Sara Lin Wilde is a recovering Catholic (and cat-holic, for that matter - all typographical errors are the responsibility of her feline friends). She lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where she is working on writing a novel that she really, really hopes can actually get published.
In a dramatic (if commonplace) turn of events, a prominent Christian luminary who advocated home-schooling, traditional gender roles, and purity before marriage has been removed from his position following allegations of sexual misconduct. At least 34 women who have been involved with the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) over the past 40 years claim they have been sexually harassed by the ministry’s founder, Bill Gothard (no, really, that’s his last name). He has also been accused of molestation and failure to report child abuse. Read more
The Bible says that Jesus spoke and listened to prostitutes with demonstrable love and acceptance, refusing to reinforce the rejection and condemnation these biblical women endured from their communities. It does not indicate that he may have arrested or detained them, threatened them with imprisonment, or coerced them into hearing hours of sex-shaming tirades. But to Project Phoenix, the organization behind the anti-prostitution initiative Project ROSE, that’s the best strategy for rescuing sex workers from themselves, whether they like it or not. Read more
“When you’re in love, you want to tell the world.” So said Bill Nye in Tuesday night’s debate, quoting his famous mentor Carl Sagan to explain his own personal commitment to science education. The aspect of Nye’s performance in the Creation Debate that most impressed me had nothing to do with his scientific arguments, his command of logic, his skilled rebuttals, or even his patience. What has stayed with me is the enthusiasm and passion with which he communicated. It’s the same passion — that unabashed sense of “Wow, isn’t this stuff neat!” — that made me a fan of his television show all those years ago. Put simply, I love that Bill Nye is in love. That passion matters. The debate we saw may have been about facts and logic, but the real fight (which Nye referenced more than once and has spoken about in the past) is for the future of society. Will we continue to learn about the world around us in ways that let us explain, predict, and problem-solve? Or will we cling to superstitions that stunt the growth of our knowledge, preferring to find our answers in literalized ancient mythology? Read more
How do you deal with your school’s reputation for astronomical levels of unchecked sexual abuse? Probably the first step is to try to find out what’s causing the situation so you know what needs fixing — right? Nah, that’s just silly. We’ll pray instead. In an article I’m not even going to try to top, and will really recommend you check out for yourself, journalist John Shore’s report on the situation at Bob Jones University. In a nutshell: Read more
He may have gathered enough liberal credibility to snag Time’s Person of the Year award, and even a citation from an LGBT magazine, but apparently Pope Francis draws a line in the sand when it comes to supporting some gay couples’ desire to adopt and raise children. The pontiff reported himself “shocked” that the Civil Unions bill in Malta, which allows for two men or two women to marry, also allows for these couples to adopt children. At the encouragement of a pope widely touted as pro-gay enough to change the direction of the Catholic Church, Bishop Charles Scicluna delivered a heated sermon on the subject that stirred up some controversy within the Maltese congregation and around the world. Read more
