Search for "airline tickets from spikane to slc ut cheap phone number 1-800-299-7264"

The Incredible Shrinking Catholic Church

By Paul Gorrell

…inate of Israel has severed ties with the Vatican and expressed concern about future relations with a Benedict-led Catholic Church. Why would Benedict reach out to Bishop Williamson and two of the bishop’s fellow travelers at a time when he is shrinking the church? I would argue that reconciliation with these Lefebvrite bishops, as well as the resurrection of the Tridentine Mass, shows that in the eyes of the current papacy, orthodox belief in tra…

Turkish Police Move Against Activists Who Defied Pride Ban; And More in Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…rom the Serbian Orthodox Church holding a sign reading ‘No to Sodomic Revolution.’” But bigger news may be just ahead: Meanwhile, the Serbian parliament convened to launch proceedings needed for the election of Ana Brnabic as the new premier. If elected, the 41-year-old Brnabic would be the first female and first openly gay prime minister. The pride-event activists hailed her expected election as historic for the staunchly conservative Balkan coun…

Mike Johnson isn’t Just Your Average Christian Right Avatar — He’s Influenced by Fringe Movements Unfamiliar to Most Political Analysts

By Annika Brockschmidt

…behind him began jeering, with North Carolina Republican Virginia Foxx shouting “Shut up!” Johnson smiled in response, serenely shaking his head, and called for the next question. The case of Mike Johnson shows that a theocratic worldview isn’t merely the province of the strident evangelist—it can just as easily hide behind a smile and a polite demeanor. Apparently, even the most spirited Googling hasn’t clued some media into the revolutionary mo…

The Next Big Religion Issue: Immigration

By Daniel Schultz

…ttled culture. According to a new poll from Public Religion Research Institute, a surprising number of religious Americans are behind immigration reform. With that broad support and a progressive base that seems reenergized by the success of health care reform, this really might be the best shot for new immigration policy in a long while. I suspect that the question will turn on whether opponents can appeal to a certain xenophobic, authoritarian s…

“As Orthodox As They Come”: A Backstage Conversation With Rob Bell

By Andrew Aghapour and Michael Schulson

…night, and there’s this ramshackle group of people around the table. They put out some bread and wine. One of them says, “Okay, before we take the bread and wine, have the meal, does everybody have their rent paid? All of the single moms got the help they need?” And then your friend, at the end of the evening—as you’ve seen, these people from all across, take care of each other—your friend might say to you, “So who’s making a better world, Caesar…

Episcopal Conference Lives Up to Episcopal Jokes

By Julie Ingersoll

…you’re baptized we have you; you’re ours and you don’t have much to say about it.” Recent reports indicate that about 350 congregations have departed to affiliate with more conservative Anglican Bishops outside the US. Whether the remaining congregations are better off or not will be decided in the coming years by members. At least we can return to all the fun Episcopalian jokes (of which they themselves are most fond): One day, after a Rite…

Distant Churches and the Isolated Poor: Lessons from Katrina, Ten Years Later

By R. Drew Smith

…at their own volition, entering and leaving as part of a weekly Sunday commute, and capable of opting (individually or institutionally) for quite different locations and demographic and social environments if deemed necessary. Impoverished residents are less able to relocate at will, but even when they do they may change their location but likely not their social and demographic environment. For contemporary churches to meaningfully respond to urb…

With Election Takeaways Like ‘Too Transgender’ or ‘the US is Shifting Right,’ Dems are Determined to Learn the Wrong Lesson

By Chrissy Stroop

…rmer chief of staff calls him “a fascist, for sure” back to power—and this time with a Republican Senate (and probably House) that will be, in all likelihood, ready to do his bidding. But if Democrats hope to win in the future—and I am not giving up on our institutions holding out enough so that future American elections will still matter—they will have to stop scapegoating the Left and the marginalized and wrap their heads around the fact that ne…

The Gospel of Contradiction: An Interview with Mary Gordon

By Nathan Schneider

…Rather than endure it, people act violently, because anger and aggression cut out contradiction. They say, “We’ve lost something.” But reading the Gospels carefully and openly means blasting through a fantasy of stability that never was. At the end, you insist on remaining in the question rather than the answer. But aren’t there times when one needs some kind of answer, when a question isn’t enough? What would the answer be? Jesus was a failure. H…

A Twisted Love Story: How American Evangelicals Helped Make Putin’s Russia and How Russia Became the Darling of the American Right

By Katherine Kelaidis

…e leader of the conservative/traditionalist position, not only in Russia, but around the world. Putin’s speech last Monday night made clear that Russia doesn’t see itself as challenging the West and its values; rather, Putin’s Russia is positioning itself as the last and rightful guardian of what the the West once was and what it ought to be again, a Christian culture centered around family, faith, and “traditional values” that have been abandoned…