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Faith and Civil Liberties Groups Pushing Back Against Islamophobia

By Sarah Posner

…n the brief, said: The amendment singles out one faith tradition for government hostility. That violates our fundamental constitutional requirement that government remain neutral on religion. Oklahoma doesn’t need a special amendment to protect it from government-imposed Islamic law. The First Amendment already does that. Other groups joining the brief were the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, the Baptist Joint Committee for…

Tutu’s Daughter Marries Woman & Loses Anglican Priest License; Romanian Anti-Marriage Activists Get 3 Million Signatures; Australian State Apologizes For Harmful Sodomy Laws; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…ilies.” Activist Steve Donnan ‏added: “Paul Givan, a man who supports state-sanctioned LGBT discrimination is now in charge of tackling state-sanctioned LGBT discrimination.” India: Ian McKellen says country should abolish sodomy law backed by Hindu nationalist party Actor Ian McKellen, in a visit to India as part of a global tour promoting the British Film Institute’s Shakespeare on Film program, said that “India needs to grow up” and repeal its…

Pope’s US Visit Provokes Intense Attention; New Vatican Book on Man-Woman Complementarity & New Int’l Report on Christian Role Models for LGBT Equality; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…marry The Delhi High Court heard allegations that the parents of Shivy, an 18-year-old transgender man living in the United States tricked him into visiting India on a holiday, took his passport and green card, and tried to forcibly marry him to a man. He says he fears for the safety of transgender activists who sheltered him after he ran away from his home; he said men posing as police officers showed up at the activists’ home. He has asked the…

Russia Expels Gay American Pastor, An Epidemic of Anti-LGBT Violence in Brazil, And More in the Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…parade Prime Minister Stefan Lofven took part in Stockholm’s gay pride parade, which drew about 45,000 people, according to Associated Press. Scotland: Father plans 96-mile walk on behalf of gay son, acceptance in schools The father of an 11-year-old boy who was afraid to let his teachers know that he is gay is planning a 96-mile walk across Scotland to raise awareness and money for a group, Time for Inclusive Education, that aims to end mistreat…

Sydney’s Anglican Diocese Gives $1 Million To ‘No’ Campaign on Marriage; and more in Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…alized consensual gay sex. Australia: Anglican Diocese of Sydney Gives Anti-Marriage-Equality Campaign $1 million The Anglican Diocese of Sydney contributed $1 million to the campaign that is urging a vote against marriage equality in an ongoing mail ballot, reports Buzzfeed: Archbishop of Sydney Glenn Davies announced the hefty donation in his address to the 51st Synod of the Diocese of Sydney on Monday afternoon. He told the gathering that the d…

Good Without God: The Ethics of Atheism

By Becky Garrison

…elieve. Epstein, the Humanist Chaplain of Harvard University, is planning a 12-city tour, coordinated with United CoR. He also plans to participate in community service projects in many of the cities, as part of “Secular Service Day,” an idea designed “to unite secular groups across the country in the interest of public service, and to demonstrate our commitment to leading full and ethical lives.” I first connected with Epstein while conducting re…

Colonialism and the Crisis Inside the Crisis of Catholic Sexual Abuse

By Kathleen Holscher

…. While in Texas in 2002, Graff was arrested for sexually abusing a fifteen-year-old boy he had employed in his rectory. Following his arrest, one investigator on the case was quoted as saying, “Graff would hire mostly Hispanic boys in their early teens to clean the rectory and mow the lawn.” The priest died in a Texas prison while awaiting trial. I want to highlight Graff’s time spent in New Mexico, as well as his work among Hispanic youth in Wes…

Museum of (In)tolerance for Divided City

By Shalom Goldman

…e hostility to Islam, “the imposter religion,” as it was known in some late 19th- and early 20th-century Protestant circles. A century and a half ago Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick, spent a few weeks in Jerusalem. He was despondent before the visit, and even more so afterwards. Jerusalem, for Melville, represented the past, not the future. In his journal he noted that “Jerusalem is besieged by an army of the dead.” He penned that observation…

Stupak Is Back, But Moderate Catholic Group Says His Amendment “Goes Too Far”

By Sarah Posner

…largest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade.” Chris Korzen, Catholics United’s executive director, told me this morning, “The fact that many on the pro-life side are opposing Nelson language suggests that they’re not really serious about finding a workable solution.” Even though Catholics United believes that the Nelson language also goes too far in restricting abortion coverage, Korzen added, “I understand that can’t be addressed through [re…

What a Spooky Summer Trend Says About Enchantment in the Late Modern U.S.

By Daniel Wise

…laces, often for a fee. Famously haunted locations, such as the St. Albans Sanatorium in Radford, VA or the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, WV, host haunted tours and open their doors for ghost hunting teams and others to investigate the paranormal. All of this is happening in the twenty-first century in one of the most industrialized and educated nations in the world. If you think this is odd, you’re not alone. Many Western intellectual…