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Why We Can’t Afford to “Wait And See” How Trump Dismantles LGBT Rights

By Sunnivie Brydum

…ll follow through on his election-night promise to be “a President for all Americans.” That means it’s up to all Americans to stand up for their neighbors and friends, but especially the people of color, undocumented people, Muslims (and non-Christians in general) and queer folks that you don’t know. Because right now, we are terrified. If you have the privilege of being able to “wait and see” how the Trump administration comes after your family (…

Most U.S. Catholics Back Marriage Equality, But Knights of Columbus Pour Millions into Opposition

By Peter Montgomery

…campaigns. How do progressive Catholics respond to the combined forces of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the money machines that are the Knights of Columbus and NOM? “What we have on our side is the belief of the majority of American Catholics,” says Dignity’s Duddy-Burke, noting that more than half of American Catholics support marriage equality. She says “It is not consistent with the gospel for any segment of the church to be using…

Death of a Self-Proclaimed God-Man: Sai Baba’s Controversial Career

By Andrea R. Jain

…poration (BBC) aired Secret Swami, a documentary featuring interviews with American male devotees who claimed that Sai Baba had coerced them as young men into sexual relationships. They described how he initiated them into such relationships by rubbing oil on their genitals and then proceeded to demand sexual favors, in some cases for years. One accuser described how Sai Baba threatened him, arguing that his failure to succumb to the guru’s demand…

Why the Women’s Ordination Question Will Shape the Future of Mormonism

By Joanna Brooks

…n life was absorbed by the pragmatic challenges of transforming an upstart American religious movement into a global bureaucratic institution. In the service of bureaucratic uniformity and simplicity, complicated aspects of Mormon history and theology were systematically eliminated in official programming and publications, and some forms of inquiry stigmatized. LDS institutional and business insiders often cite with approval Harvard Business Sch…

Doonesbury Comic Waxes Eloquent on the Greatness of Jesus, Slams Old Testament God

By Benjamin Weiner

…antha, the 17-year-old daughter of Boopsie and B.D.), reacting to a church service led by the venerable Reverend Scott Sloan. The reading of an “Old Testament” passage about the wrath of God leads Samantha into an extended meditation on the superiority of Jesus, the loving pacifist, over the vengeful deity of the Hebrew Scriptures. Jesus “only really snaps once,” she concludes, and then it’s in response to “the moneylenders.” “Oh, right, what is i…

A Secret Family History Shows “Regular” Life Under the Reich: Sarah Wildman on Paper Love

By Sarah Posner and Sarah Wildman

…rful- and this was a blip, in some ways. The years of hardship were all in service of a different image. He believed in himself, or wanted to, and I think turning his back on the years of poverty and hunger was a means of creating the person he wanted to be. He certainly never spoke of it with his children, let alone his grandchildren. How much do you think your grandmother knew about Valy? Did your father or your aunt know anything at all? Well s…

Black Episcopal Congregation Celebrates Lesbian Marriage

By Rev. Irene Monroe

…e “Oh Happy Day” I turned to Sterling and asked what she thought about the service. “I’m feeling the history of the moment and what it must have been when black folks were able to marry.” Historically, as African Americans we have always focused on spiritual content of family. Alternative family structures, which we have had to devise as models of resistance and liberation, have always, by example, shown the rest of society what really constitutes…

The Brutality of Life for Syrian LGBTs; Saving the Anglican Church by Dissolving It; Backlash to Hindu Gay Wedding Ceremony in Indonesia; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…ersonnel matter. Korea: Christian Pop star apologizes for tweet supporting American anti-marriage-equality clerk Choi Siwon, a Korean pop star and actor, apologized after fans expressed dismay over his retweeting of an anti-marriage-equality tweet from a conservative American religious figure. On September 11, Choi retweeted a post from conservative theologian John Piper. “Obergell is not constitutional; so-called gay marriage does not exist,” sai…

Asymmetrical Polarization and Common Ground

By Daniel Schultz

…f all, there wasn’t a broad middle concerned about abortion. A majority of Americans believe that abortion shouldn’t be covered in health care reform, but only 3% cited it as their primary objection to the reform plan. More to the point, recent shifts in public opinion on abortion has been driven by conservative radicalization, not moderates forging middle ground on the issue. Finally, only a small minority of Americans believe that abortion shoul…

From Licking Floors to Praying for an Inept Government, Churches React to C-19

By Daniel Schultz

…ciety, among the most physically intimate, and likely include the greatest number of vulnerable people. Even single members of large congregations can have a dramatic effect on how coronavirus spreads or doesn’t, as South Korea found out the hard way. While many aren’t meeting at all or are streaming services, some churches that do meet feel like they need to support those who need it, in worship or otherwise. My mother’s congregation in Madison,…