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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

…nt for generating news with off the cuff remarks with reporters aboard the papal plane. Francis was asked about comments made a few days earlier by German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, who said the Church had treated gay people in a “scandalous and terrible” way. Reuters reports: In the hour-long freewheeling conversation that has become a trademark of his international travels, Francis was asked if he agreed with recent comments by a German Roman Catho…

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

By J. Lester Feder

…r the meaning of words. But it did not awaken any religious feeling, which part of me hoped it would. The rituals still did not resonate, and the only emotional response prayer elicited was jealousy of those who find such activities so meaningful. As I was coming to realize this was not my path to Jewish faith, I was reminded that my appearance would always make my Jewishness more accepted than the members of Beth Emet who had worked so hard to bu…

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

By Peter Laarman

…Movement Organizers feel that the sky is the limit with respect to the campaign’s ultimate impact. They note that even before the campaign goes public, Believe Out Loud has attracted over a thousand Facebook fans. They are convinced it will have special appeal to younger people, and they are making sure that BOL subscribers will have access to all of the goodies that today’s young social networkers crave, such as opportunities to gift each other…

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

By Frederick Clarkson

…the library by the state. Parental Review and Consent for [Sex-Education] Participation Act—Requires parental review of and consent for their minor children’s participation in public school system sex education programs. Campus Free Speech Act—Based on a Wisconsin Senate bill, “Campus Free Speech Act,” which was introduced in 2019. The playbook acknowledges that it “substantially follows a model bill proposed by the Goldwater Institute.” The Gold…

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

By Peter Laarman

…Kissling wrote, aptly, that “junk religion”— conservative Christianity in particular—is extremely well represented on the panel. Moreover, she makes this important observation: …under the Bush administration the views of Council members on these issues were largely irrelevant. President Obama has made these views important as a substantial part of the Council’s mission relates to women’s role and sexual and reproductive rights. So what’s this abo…

Life as a Game Show: Reading Slumdog Millionaire

By Paul Courtright

…, 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 India’s rise as a global economic power, as well as a cinematic one. And, while the story is set in India, there is something familiar to A…

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

By Peter Montgomery

…y model,” Amato said. The outcome of the vote, he added, demonstrated that participants in the January protest had “no political representation” in Rome. Kenya: Report on Lives of LBQ Women Identifies Religious Sources of Homophobia This month the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya released a report, “Research on the Lived Realities of Lesbian, Bisexual and Queer Women in Kenya.” From the report: Most religious institutions in Kenya are unashamed…

The Abortion Debate, Texas Style

By Dhawn Martin

…ximately 45 minutes later, the testimony started. Experts testified, and impassioned speaker after impassioned speaker stepped up to the podium. After one gentleman opened with a prayer—which to me felt a bit like pious posturing—I stepped out into the hall. On my right, the orange were lining people up to testify, on my far left a pool of blue stood with heads bowed. As a person of faith and in the ordination process of a mainline denomination, I…

The Fretting About Whether Democrats Are “Friendly” To Religion

By Sarah Posner

…tholics in Congress, certainly they are 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 undemocrat…

Demonized and Demonizing No More.

By Joanna Brooks

…offer their own stories so that we can build a larger canon of stories and ideas that demonstrate the value of having more open, challenging, compassionate, and patient conversations about religious differences….