From Demonization to Objectification: Killing the Burqa
The hijab has gone from symbol to object, and the people associated with it are that object. Alex W. attacked and killed a piece of cloth.
Read MoreSexuality/Gender
Same-Sex Marriage: Good for Marriage, Good for the Pocketbook
Bishop Harry Jackson, pleading for the president to maintain the ban on same-sex marriage, calls it the number one domestic issue. But what about, say, the unemployment rate? Will the ban help those without jobs?
Read More
My Womb for His Purposes: The Perils of Unassisted Childbirth in the Quiverfull Movement
Already distrustful of outside experts, be they members of the education system or leaders of traditional denominations, Quiverfull followers are increasingly eschewing the medical establishment, opting to leave childbirth to God. The recent death of a newborn, however, exposes a growing rift between the most zealous opponents of intervention and those open to some assistance.
Read More
Bishop Sends Shockwave, Slaying the Sacred Cow of Individual Salvation [Includes an online comic]
While many expected LGBT issues to be at the forefront of controversy at the Episcopal Church’s General Convention, presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori stunned some participants by taking aim at narrow notions of salvation.
Read MoreMLK’s SCLC Threatens Leader Who Joins LGBT Civil Rights Protest
How sad and ironic that the revocation of citizen’s rights via Constitutional bans, is not on the SCLC’s radar. Is it a Movement or Museum?
Read More
Michael Jackson, Perfect “God” for the Media Age
Was Michael Jackson a supernatural magician or an icon of self-immolation? Both? The physical body is gone, the musical productivity has ceased, the capacity to speak for himself is no more, so now MJ is a wonderfully ambiguous figment of our imagination. Three religion scholars discuss the life, legend, meaning, and myth of one of the world’s most talented, successful, and perhaps tortured performers.
Read MoreMartyr of the Hijab: Marwa Sherbini, a Walking Veil?
Why did coverage of the murder of a pregnant Muslim woman merely record the outrage “in the Muslim world”?
Read MoreBanning the Burqa Isn’t the Answer
French President Sarkozy declared recently that the burqa “will not be welcome on our territory,” as it is a symbol of the enslavement of women. If the president is trying to foster equality of women, is this the best way to go about it?
Read More
RDPulpit: Is Barack Obama a “Fierce Advocate” For Gays or Just Pragmatist-in-Chief?
The Obama administration has gone from indifference to actively promoting religious opposition to the civil rights of gay Americans, comparing same-sex marriage to incest and pedophilia. Only when “pink dollars” were pulled did the president approach the LGBT community. A former priest suggests how to make Obama listen.
Read MoreJustice Denied by the “Culture of Life”
A standard misconception of the religious right is to privilege sexual “sins” over the sin of, say, a lack of economic justice for women. A story from Genesis 38 retold…
Read More