Religion Dispatches
…ernor of a deeply red state, but Huntsman campaign headquarters will be in Orlando, Florida. 2. Moreover, he will not allow his Mormonism to define him. In his ABC interview with George Stephanopoulos, Hunstman vastly improved his previously dodgy answer to the question of his religious affiliation, declaring that he believed in God, that he considered himself a “good Christian,” and that he was “very proud” of his “Mormon heritage.” He also remin…
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…on would staunchly oppose any freeze, a message he carried with him to the Orlando pulpit. What he said toward the end of his half-hour-long address (sentiments that, reportedly, were added by Reagan after speechwriters had given him the original text) made it one of his most influential and memorable (or infamous, depending on your perspective). He said in part: I urge you to speak out against those who would place the United States in a position…
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…will win. The other thing that happened in 2016 was the Pulse shooting in Orlando. And that was the first time queer and trans Muslims were an idea in the public consciousness. There’s just a big change in the way that we perceive our community and the way the outside world perceived us. And so it was like the one-two punch of Orlando—suddenly all cameras are on us—and then (the election) a few months later affirmed the thing that we’ve been sayi…
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…tion for him. Debbie Earle, of Atlanta, was at Gingrich’s event tonight in Orlando. “I love Newt,” she told me, “he’s a genius.” Based on the Bishops’ letter, Earle believed that the Obama administration rule would require not just contraceptive coverage, but coverage for abortion as well. (It does not.) “It’s against what we believe, the right to life,” she said. “Where’s the separation of church and power?” At a a campaign stop in Orlando yester…
Read MoreA collection of religious right leaders is gathering in Orlando today for a “Defense of Marriage Summit” that kicks off a “Traditional Marriage Tour” through seven swing states that is being organized by Bishop Harry Jackson, the religious right’s point man for racial wedge strategies. Last night, evangelical publisher Steve Strang hosted a call to help Jackson raise money for his campaign. Strang’s invitation to ministry leaders made it clear th…
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The massacre of 49 individuals in an Orlando gay nightclub on June 12 has ignited a fierce and ongoing public debate about whether anti-LGBT laws and rhetoric lead to violence. Yesterday’s New York Times lists some of the more horrific statements made by Christian pastors, like Tempe, Arizona’s Steven L. Anderson, whose only objection to the tragedy was that “they should have been executed by a righteous government.” Both conservative religious f…
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This year, Father’s Day comes just a week after the Orlando tragedy—seven days of mourning, of national self-searching, and of urgent effort to understand how the Orlando shooter became who he was. I believe I have seen that same toxic mix of homophobia, militant right-wing religion, and self-hatred before. And I’ve seen it transformed by unflinching truth and wise love. While I was working on a doctorate in theology I volunteered in a high schoo…
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…ts of terrorist violence—in Baghdad, Dacca, Istanbul, Paris, Brussels, and Orlando—to shore up its credibility as a global player and give the illusion of power. Its followers are taking credit for anything that might be construed as an ISIS-related assault. Branding a terrorist act has become as important as what motivates it. Even if it turns out that Lahouaiej-Bouhlel did in fact have some jihadi connections, the initial evidence is that his mo…
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…loving to you; How can I be more kind? WMFE’s Renata Sago reports that the Orlando massacre opened a door for a progressive Muslim perspective to be heard more widely, quoting Muslims for Progressive Values’ Ani Zonneveld: “We had so many requests for media interviews—Let’s hear the LGBT Muslim perspective. You know, all of a sudden you start hearing, ‘Oh gay Muslims actually do exist!’ It’s like ‘Yeah! They do exist’” she laughs. Zonneveld’s orga…
Read More…h ultra-Orthodox men interfering in your travel, you can just take another airline. If only it were as easy for female employees affected by the numerous lawsuits against the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive coverage requirement to find a better job. *Correction: This post originally indicated that gender separation was due to concerns about women’s menstrual cycles. To read more about gender separation among Haredi Jews in Israel and in the U….
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