Search for "Copa Airlines800-299-7264 Phone Number Change Flight Reservations"

Eddie Izzard on Atheism, Transgender, and “The Invisible Bloke Upstairs”

By Becky Garrison

…me up with a theory which history plus change in society multiplied by the change in technology equals the future. It’s a bit of a glib equation, but humanity keeps repeating things. We have a Hitler and then we had Milošević. Why did that happen? Then you factor in the change in society. No elected government—or even dictatorships—are saying, “let’s have slavery.” No one is putting it forward as a sensible idea. The Arab uprisings came through Tw…

Both the Joy and the Uproar Over the Pope’s Blessings for LGBTQ Catholics are Small Potatoes Compared to this Age-Old Church Problem

By Mary E. Hunt

…even though the Vatican touted it as the most important instance of church change since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. The problem is that the Synod, for all of its language of inclusion and moving stories of personal exchanges in the Aula (where the in-person sessions were held in October 2023), set the parameters for the blessing blow-up. The final synod document didn’t even include the terminology ‘LGBTQ+,’ which had been used in its…

Is Alcoholics Anonymous a Religion?

By Galen Watts

…f recovery? I think it’s helpful to consider the wider social and cultural changes that have taken place over the last century. With the rise of secular liberalism and the gradual dissolution of religion from the public sphere, sources of meaning and purpose are less self-evident than they once were. Although in Canada and the U.S. we have the freedom to choose what to believe in, it’s not always clear what we should believe in. Granted, not all e…

Women in the Mosque

By Fatemeh Fakhraie

…tatious one. Despite the poignancy of Nomani’s words (“…you have to work from the outside to some degree. Because who in power wants to give it up?”), the boy’s club mentality of Muslims is something that’s been around for generations, and isn’t going to go away all of a sudden. Attitudes change with education, with positive community reinforcement, and a non-threatening atmosphere. Women imams who work hard to gain the acceptance of their communi…

Maybe Instead of Solidarity, The Religious Left Should Try Being Indivisible

By Daniel Schultz

…gious leaders: just garden-variety lay people committed to creating social change in their own ways, and the hell with kumbaya and press releases and symbolic demonstrations? What if, in other words, the religious left gave up on trying to bring everyone together in some trans-partisan fantasy moral conversion and instead took the parable of the sower seriously, casting their seed on rocky ground and paths, shallow soil and good earth alike? What…

Religion Scholars Convene, Have Nowhere to Sit

By Ivan Strenski

…can convey what it was like to be wrong! Over a lifetime, serious scholars change their minds. But, with today’s obsession with the latest and greatest theory, little thought is given to how minds and theories change. We fall madly in love with one “Prince Charming of Theories” today, only to dump him tomorrow for the next, never realizing, in our promiscuous frenzy, how flighty our infatuated shifts of affection show us up to be. Creating interge…

Marriage Debate in Australia Shifts To Push For Religious Exemptions; and More in Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…and even murder.” Lithuania: Parliamentarians push for ban on legal gender change This month 31 members of parliament introduced legislation that would ban medical procedures for gender reassignment as well as any legal recognition of gender change or transgender status. The language used by the parliamentarians echoes anti-transgender language used by religious conservatives who refer to gender reassignment surgery as “mutilation” and insist that…

Anti-Gay, Anti Catholic Evangelical Sworn In As Mayor of Rio; More in Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…to see, and that’s going to be a slow process.” While the process is slow, change could be coming – or at least there’s a semblance of change. “Twenty years ago, if you asked any mainstream scholar about this issue, they would’ve said it’s an abomination,” Jahangir said. “They would have said it’s a major sin. They would have said that there is no room for it in the religion.” “You cannot deny the basic human need for intimacy, affection, and comp…

As a Latina Millennial I Have to Ask, Does the Catholic Church Stand a Chance?

By Fabiola Carrión

…is as much of an issue of social justice as economic disparity or climate change. Furthermore, our reproductive health is an issue of integrity and autonomy. As millennials are characterized by our independence and open mindedness, the failure of churches to respect this right will mean that fewer of us will feel comfortable within their walls. Millennials are delaying marriage and finding alternative ways to form families. With a church that est…

Post-Racial? Yes and No.

By Alice Hunt

…ewed for the remaining work. Change comes slowly. Dr. King said, “Any real change in the status quo depends on continued creative action to sharpen the conscience of the nation and establish a climate in which even the most recalcitrant elements are forced to admit that change is necessary.” So now is the time for the hard work. Barack Obama’s style, presentation of issues, and rhetoric pave the way for a sharpening of consciences. Now is the time…