Religion Dispatches
…next man. Nice. But I hope you noticed I said man to men, and I don’t ever use the word unless explicitly male. I never use that word for human being, person, or humanity as whole. That gives people too much license whether to include women as persons or human beings, so I just don’t do it. But here it is intentional. Well, I think about the idea of hajj as a visit before the king. Men, who are basically used to certain predominance in society, if…
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…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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…go through multiple layers of approval, to the point where you can’t even use the word LGBT. They’ll use something like “Spectrum” or “Welcome Ministry.” It has to be so coded that it doesn’t ruffle any feathers, and that’s not the case for women. And that’s very sad. To me, LGBT people are sometimes treated like lepers. One of the things I’ve learned in this informal ministry is the unbelievable things priests, sisters, brothers and lay associat…
Read More…5 percent of all intended pregnancies every year, preventing abortion. The other 95 percent of unintended pregnancies happen to those who don’t use contraception, or use it incorrectly, the Institute said….
Read More…ttacks on “superstition” and religious flummery were tolerated in part because he was so good-humored and generous to friends and enemies alike—and also because his renown for matchless oratory in political life and in courtrooms gave him a degree of protective cover. When he died, in 1899, numerous obituaries and editorials deplored how he had used his great gifts to mock religion, some even noting that he could have been elected to high office—p…
Read More…Mohler and McConnell are probably just trying to box Grimes in. If she refuses to accede to Mohler’s constrictive “invitation” she will likely be accused of ignoring and insulting Kentucky’s “evangelical Christians.” If she should consent to Mohler’s terms she could fairly expect to be maligned as an enemy of “evangelical values.” Damned if she does and damned if she doesn’t. It is unlikely that Mohler or McConnell ever entertained the illusion t…
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…ps and Hitching Post, LLC cannot perform [same-sex wedding] ceremonies because they believe God created marriage to be a sacred covenant between one man and one woman. The Knapps also pledged to follow this belief in their ordination vows.” Their denomination, the Foursquare Gospel church, doesn’t actually specify that ministers cannot preside over same-sex weddings in the ordination vows. The denomination is opposed to same-sex marriage and what…
Read More…wrong for people who share the same borders to pool their resources to blunt the human costs of structural economic adjustments. Where is this taught? Moderate religious voices have a role to play this campaign season in reminding voters across the spectrum that somewhere between the kingdom of God and the principles-neutral free market is a common place where we actually live, and somebody’s got to pay for it. *Correction: This post originally no…
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…n’s moves to roll back LGBTQ rights in what he calls “America’s citadel of freedom—the free state of Florida, proud to be a refuge of sanity in a world gone mad. We’re holding down the fort.” Indeed, in a national climate where solid majorities remain opposed to the Supreme Court’s gutting of Roe v. Wade, Hazony and others clearly perceive states like Florida to be a laboratory for battle-testing their Christian nationalist vision. “People say ‘lo…
Read More…ny. One of candidate Obama’s strengths in the first campaign was his ability to invoke these powerful mythic themes (though he was less adept at making them work for him in governing). Let’s hope he’s better able to do it in his second term because the divide has never been clearer: it’s between those who know and celebrate Seneca, Selma, and Stonewall and those who do not….
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