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Religious Freedom Advocates Warn of “Theocratic Zones of Control”

By Patricia Miller

…epublican Party. And with Religious Freedom Day approaching this Saturday, January 16, advocates are warning of a continued expansion of “religious freedom” exemptions that threaten reproductive and LGBT rights—as well as the rights of employees of faith-based institutions. In a new report on the religious freedom strategy of the religious right, Frederick Clarkson of Political Research Associates warns that the Christian Right, the U.S. Catholic…

Fact-Checking Ben Carson’s Pyramid-ism Misses the Point

By Michael Schulson

…nothing better than to schmooze with strangers in rural New Hampshire, in January, early in the morning, after three hours of sleep and two cups of bad hotel coffee (though they probably won’t say “schmooze”). In general, they’ll try to make all their scripted, orchestrated encounters seem unscripted and spontaneous. Along the way, they’ll sell us exaggerated, ridiculous personal narratives and spin data to serve their agendas. And, more earnestl…

Conservative Anglican Bishops Threaten To Split Communion; Malawi Opposition Leader Says Gays Should Be Killed; Anti-Marriage Effort Makes European Union Question Initiative Process; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…cember 10. Shams, a group that advocates for LGBT equality, is appealing a January 4 government order that it suspend activities for 30 days for noncompliance with the principles of the rule of law. In December, Ahmed Zarrouk, the secretary general of the Tunisian government, requested the dissolution of Shams, which had obtained its official registration only recently — on May 18. On Dec. 12, Shams had called for a demonstration outside parliamen…

UK Atheist Church Invasion

By Becky Garrison

…day Assembly playing out when you launched your first service in London in January? Pippa Evans: No, we didn’t think it would take off this fast and that we’d be touring around the world spreading the word of the Sunday Assembly. We thought this would take a lot longer to grow. London could be such a lonely place, and church has always played that role in bringing people together. So we assumed people would come, see it was a good time, and even…

A Third Reconstruction? Rev. William Barber Lifts the Trumpet

By Peter Laarman

…s and the Rise of a New Justice Movement Rev. William Barber Beacon Press (January 2016) In the book, Rev. Barber insists that an honest pastor must also be a prophet: that it’s not enough to try to heal the people’s wounds without also naming the source of the wound as racial and economic injustice. He gives us the useful phrase “attention violence” to describe the blinders that too many pastors and laypeople choose to wear in order to block out…

Greek Orthodox Bishop Says Spit on Inhuman Gay Scum: This Week’s LGBT Global Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…igious freedom and expanding the freedom to marry.” …“Given the increasing number of children being brought up by same sex couples, it is desirable that the state take away any social stigma against same sex parents. “Given the ageing population, the state has an interest in recognising and protecting long term relationships of same sex couples who care for each other. “Given the harmful effects of homophobia, the state has an interest in encourag…

‘Religious Liberty’ and the Origins of the Evangelical Persecution Complex

By Randall J. Stephens

…t. In this fear they bear the imprint of Hargis and his contemporaries. In January of 1963, for example, the Christian Crusade organized an anti-Communist rally in Boston. With vocal opposition in the region, it did not go as the Tulsa minister had hoped. In Hargis’s inflated sense of outrage, he saw the NAACP, the AFL-CIO, CORE and the press joining forces to curtail the anticommunists’ freedom of expression. “Christian Crusade can expect all the…

New Poll: ‘Faithful Catholics’ an Endangered Species

By Linda Woodhead

…/faithdebates.org.uk/research/. Three separate surveys were carried out in January and June 2013. Two are representative of adults aged 18-plus in Great Britain, excluding Northern Ireland. Each was completed by over 4,000 people, including 350 Catholics in the first and 260 in the second. They were supplemented by a third survey completed by a nationally representative sample of 1,062 Catholics. Like this story? Your tax-deductible $5 or $10 wil…

Adventists Cancel ‘Holy Sexuality’ Confab; Egyptian Court OKs Deportation of Gays; Mongolian Trans Activist Gives TV Interview; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…3 percent indicated varying levels of disapproval. Nearly 15 percent chose numbers five or six, suggesting that they didn’t have strong feelings either way. Roughly 12 percent of the participants indicated varying levels of approval for a homosexual’s right to run for office. Of that figure, 5.2 percent strongly approve. The results are a part of the Americas Barometer survey, which is the only scientifically rigorous comparative survey that cover…

Russian Attack on LGBTs at UN Rejected; Gay Cake Controversy Rages in N. Ireland; Bishop Calls for Marriage Referendum in Puerto Rico; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…e “out of the closet”. What we were hearing – and it has snatched the microphone of homosexual life in the same unrepresentative way that Islamism has grabbed the public voice of Muslims – was the voice of a self-appointed moral policeman. If you are gay, Mr Strudwick seemed to assert, there are certain things you must believe. Nothing else is permitted under the gay rights sharia. Nigeria: Presidential candidate denies marriage-equality deal We r…