W orking in my Marquette office one afternoon in the spring of 2010, I heard unusual sounds coming from the normally quiet lawns outside my window. I was surprised to see a modest assembly of students and professors preparing to march in protest. Against what? Minutes later, an email arrived . . . . Continue Reading »
Veteran human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell finds himself on the receiving end of the world he unwittingly helped to create. Continue Reading »
africaJohn Azumah, author of “Through African Eyes” (October), has been my colleague and friend at Columbia Theological Seminary since he arrived here in 2011. We have agreed on some matters, disagreed on others, and maintained a clear and sincere sense of collegiality regardless of our . . . . Continue Reading »
The Mormons know how to keep everyone guessing. A week ago, they were looking more and more like the liberals in the conservative-on-sexual-matters religious world. Last month, LDS apostle Dallin H. Oaks surprised church members by publicly criticizing defiant Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, and earlier . . . . Continue Reading »
When directly asked by Mormon friends and family members (yep, I’ve got LDS folks in my family), I have been privately critical of the LDS church’s support of the Utah legislature’s “compromise” on “discrimination” and religious freedom last spring. I think the church, from a position . . . . Continue Reading »
Faith, Fiction and Force in Medieval Baptismal Debates by marcia colish cua, 384 pages, $69.95 B aptism seems so simple: water and the formula “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” But like so many religious practices, it can be celebrated in different ways, with . . . . Continue Reading »
The majority opinion in Obergefell, written by Justice Kennedy, opens with a grand claim about the nature of freedom: “The Constitution promises liberty to all within its reach, a liberty that includes certain specific rights that allow persons, within a lawful realm, to define and express their . . . . Continue Reading »
Despite Francis’s universally warm reception, there was a cold war waged on the steps of Independence Hall between two Philadelphia dignitaries offering introductory speeches before the Pope’s address.
Two days after the Obergefell decision, New York Times columnist Mark Oppenheimer suggested that it is now time to rethink the idea of tax-exempt status for religious institutions: “Rather than try to rescue tax-exempt status for organizations that dissent from settled public policy on matters of . . . . Continue Reading »
There’s been much talk lately about the moral purposes of history, especially from those celebrating the recent Supreme Court decision regarding gay marriage. History, we hear, is on the side of ever-expanding personal freedom, and those who counter this expansion are history’s losers. This . . . . Continue Reading »
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