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3 Reasons Catholic Bishops Are Holding Their Tongues on GOP Health Care Debacle

By Patricia Miller

…at,” Ms. Talento said. “You don’t have to ingest a bunch of carcinogens in order to plan your family.” Mathew Bowman, who is now a lawyer for the Department of Health and Human Services, came from the Alliance Defending Freedom, where he represented Conestoga Wood Specialties in its successful challenge, along with Hobby Lobby, to the contraceptive mandate. Bowman argues that there is no evidence that the mandate reduced the number of unintended p…

UN Human Rights Council Creates LGBT Watchdog; Orthodox Council Affirms Traditional Teaching on Family; Pope Francis Says Church Should Apologize to Gays; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…om family and friends who had been unaware of their sexual orientation. According to AP, the embassy had sought clearance to publish the photo from local equality organizations, but that the people in the photo were not among those activists. A press officer said the embassy “deeply regrets that any individuals were attacked based on any kind of orientation they might have.” The photo was taken down on Wednesday. A bit of additional background fro…

Show Me the Way of the Hebrews: The Making of an African American Rabbi

By J. Lester Feder

…pointed to scriptural prophecy: “If you do not observe to fulfill all the words of this Torah,” it is written in Deuteronomy 28, then the “Lord will bring you back to Egypt in ships…. And there, you will seek to be sold to your enemies for slaves and handmaids … [and] serve other deities unknown to you or your forefathers.” The ships were the clincher—why would Jews be carried back to slavery in ships if they were living in the desert? This could…

An Extravagant Welcome For All: Believe Out Loud, a Faith-Based LGBT Campaign, Launches

By Peter Laarman

…in Christian communities; it expects to spur a significant increase in the number of congregations that are actively engaged in formal processes either to become officially welcoming for the first time—or to upgrade the quality of their LGBT-related ministries, in the event that they are already officially “on record” as welcoming queer people. Supercharging the Faith-Based LGBT Movement Organizers feel that the sky is the limit with respect to th…

Exclusive: Christian Right Bill Mill, Project Blitz, Hasn’t Gone Away, It’s Just Gotten More Secretive

By Frederick Clarkson

…ion networks, as well as the general content, are not surprising since, according to CPCF executive director Lea Carawan, it’s part of what she called the First Freedom Coalition, which isn’t a formal but a “relational coalition,” intended to increase communication and coordination between members of the “religious freedom movement.” Indeed, CPCF’s efforts may have paved the way for the Promise campaign. “Just as we have seen Project Blitz adapt a…

A Post-Christian America? Not Quite—Though Devoutly to be Wished

By Peter Laarman

…say about Jon Meacham’s Newsweek piece on the fairly sharp fall-off in the number of Americans self-identifying as Christian (in the newly-released ARIS survey), this bloghead initially demurred. I mean, the amiable and well-informed Meacham said what I would have said: on balance, it’s a good thing that the various and dangerous forms of grievance associated with “Christian nation” thinking should now recede. It’s a good thing that more have come…

Life as a Game Show: Reading Slumdog Millionaire

By Paul Courtright

…ery Indian film faithful to the Bollywood aesthetic formula. It produces a number of rasa, “tastes,” in the viewer: heroism, humor, disgust, eros, fear, and tranquility. The final dance scene on the train platform pays homage to the familiar Bollywood genre. The musical score crackles with energy. There are any number of reasons why Slumdog has emerged as one of this year’s favorites among American audiences. Perhaps the Oscar nominations reflect…

Catholic Leaders Offer Criticism, Support to Boxer Pacquiao After Anti-Gay Comments…

By Peter Montgomery

…se various, vicious, parties has the purpose of destroying the human moral order respected by all religions and schools, because this moral order is in line with humanity’s innate quality (fitrah) created by Allah. Promoting homosexuality and this moral decadence is not a victory for human rights but is a moral disease that undermines humanity’s fitrah and is contrary to the nobility granted by Allah to human beings. Homosexuality constitutes huma…

The Abortion Debate, Texas Style

By Dhawn Martin

…eft a pool of blue stood with heads bowed. As a person of faith and in the ordination process of a mainline denomination, I was drawn to this group that stood outside, enduring the late afternoon heat, with hearts and petitions lifted up to the divine. But I was afraid they’d see my presence as either an invasion or provocation. I regret that I didn’t at least try to bridge that damn chasm. Instead, I plopped down on the nearest bench. Right acros…

The Fretting About Whether Democrats Are “Friendly” To Religion

By Sarah Posner

…well aware that good Catholics can part company with the hierarchy on any number of issues, including abortion. Catholics represent about 23% of the American population, so they are obviously a significant voting bloc with a chunk in the middle that are crucial swing voters. But the quest to satisfy them by bending to the bishops or straining to be “friendly” to religion is not only misguided, but undemocratic. According to the Pew Religious Land…