Evangelical Christian blogger scolded for using word ‘vagina’ in book
Rachel Held Evans doesn’t want to talk about her vagina anymore. “I’m sorry,” said a spokesman for her publisher, Thomas Nelson, in turning down a request for an interview, “she’s a little uncomfortable continuing with this conversation.” …
read moreThree Blind Mice: GOP Candidates Mourdock, Akin and Walsh
The last 10 weeks of this election season have made me sick and tired of ignorant men pontificating on the reproductive lives of women. And I’m a man! I can only imagine how women feel. Todd Akin …
read moreReport | Catholic Attitudes on Gay and Lesbian Issues: A Comprehensive Portrait from Recent Research
Catholics are more supportive of legal recognitions of same-sex relationships than members of any other Christian tradition and Americans overall. Nearly three-quarters of Catholics favor either allowing gay and lesbian people to marry (43%) or allowing them to …
read moreWhy a Bible belt conservative spent a year pretending to be gay
Timothy Kurek, a graduate of the evangelical Liberty University, decided to 'walk in the shoes' of a gay man and emerged with his faith strengthened
Timothy Kurek grew up hating homosexuality. As a conservative Christian deep in America’s Bible belt, he had been taught that being gay was an abomination before God. He went to his right-wing church, saw himself as a …
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Marriage Equality As Christian Sacrament
Sermon by Rev. Rich Lang with University Temple United Methodist Church in Seattle on “Marriage Equality As Christian Sacrament” rooted in Matthew 16: 5-19 recorded October 14, 2012.
read moreCatholic bishops rebuke Biden over contraception mandate claims
WASHINGTON (RNS) In a rare public rebuke, Catholic bishops chided Vice President Joe Biden for saying during Thursday’s vice-presidential debate that Catholic hospitals and institutions will not be forced to provide contraception coverage to employees. Without mentioning …
read moreNumber of Protestant Americans Is in Steep Decline, Study Finds
For the first time since researchers began tracking the religious identity of Americans, fewer than half said they were Protestants, a steep decline from 40 years ago when Protestant churches claimed the loyalty of more than two-thirds …
read more‘Jesus wife’ Coptic papyrus is a fake, declares Vatican newspaper
Citing concerns about fragment’s authenticity and its origin, the paper also criticized Harvard, a Vatican newspaper declared the so-called “Jesus wife” papyrus a fake. Nine days after early Christianity scholar Karen King announced the discovery of an …
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Another Reason for Women in Church Leadership
It does mean that each gender should recognize that their opposite may have a naturally different way of perceiving and weighing things and not label it as either inferior or superior but as something to be understood and learned from. This, I believe, provides one of many good reasons for society and its institutions, including religions, to actively seek ways to include women at all levels of leadership and decision-making.
read moreFederal Appeals Court Hears Arguments in Widow’s Challenge to DOMA
NEW YORK – September 27 – The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unfairly forced Edith “Edie” Windsor to pay more than $360,000 in federal estate tax after the death of her spouse, Thea Spyer, that she would …
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Why Not Women?
A bishop makes a case for expanding the diaconate.
Jesus chose the Twelve and others to help spread the word that God was working in the world uniquely through him. After his death and resurrection, local communities of believers formed; and within them leaders emerged or were chosen.
read moreBrian McLaren Leads Commitment Ceremony At Son’s Same-Sex Wedding
McLaren family wedding ceremony included
Brian McLaren, author of A New Kind of Christian and a prominent Christian speaker, led a non-traditional marriage commitment ceremony this weekend, according to The New York Times. Held at the Audubon Naturalist Society in Chevy Chase, Maryland, this ceremony included “traditional …
read moreFive big questions about the ‘Jesus’ wife’ discovery
(RNS) In a surprise announcement that seemed scripted by the novelist Dan Brown, a Harvard professor revealed an ancient scrap of papyrus on Tuesday (Sept. 18) that purports to refer to Jesus’ wife. The so-called “Gospel of …
read moreDid Jesus Have A Wife? Newly Discovered Ancient Text Reignites Debate
An ancient piece of text is reviving an equally ancient debate: Was Jesus Christ married? Of course, most Christians believe that he wasn’t. But today, Harvard Professor of Divinity Karen King presented a scrap of papyrus that …
read moreReligion and Government
The religious beliefs of Mitt Romney and Barack Obama have persistently been a major talking point in this Presidential campaign. Some Christians do not consider Romney’s Mormon faith to be truly Christian. Although Obama’s beliefs should be …
read moreNuns on the Bus Returns in Missouri
Earlier this summer, members of NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, boarded a bus in Des Moines, Iowa for a two week tour across the country to draw attention to those working families most affected by …
read moreCardinal Carlo Maria Martini, In final Interview Before Death Says Church ’200 Years Out Of Date’
ROME, Sept 1 (Reuters) – The former archbishop of Milan and papal candidate Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini said the Catholic Church was “200 years out of date” in his final interview before his death, published on Saturday. …
read moreMuslims From Abroad Are Thriving in Catholic Colleges
DAYTON, Ohio — Arriving from Kuwait to attend college here, Mai Alhamad wondered how Americans would receive a Muslim, especially one whose head scarf broadcasts her religious identity. At any of the countless secular universities she might have …
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