. Even in conservative Texas, pro-choice Christians make up a sizeable minori…

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Ohio Catholic School Teachers Required to Sign Morality Clause

…f wedlock, public support of or homosexual lifestyle, public support of or use of abortion, public support of or use of a surrogate mother, public support of or use of in vitro fertilization or artificial insemination, public membership in organizations whose mission and message are incompatible with Catholic doctrine or morals, and/or flagrant deceit or dishonesty.” The new contract is “doubled in size and is strikingly different from previous Ar…

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QAnon isn’t a Cult — a Problematic Term — But Michael Protzman’s Q-Adjacent ‘Negative48’ Certainly Is

…] community that could potentially, and in the Branch Davidian case did, cause harm to children instead of saving them from harm.” The use of the term provokes specific reactions, and those reactions often include state violence against the people we claim to want to protect. All of this is important, because when I say the ~Negative48 group, based in Dallas, surrounding Michael Protzman, is a cult, I do so knowing full well the problematic baggag…

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Crying Witch: Learning From the O’Donnell “Dabbling” Debacle

…ent, as old as the notion of a country devoted to the impossible ideals of freedom from the governmental establishment of religion and freedom for citizens’ religious expression—might benefit from continued examination of the various afterlives of this strange date. Certainly, on the brink of Halloween, with cartoon “witches” popping up all over, the reverberations from O’Donnell’s claims emphasize how difficult it is for those who self-identify r…

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What Do We Mean By ‘Judeo-Christian’?

…gian Eliezer Berkovitz put it even more succinctly: Judaism is Judaism because it rejects Christianity and Christianity is Christianity because it rejects Judaism. Behind these refutations was the bloody history of European Christian persecution of Jews. In a 1963 lecture to German theologians, Richard Rubinstein noted that “for almost 2000 years an honest Judeo-Christian encounter was all but impossible in Europe… Only in modern times has a begin…

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Did Jesus Help Ghanaian Women with Birth Control?

…ive use amongst women of the Kassena-Nankana ethnic group in Ghana. She focuses on a study of contraceptive use and childbearing amongst women who attended evangelical churches: To their amazement, they found that female Christian converts were three times as likely to use family planning as women who retained their traditional African faith, and had significantly smaller families. The churches certainly didn’t promote family planning. But, despit…

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Confession Fail: iPhone App Controversy Muddies the Sacramental Waters

…nfession with a priest. However, it has seemed easy enough for the average user to misunderstand the developers’ intention that the app be used as an incentive to go to church. Indeed, enough that Vatican officials were moved to issue a statement yesterday making clear that use of the Confession app—or any technological devise—cannot substitute for the sacrament properly offered by a Roman Catholic priest. Kreager is quick to affirm the Vatican’s…

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As Psychedelics Experience a Renaissance, Emory’s New Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality Seeks a Novel Approach

…Schedule 1, which classifies them as having “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” In light of such classification, suggesting that psychedelics might have a religious use seems anathema. The past few times I’ve taught the course, however, I’ve noticed that students seem more receptive to the idea. I know that it’s an anecdotal observation, but it tracks with a growing interest in the potential medicinal and spiritual…

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The End of Roe Comes Courtesy of the Catholic Church — But From ‘The Dorothy Day Abortion Fund’ to ‘St. Vincent de Paul Vasectomy Clinic,’ Here Are Some Ideas for Catholics Looking to Make a Difference

…ic feminist initiatives. Catholics, including President Joe Biden, need to use the word ‘abortion.’ It is primarily a medical procedure, not an ethical or political dilemma. Try to say it along with ‘transplant’ and ‘tracheotomy’ to get used to the fact that, like those medical procedures, it is necessary and helpful in terms of human health, not for everyone, but for those in need. Reluctance to use the term ‘abortion’ is a signal of how successf…

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