Religious Right Watch

Religious liberty: Does it mean freedom to discriminate?

A generation back, in the late 1970s, the Carter administration began to crack down on "segregation academies" in the Deep South, formed to take white kids out of public schools when integration was finally law in ALL the land.

The white academies were often affiliated with evangelical and fundamentalist churches. In the view of Randall Balmer, an Episcopal priest and Columbia University scholar, "The religious right of the late 20th Century was organized to perpetuate racial discrimination."

Paul Weyrich, one of the religious right's organizers, once explained how he tried to rouse fundamentalists with the abortion issue, and later the Equal Rights Amendment.  "What changed their minds," Weyrich explained,  "was Jimmy Carter's intervention against the church schools, trying to deny them tax exempt status on the basis of so-called de facto segregation."

via www.seattlepi.com

Afghan Religious Right Lawmakers Block Legislation Protecting Afghan Women

Conservative lawmakers in Afghanistan have blocked legislation that would enshrine in law current government policies designed to protect women's freedoms.

The legislation was withdrawn shortly after being introduced to the nation's 352-member National Assembly, after an outcry from right-wing religious groups. Liberals are concerned that if the policies are not made law, they could be overturned by a future president.

via www.opposingviews.com

Minnesota’s religious right apocalyptic as Minnesota passes marriage equality | TheColu.mn

Janet Markell of Olive Tree Ministries, which is broadcast on Christian talk radio station KKMS, told OneNewsNow, an affiliate of the American Family Association, that marriage equality could lead to the destruction of Minnesota.

“We’re the occult capital of America,” she told OneNewsNow. “We certainly have more Islamic influence probably than any other place, other than Dearborn, Michigan. We’re certainly one of the gay capitals, and now with homosexual marriage a reality, many Christians, solid pro-family-type people — we don’t know where to run to.”

She warned of God’s judgment.

“Whether it be economically or some weather-related kind of a tragedy, but God destroyed cities in the Bible over homosexuality; He speaks out on this issue in a very clear manner and calls this an abomination.”

Paul Ridgeway on KKMS lamented to his listeners on Friday after the bill passed the House.

“It’s terrible. I tell you folks we are sliding so fast.” He said that pastors had told him that “the floodgates of evil have opened up and “that Satan has opened up the demonic realm in allowing this happen.”

“This could not be worse what happened today. The floodgates of evil are open. This one of the worst days that Minnesota has ever had from a political and spiritual standpoint.”
.....
Three organizations came together to try and defeat the marriage equality bill: Minnesota Family Council, the National Organization for Marriage, and the Minnesota Catholic Conference. Collectively, they form Minnesota for Marriage.

via thecolu.mn

Fixed: NOM’s Response To Boy Scouts Allowing Gay Youth | The New Civil Rights Movement

Fixed: NOM’s Response To Boy Scouts Allowing Gay Youth | The New Civil Rights Movement. Image by @dubeats.

The IRS has had legal reason to investigate the religious right | Sarah Posner | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

For anyone who knows the history of the religious right, the possible revocation of tax-exempt status for claimed religious belief is a potent flashpoint. In his book, Thy Kingdom Come: An Evangelical's Lament, religion historian Randall Balmer argues that contrary to conventional wisdom, which Balmar calls the "abortion myth", evangelical voters were not propelled to political activism by the supreme court's 1973 decision in Roe v Wade.

Instead, the issue that mobilized these voters was the IRS's 1975 revocation of the tax-exempt status of the segregationist Bob Jones University. Rightwing religious architect Paul Weyrich told Balmer that it was "the federal government's moves against Christian schools" that actually "enraged the Christian community".

Bob Jones University claimed its ban on interracial dating and admission of students in interracial marriages was rooted in the Bible. It did not end its ban on interracial dating until 2000. The IRS's decision – which went through protracted litigation that ultimately ended when the supreme court let the revocation stand – was in response to new IRS regulations and a 1972 Supreme Court case holding that educational institutions with racially discriminatory policies were not entitled to tax exemption.

Balmar concluded:

"The Religious Right arose as a political movement for the purpose, effectively, of defending racial discrimination at Bob Jones University and at other segregated schools."

via www.guardian.co.uk

Photo: Outgoing acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller at a House ways and means committee hearing. Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuters

New Report Finds Ex-Gay Movement in Latin America Divided, But Still of Concern | Political Research Associates

While conversion therapy faces challenges from within and without the movement, the report’s authors suggest caution regarding the Christian Right’s ability to adapt, and the mainstream influence these antigay organizations continue to possess. As recently as 2010, Exodus Global Alliance representatives attended the Third Lausanne Congress, the world’s largest conference of evangelical leaders, leading sessions on sexuality and promoting ex-gay therapy and other harmful psychological views of homosexuality. A conference endorsed by such high-profile figures as Rick Warren and Billy Graham, it’s acceptance of Exodus gives it mainstream sanction for its views.

via www.politicalresearch.org

Pope Francis prays for ‘full unity’ with Coptic Church

Here is an interesting moment in modern ecumenism. Pope Francis was recently visited in Rome by the 118th Coptic Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, Tawadros II. There's about 15,000,000 Coptic Christians, approximately 12,000,000 of them in Egypt, their traditional home.

Pope Francis...prayed for “full unity” with the Coptic Orthodox Church as he received Patriarch of Alexandria Tawadros II for an historic visit in the latest sign of closer ties between the Catholic and Orthodox (sic) worlds.

“We long for the day when, in fulfilment of the Lord’s desire, we will be able to communicate from the one chalice,” he said, acknowledging that there had been “centuries of mutual distrust” between their two Christian churches.

This was the first such meeting in 40 years.

via www.gulf-times.com

To understand the division between the Coptic Church and Roman Catholicism, one has to look to the split between the Oriental Orthodox churches--of which the Coptic Church is one--and the dominant churches of the West and East, which occured as a result of the Council of Chalcedon in A.D. 451, the Fourth Ecumenical Council, due to what the modern mind almost certainly sees as a technicality.

 

via citizenship.typepad.com

Bryant Huddleston, Gay Producer, Claims Arkansas High School Canceled Graduation Speech Over His Sexuality

In a controversy that has engulfed a small Arkansas town, a graduate of one of the local high schools claims the school canceled his appearance as this year's graduation speaker because his is gay.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

Help with the archival costs of "Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia"

A critic of the Religious Right (and to be fair religion in general) was Gore Vidal, who many regard as one of America's last great public intellectuals. After an amazing life as novelist, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, patrician gadfly, and even for a time candidate and politician, Gore Vidal died in 2012, but not before filmmaker Nicholas Wrathall was able to spend time with Vidal and shoot some great footage for Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia.

The documentary had a very successful premiere at Tribeca Film Festival last month, but Wrathall and his team still need help with the final archival materials and post production.

You can help. And you'll get mentioned in the credits! Check out the documentary's Kickstarter page.

But deadline is fast approaching… please get involved. Even a small contribution is appreciated.

Clergyperson Expected to Face Trial for Officiating Son’s Wedding « Reconciling Ministries Network

Officiating his son’s same-sex wedding was the most significant act he performed as a pastor, and now he will possibly have to justify that action to a jury of his peers. Rev. Dr. Thomas Ogletree, a United Methodist clergyperson, former seminary dean, and distinguished Christian ethicist, awaits charges by the New York Conference of The United Methodist Church (UMC) for presiding over his son’s wedding. Bishop Martin McLee referred the case to counsel, an action expected to lead to a church trial.

Ogletree, formerly the dean of Yale Divinity School and Drew Theological Seminary, performed the wedding, knowing that The UMC bans such ceremonies. He believes the ban is morally indefensible. “As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us, ‘One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.’ Marrying Tom and Nick was for me a profoundly personal and quintessentially pastoral act,” said Ogletree. “I have been deeply moved by their exceptional bond, and their strong commitment to a more just and inclusive society. It is high time for The United Methodist Church to honor such bonds and to take strong and diligent steps to overcome persisting prejudices.”

via www.rmnetwork.org

To show your support for Ogletree and marriage equality, consider joining Reconciling Ministries Network’s mailing list or sign on to the Altar For All. Also, tweet your support with the hashtag #UMConTrial