Religion Dispatches
…I, as a historian, am reasonably well-informed, and the opportunity was a welcome interruption from the incessant bombardment of election propaganda and the absurd claims so-called Christian politicians were then making. Once again, in the U.S. election campaign, our evangelicals—including among them many of “my” Baptists—were promoting a slew of “social issues,” but precious little “gospel.” Self-proclaimed and media-designated evangelicals…
Read More…rio Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, seems likely to be a welcome progressive voice on economic justice issues and an unsurprisingly conservative voice on doctrinal and social issues. In Argentina, he was a strident but unsuccessful opponent of marriage equality for same-sex couples, which he reportedly called “a destructive pretention against the plan of God… a machination of the Father of Lies that seeks to confuse and deceive t…
Read More…s her a Mormon feminist! And to which, as a fellow Mormon feminist, I say: WELCOME, STEPHENIE! It takes guts for a Mormon woman to call herself a feminist. It really does. There are few religious communities in the United States where feminism is more hotly debated or purposefully misunderstood than in Mormonism, and few American churches have a stronger historical record of opposition to legal equality for women. There are plenty of people skepti…
Read More…der-biased religious tradition in the West, it seems worth considering how welcome women really are in Christian churches across the denominational spectrum. As mainline churches continue to decline in overall membership, Americans believe the Catholic Church is out of touch, and as the religiously unaffiliated continue to grow in number, how women—the majority of active church-goers—experience the church is hardly a secondary concern. Gendered ch…
Read More…pope. Should that happen, John Ortved’s cover letter is already written. A welcome puff of humor from McSweeney’s, Ortved’s letter begins with a gaffe that betrays his gender-inclusive liberal arts education: “Dear sir or madam, I am writing to apply for the position of Pope,” and dutifully includes relevant experience: As your website notes, the role of Pope includes “Guiding the College of Cardinals, and the masses.” Through my participation in…
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…ever doing enough. But while Daniel has not provided an obviously warm welcome for those who may be trying to figure out a way to be in religious community, it is possible to detect a bit of tenderness between the snarky lines. She admits to being someone who was never quite sure where she belonged; church, for her, provides a body of people who accept her. She tells a story of struggling with depression over a dying cat; church is where peopl…
Read More…ed for Sydney, Australia in May. The letter telling Smith he was no longer welcome says the bill he supported “is at odds with the World Congress of Families’ definition of the natural family, marriage, and a child’s right to be raised by its mother and father.” The World Congress of Families is one vehicle by which American religious conservatives export their anti-abortion and anti-gay-rights ideologies (or as they would put it, their support fo…
Read More…n from 21 to 19. The policy change, announced in October, was hailed as a welcome step towards leveling life expectations and opportunities for religious study and service among young Mormon men and women. And it resulted in a dramatic spike of new missionary applications from young Mormon women. (More here.) 3. Mormon athletes prove more popular than Mormon presidential candidate. That’s a hunch, not a scientific observation: we’re still waiting…
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…in two types: The “silent type” (e.g., “We love everyone here and all are welcome… We don’t need to get into the specifics.”). And there is the “vocal type” that seeks more overtly to accommodate queer people into the structures of privilege already enjoyed by straight folks (e.g., marriage, church leadership, organizational visibility, ordination, etc.). Accommodation is sometimes helpful, for sure, but perhaps perhaps we will dream up a vision…
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…ssive centers, plus the cumulative effect of well-intentioned policies for promoting young academics, have effectively sabotaged the intergenerational culture essential for a rich sense of intellectual identity. Yes, I realize that annual meetings hosting thousands of participants need large facilities. Yes, the annual meetings need to offer junior faculty and graduate students opportunities to see and be seen on a national stage. Yes, adding anot…
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