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Catholic Pro-Choice Leader: Democratic Party Has “Turned Its Back” On Poor Women

…nt congressional votes only by restricting abortion access: Democrats have betrayed poor and disenfranchised women. Jon O’Brien, the organization’s president, told me this morning that “the Democratic Party has absolutely failed dismally to uphold its own party platform that claims they are the party of choice and the party on the side of women.” Party leaders are too beholden to political strategists, says O’Brien, which he says “raises real ques…

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“Taliban Dan’s” Teacher: Inside Bill Gothard’s Authoritarian Subculture

…ed objects, and by saying that “authority” is simply “love” and “love” is “freedom”—flies in the face of his critics’ descriptions of the impact of his authoritarian teachings on their lives. In interviews, former adherents to Gothard’s teachings, disillusioned former members of “ATI families,” and an evangelical critic told me that his unyielding theology, including “non-optional” compliance with seven “biblical” principles (the “basic” life prin…

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Democratic Hopeful Pete Buttigieg Makes Faith 101 Misstep

Elizabeth Warren was on CNN the other day, and did a crackerjack job expressing how her faith and politics fit together. Meanwhile, South Bend Indiana mayor, first openly gay candidate running in a major party’s primary, and general whiz-kid Pete Buttigieg was on The View, doing…not so well. https://twitter.com/TheView/status/1109213160555184128 Let’s get a couple of quick points out of the way before we get down to the central issue. First, towa…

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The Facts About ‘Sharia’ May Surprise You

…2008, and Ireland had criminal blasphemy laws on its books until January of 2020. No earthly penalties for blasphemy or apostasy are specified in the Qur’an. Under shariah, blasphemy is often conflated with apostasy, which is a crime in traditional fiqh (as it was under Christian medieval laws), but only when it’s accompanied by insurrection or war against the Muslim community. Neither blasphemy nor apostasy was meant to be a punishable crime unde…

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Inventing “Jihad”

…of the duties of the Muslim ruler and established furthermore an elaborate code of conduct for initiating war. And this is where we must look deeper. Privileging the legal literature above other kinds of literature—particularly the exegetical literature on the Qur’an and ethical treatises—in discussions of jihad almost inevitably leads to the conclusion that it is primarily a collective military obligation incumbent upon able-bodied Muslim men in…

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‘Religious Freedom’ for Atheists

…sents a much different global reality. Here the value at stake is not just freedom of speech, but freedom of conscience. The real contest is not between atheists and believers, but between those who affirm the equality of all persons of conscience and those who deny it. Aan was arrested in a small town in West Sumatra on January 18 after a number of local residents assaulted him at work in an act of self-styled vigilantism. They were reacting to s…

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Catholic Bishops Meeting For Family Synod; South Africa’s Dutch Reformed Church OKs Gay Weddings, Ordination; Court in Malaysia Deals Setback To Transgender Advocates; Global LGBT Recap

…n contravened fundamental liberties, including personal liberty, equality, freedom of movement and freedom of expression. The three-judge panel of Malaysia’s second-highest court led by Justice Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Yunus and comprising Datuk Aziah Ali and Datuk Lim Yee Lan had also said the law was discriminatory as it failed to recognise men diagnosed with gender identity disorder. The Negri Sembilan government had appealed that decision along w…

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Why Aqua Buddha Ad Failed to Harm Rand Paul

…. (Never mind America’s long national history with sexualized bondage in the form of slavery.) And what about secret paganistic societies with odd behind-closed-doors rituals? That too is classic Americana—just as American as the Freemasons. What really breaks the good Christian folks code of conduct is not engaging in questionable behavior but rather exposing the indiscretions of other good Christian folks, especially after they get established a…

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The Dark Horse ‘Stop the Steal’ Scenario: NAR Leaders Sought ‘Trojan Horse’ in Election Offices Filled with ‘Christian Patriots’

…m leaders of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) which have loomed over the 2024 election since the last presidential election. Many leaders of the NAR participated in the Stop the Steal activities before, during, and since January 6th, and many remain election denialists. But what’s gone largely unnoticed are efforts, by this, perhaps the most significant religious movement of the 21st century, to train people to infiltrate election offices as el…

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Why Bill Maher Gets a “C” in My Introduction to Religion Class…

…monstrations, and other aggressive activities. So, what’s the relationship between people who actually believe that Jonah was swallowed by a whale and suicide bombings? The film doesn’t really make those connections, nor could it, because they don’t connect. The broader connections between belief and violence could have (and, I’d say, should have) been made, but it would have taken some much more careful consideration of the topic at hand. What Ma…

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