Religion-in-public news recently featured a Pew poll that demonstrated how many Americans mix faiths. More on that in some other week. Recent news stories raise a screech question: Will there long be faiths to mix in America? “Faiths” here means bodies of believers, gathered in
Recently, we learned that, despite Gov. David Patterson’s approval of same-sex marriage rights in New York, the New York State Senate didn’t have enough votes to pass the bill and, therefore, same-sex marriage is not likely to occur in New York in the near future
“(Jesus) sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said
Close on the heels of a similar decision by the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America lifted its ban on calling gay and lesbian pastors and approved of supporting committed, same-sex relationships of church members. The 4.6-million-member ELCA, holding its weeklong Churchwide Assembly
The top ecumenical – some are saying un- or anti-ecumenical – news of the year occurred October 20th with a Vatican announcement. Bypassing forty years of Anglican-Roman Catholic conversations-cum-negotiations and blindsiding Archbishop Rowan Williams, the head of the seventy-million-member Anglican Communion, Vatican officials announced that
Feeling frustrated as leaders or members of progressive congregations as they try to be lesbian- and gay-affirming probably should not be surprising. Some sources of frustration are documented in a journal article by Krista McQueeney of Salem College titled “We are God’s Children, Y’All:” Race,
As the old hymn says, “They will know we are Christians by our love.” Jesus made clear that the way the world will know we follow Him is by the consideration we show each other. This is why constructive dialogue between Christians is so important.
In an article that appeared in the August 7, 2009 edition of “Mother Jones” entitled, “The APA Nixes ‘Ex-Gay Therapy’: A Win for the Religious Right?” there is a reiteration of the fact that fundamentalism of all stripes, particularly including that which invokes “religion” and
It must be emphasized that there is literally a world of difference between having a relationship with God and one’s adherence to the construction of man-made religion! A relationship with God defines love and compassion as its essence, and when legalism and perfectionism enter the
Most of Gay Americans are cowards. We’re so chicken-hearted, in fact, we just might be the New White Meat. What makes us so afraid? Not fag-bashers in a dark alley. Not police harassment when we go to a bar. Not the possibility of contracting HIV.