Andrew Marin, a Christian who tries to bridge the gap between the church and the LGBT community, notes that a group of protestors in Illinois stood outside a Catholic church on Sunday to oppose the “anti-LGBT bigotry of the Catholic hierarchy.” They wanted equal rights in Illinois (the recently passed civil unions bill simply wasn’t enough) and they didn’t want taxpayer dollars going to churches that practice anti-gay discrimination. A Christian group also showed up — to protest the protestors…. Read more
by Jesse Galef – Ever thought about the silly questions that gays and lesbians get asked? What would it be like to have that turned around? Check out this fantastic job done by Ashley Paramore and Greta Christina: The questions are from a tongue-in-cheek post by Joe Kort at Psychology Today. What was your favorite part? Read more
Several women are suing former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and current Secretary of Defense Robert Gates because of “the military’s repeated failures to take action in rape cases created a culture where violence against women was tolerated, violating the plaintiffs’ Constitutional rights.” The lawsuit can be read here (PDF). A reader pointed out one particular story about a military chaplain that warrants special attention on this site. Read the disturbing story of what happened to Sergeant Rebekah Havrilla… and… Read more
Note: Letter writers’ names are changed to protect their privacy. Hello, my name is Rolando, and I’m writing to you from Chile. This year I decided to study Sociology, but I have a problem. I was admitted in the best university of my country, but it is a Catholic University. In fact, its name is Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (Pontifical Catholic University of Chile). And of course, as you probably deduced, I’m an atheist. It is to my understanding… Read more
Rachel Held Evans urges pastors to tell their congregations the truth instead of hiding their true feelings: Tell us the truth when you don’t know the answers to our questions, and your humility will set the example as we seek them out together. Tell us the truth about your doubts, and we will feel safe sharing our own. … Tell us the truth when your position is controversial, and we will grow braver along with you. Tell us the truth… Read more
A number of retired United Methodist bishops are urging the United Methodist Church to change its anti-gay stance and accept gay people as they are. To that end, they’ve signed a petition (PDF) that’s worth reading. Yes, it talks a lot about “God’s grace,” but even though I don’t support their religious views, it’s good to see older Christians seeing the light regarding how horribly and unfairly their church has treated homosexuals over the years: [W]e… believe The United Methodist… Read more
Somewhere on the list of topics I rarely discuss on this site much is Hannah Montana. But that’s about to change now that singer Billy Ray Cyrus has told GQ about how his relationship to daughter Miley Cyrus has strained and how his life is falling apart. He should’ve seen it all coming: “Somewhere along this journey,” he says, “both mine and Miley’s faith has been shaken. That saddens me the most.” When they first came to Hollywood for Hannah… Read more
Here’s a nice service for anyone who has sincere questions about atheism or how to get through the day without a god — a site called Talkatheist.org: With one click… you can get started. Just give us some basic information, before you know it, you’ll be connected with an atheist that can answer any questions that you have. I tried it out and got connected to someone instantly. But even if no one’s there the moment you have a question,… Read more
Robert is a commissioner on a certain Minnesota city council’s “Human Rights and Diversity” committee. He wrote to me about a city “manifesto” that he feels needs a bit of tweaking: [The manifesto] upholds “the rights of every individual… to freedom, dignity, and security regardless of religious affiliation…” I am attempting to amend this manifesto to include the words “or secular” between religious and affiliation. The city attorney and other members of the commission are opposed to this proposal because… Read more
I know I’m late to the party here. There’s been plenty written already about how Apple rejected an iPhone/iPad app called The Manhattan Declaration — the declaration calls on conservative Christians to be strongly anti-choice, against equal rights & marriage for gay people, and supportive of things like “conscience clauses” so that Christian pharmacists can deny you birth control as they please. The app in question: … enabled users to sign the declaration, visit the website, and take a survey… Read more
