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Anti-Immigrant Legislator Takes Aim At Arizona Children

By Joanna Brooks

…are already divided over the state’s new immigration law, SB 1070. The yet-to-be proposed legislation would reportedly prohibit issuing birth certificates to children unless one parent produces proof of legal status. LDS proponents of SB 1070 often link support for the law to our religion’s Twelfth Article of Faith: “We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.” But the n…

Global LGBT Recap: Religious Leaders Support Persecution as Countries Vie in Homophobia Olympics

By Peter Montgomery

…in this country would accept a condition in which an adult can sleep with a 10-year-old girl,” he said. “If that situation is not acceptable, we in Nigeria view gay marriage as such.” Uganda: Inhofe to Visit Museveni, Who Says He Will Block Bill, But Status Unclear There were conflicting reports this week about whether President Yoweri Museveni had blocked the draconian anti-gay legislation pushed through the legislature in December. Several news…

USA “Uniquely Blessed?” Depends on Your Definition

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…ed are hungry. While there are certainly hungry people in our country, the United States wastes more than 113 tons of food a day. We can’t exactly be called a “hungry” nation and therefore are not “uniquely blessed” in this category. Strike two for America. In Matthew 5, Jesus is emphatic that those who are “uniquely blessed” are peacemakers in the world. The United States has hardly sowed the seeds of peace anywhere in this world—launching pre-em…

Sotomayor is Sworn in: Latina Wisdom Personified

By Michelle Gonzalez Maldonado

…ady of Charity), the patron saint of Cuba. And as I type in my office, thousands of Cuban exiles and Cuban-Americans are descending upon my University’s sporting/concert venue to hear a mass in her honor, for there is no church in Miami big enough to house her devotees. Hers is the story of a statue discovered by two indigenous men and an African slave, and later accompanying a slave community in Cuba. Her statue still remains in a shrine in Cuba,…

Religion in Real Time on CNN’s “Believer”: A Conversation with Reza Aslan

By Kaya Oakes

…that happen before my eyes. But if you live in the southern states of the United States, you’ve seen Santa Muerte. You’ve seen the icons of this skeleton wearing a dress and probably said to yourself, “What the hell is that?” And it’s a big religion. I’ve seen estimates between 5-10 million adherents in Mexico and America. But of course, migration patterns have transformed Santa Muerte’s reach, so now there are dozens of Santa Muerte temples in t…

Neither Radical Nor Secular: The West Struggles with the New Islamism

By Blain Auer

…inated by the Muslim Brotherhood. Founded in 1928 by an Egyptian scholar Hasan al-Banna (1906-1948), the Muslim Brotherhood promoted an anti-colonial ideology meant to safeguard Egyptian society against British and French influence in the Middle East. Guided by the mantra “Islam is the solution,” the Muslim Brotherhood has had a long and tense relationship with Egyptian leadership. Since the revolution, however, influential members of the movement…

Methodists Move Toward LGBT Inclusion

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…Washington Post reported that “the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church narrowly approved a groundbreaking same-sex marriage resolution.” The resolution, passed at the church’s annual local conference, would amend the church’s Book of Discipline to allow pastors to perform same-sex marriages and ceremonies in member churches in jurisdictions where legislatures already have approved gay marriage laws, such as the District…

Is the Bible Too Holy to Be Tennessee’s State Book?

By Adam Shapiro

…copper industry. But state symbol designations can also become deeply partisan. Last year, student-led efforts to have Idaho recognize the Giant Salamander as the state amphibian ran into resistance from legislators who feared the designation might result in “potential federal overreach” in the form of mandated protection for the non-endangered blotchy beast from Coeur d’Alene. (The legislature revisited the salamander later in the year and adopte…

Air Force Speaking Invitation to Member of “Lord’s Army” Sparks Outrage

By Lauri Lebo

…ior or let Him become the Lord of my life.” Thus, former Lt. McClary’s self-admitted “message” makes it quite clear that the United States Air Force Academy’s primary mission of pristine and peerless character and leadership development for its cadet population, and concomitantly cultivating excellence in integrity, courage, honor, trustworthiness, and responsibility amount to absolutely nothing at all in the eyes of his own version of fundamental…

American Nuns and the Vatican: More Pain than Promise

By Mary E. Hunt

…devil is still in the details. Despite herculean efforts to make nice, the 12-page report and its presentation reinforce the Roman Catholic Church’s patriarchal power paradigm. And although many have hailed the report as a sign of the Vatican’s warming toward women, I am not convinced. Six Years of Scrutiny The first shoe dropped in 2008 when Cardinal Franc Rodé announced an Apostolic Visitation of active women’s religious communities. The goal o…