As in many religions, gay relationships, sexual intimacy and marriage are frowned upon in mainstream interpretations of Baha'i law. Those found violating the law can face sanctions from the Baha'i administration, including being cut off from community gatherings and participating in Baha'i elections. Seán Rayshel aims to make his religion, the Baha'i faith, more tolerant of its LGBTQ adherents.
Read More(OPINION) Without explanation, the Biden-Blinken administration removed Nigeria from America’s official listing as a “country of particular concern” on religious persecution while Nigeria is labeled the “most dangerous place to be a Christian” in the world. Why has the alarm over unending atrocities expressed by religious and human-rights media and organizations not broken into the West’s mainstream media in any major way?
Read MoreSome critics suggest that soft-on-crime policies have gone too far in recent years and perhaps even damaged efforts to help the homeless, drug addicts and prostitutes. The tensions around rising murder rates in major cities around the United States in recent years are also creating hurdles for the loose coalition of conservative, Christian and libertarian nonprofits and billionaires who have collaborated with progressive left activists in the cause of prison reform and deincarceration.
Read MoreThe fourth season of Netflix’s “Stranger Things” once again teleports audiences back to the 1980s — and this time, that includes the historical background of the satanic panic. When the small town of Hawkins succumbs to the blind hysteria common in that period, it brings the show’s heroes additional difficulty. It also offers the audience a “God’s eye view” of the actual satanic panic and proves it did nothing but create irrational fear.
Read MoreStudents continue a three-week-long sit-in at Seattle Pacific University to protest the school’s traditional views on human sexuality and its policy against hiring full-time faculty who violate it, including those who engage in homosexual behavior. The sit-in comes after over a year of controversy surrounding the issue.
Read More(OPINION) This is not the time to gloat. We must do our best to reach out to those who are angry and fearful, doing so with love, longsuffering, and grace. This is not the time to win a debate as much as the time to change hearts and minds. But without any question whatsoever, this is also a time to rejoice.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Without merit.” “Mere speculation and conjecture.” “Gossip and innuendo.” “Wholly unreliable.” “Implausible.” “Hazy and nebulous.” That’s how judges responded to 61 election lawsuits filed by Trump’s legal teams. Meanwhile, conservative Christian influencers used their media platforms outlets to promote these false claims about the election to believers. Here’s a look at eight of the most prominent promoters of the former president’s lies.
Read MoreMany Black American pastors aren't jumping on the spiritual caravan with White evangelical churches that largely vote Republican. Black churches have a complex relation with religion and politics on the topic of abortion and other issues. So while some Black churches and pastors support the ruling, plenty of others do not.
Read More(OPINION) The Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v Wade is just the beginning of a new battle to be fought for the unborn, state by state, life by life, heart by heart. But this is also a massive, unprecedented victory — one that, for many years, seemed completely out of reach.
Read MoreAfter half a century, Americans’ constitutional right to get an abortion has been overturned by the Supreme Court. The Conversation asked Nicole Huberfeld and Linda C. McClain, health law and constitutional law experts at Boston University, to explain what just happened, and what happens next.
Read MoreThe U.S. Supreme Court overturned both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey on Friday, ruling that there is no constitutional right to abortion. ReligionUnplugged looks at what six religious subgroups in America believe about abortion.
Read More(OPINION) Americans have seen how ugly culture wars can become when electoral politics are caught in its talons. Witness the vitriol that dominates the news out of Washington and various state capitals these days. The situation in India — the world’s largest Hindu-majority nation with the third-largest Muslim population after Indonesia and Pakistan — is arguably even worse.
Read MoreJoseph Kennedy, a high school football coach in Bremerton, Washington, is waiting for a ruling to emerge from the Supreme Court any day in his case about prayer. And he insists he is a centrist that most Americans would agree with on religious freedom issues and the Constitution.
Read More(OPINION) In Corinthians, Paul writes that when Jesus comes for his bride, the quality of our work will be revealed with fire. Therefore, the size of our cups of joy is determined by the size of our generosity here, which is formed by the marital gospel: preparing to be presented as a pure bride. Will you drink from a goblet or a thimble?
Read MoreSoul food, dancing and laughter are the makings of any memorable Black get-together. But this weekend, African Americans around the nation are gathering for more than just another fun summer cookout — it’s Juneteenth. This vibrant celebration, considered the longest-running African American holiday, honors the liberation of enslaved ancestors.
Read MoreThe U.S. may see 100,000 churches close, and this issue could help determine the success or failure of many downtowns and neighborhoods over the next three to four decades. There is no easy solution to guarantee a successful initiative. The process requires attention to issues of real estate, faith institutions, communities and resources. The skills of urbanists are needed in America’s heartland.
Read MoreDavid Bauer coached Canada’s men’s ice hockey team at the 1964 Winter Games. Largely credited with creating the first truly national Canadian hockey team, Bauer left a truly great legacy. An educator and Catholic priest, Bauer was a pioneer and remains a Canadian icon admired to this day.
Read More(OPINION) Currently, there is a season of speculation about Pope Francis’ future and whether his newly chosen cardinals are his final bid to shape the conclave that will elect the next pope. Francis has hinted he might consider the idea of resigning, but Vaticanologists figure Francis will not do so as long as another former pope is alive.
Read More(OPINION) In Southern Baptist polity — with sprawling structures of autonomous congregations that, to varying degrees, fund state, national and global ministries — there are no leadership structures resembling local Presbyterian presbyteries, regional annual conferences among United Methodists or the powerful diocesan structures of Catholics, Episcopalians and others. Local churches ordain, hire and fire clergy.
Read More(OPINION) A Page 1 analytical feature in the Los Angeles Times about Biola University suggested it was on a downward spiral, perhaps part of an impending implosion of similar schools nationally. And it pointed at Michael Longinow, without naming him, as the faculty adviser to a campus newspaper in which free thought — particularly about race — was not allowed.
Read More
