Pope Francis says priests cannot bless same-sex unions. Here is Chico Harlan and Sarah Pulliam Bailey at The Washington Post: In a decree approved by Pope Francis, the Vatican on Monday said that priests cannot bless same-sex unions, describing such […]
gay marriage
Dean of the Washington National Cathedral apologizes for inviting Max Lucado to preach. Lucado responds.
Yesterday I wrote about Dean Randolph Hollerith’s decision to invite evangelical writer and speaker Max Lucado to preach “at” the Washington National Cathedral. LGBTQ Episcopalians were not happy about the invitation because Lucado holds traditional views on marriage and said […]
Evangelical preacher Max Lucado preached “at” the National Cathedral on Sunday. Some people are not happy about it.
Writer and pastor Max Lucado, an evangelical critic of Donald Trump, preached “at” the Washington National Cathedral on Sunday. (He preached from San Antonio, TX). Some Episcopalians are angry because Lucado believes that marriage is between a man and a […]
Some court evangelicals are still keep pushing the voter fraud narrative. Others are angry with Obama.
It is Thanksgiving. Yesterday Donald Trump’s legal team was in Gettysburg for an election fraud hearing. GOP state legislators hosted the event. The day included testimonies from Pennsylvanians who claimed to have witnessed voter fraud on November 3 and in […]
What is happening at *Sojourners*?
Aysha Khan at Religion News Service is reporting that the progressive Christian magazine Sojourners has replaced Jim Wallis as editor in chief and “announced a new policy of editorial independence from the organization’s advocacy work.” Wallis founded Sojourners and is President […]
Can Any of the Democratic Candidates Appeal to Evangelicals?
Here is a taste of my recently published piece at Religion News Service: Do the current Democratic candidates for president have any chance of winning evangelicals in November 2020? Probably not. Of the candidates left in the Democratic primary race, […]
AP: “Warren joins Buttigieg in nixing threat to church tax status”
Here is our post on Buttigieg. We discussed Beto O’Rourke’s comments on tax exempt status for religious organizations that uphold same sex marriage here and here and here. Now Elizabeth Warren has tried to distance herself from Beto’s remarks. Here […]
Buttigieg: Beto O’Rourke “doesn’t understand the implications of what he was saying” on religious institutions, marriage, and tax exemption
South Bend’s Pete Buttigieg gets it right on this issue: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phZhlGHyaqo&w=560&h=315] After listening to him on State of the Union, I was reminded of his portrayal in this SNL skit from the night before: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNjZHZ7kpM0&w=560&h=315] “Why am I […]
Thoughts on a Discouraging Weekend
I was on Fall Break this weekend and probably spent way too much time reading and watching the news, following the Values Voter Summit, and tweeting. With the exception of the beautiful central Pennsylvania weather, I leave the weekend pretty […]
Ed Stetzer is Right About CNN’s Equality Town Hall
Here is a taste of the Wheaton College professor’s recent post at Christianity Today: I’m concerned with the clear and complete disregard around religious liberty. This term was used a few times, often with the phrase “so called” tacked on. Candidates would […]
What Does Beto O’Rourke Think About His High School Alma Mater?
Beto O’Rourke went to high school at Woodberry Forest School in Virginia. He graduated from the boarding school in 1991. Woodberry Forest is an all-boys school. Like most schools, colleges, and universities, it is a non-profit organization with tax-exempt status. […]
Beto O’Rourke: Churches and Religious Institutions Should Lose Tax-Exempt Status If They “Oppose Same Sex Marriage”
Here is Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke on CNN last night: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR02Kf4wS_0&w=560&h=315] Every Democratic candidate for President of the United States should be asked this question. I have always appreciated Beto’s sense of conviction, but I hope he rethinks […]
More on “Fairness for All”
What is “Fairness for All”? Get up to speed here. Over at Religion News Service, Yonat Shimron covers a motion championed by the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and the National Association of Evangelicals that is bound to bring […]
Black Evangelicals and the Masterpiece Cakeshop Decision
We have done a few posts already on Masterpiece Cakeshop vs. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. According to a recent piece by Kate Shellnut at Christianity Today, a 2016 Pew survey found that 35% of white evangelicals support same-sex marriage, while 44% of black […]
Winnifred Sullivan on the Masterpiece Cakeshop Case: What is Religion?
Indiana University religion professor Winnifred Fallers Sullivan wants to know how the Supreme Court defines religion. Here is a taste of her piece at The Immanent Frame, “Is Masterpiece Cakeshop a Church?“: Let us weigh in where angels fear to […]
Can a Cake Business Personify Christian Values?
Lawrence B. Glickman teaches American history at Cornell University. In this very interesting piece at Boston Review, he wonders why the Supreme Court continues to treat businesses as people. And why does the Court continue to favor the rights of businesses […]
Some Quick Thoughts on *Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission*
Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission will generate a lot of commentary in the next hours and days. We will try to post some of it here. As the pundits and legal scholars write their pieces, let’s get started with […]
Linker: Evangelicals are “Dreaming Small”
American evangelicals, according to Damon Linker at The Week, are on the defensive. Here is a taste of his piece “The Dwindling Ambition of the Religious Right“: The conservative evangelical Protestants who have long been the foot soldiers of the religious right […]
Another Conservative Critique of the Nashville Statement
I don’t know much about Matthew Lee Anderson apart from a few things I read every now and then in which he is defending traditional marriage. I was thus was surprised to learn that he refused to sign the Nashville […]
More from the Pietist Schoolman on the Nashville Statement
Last week I called the Nashville Statement a “disaster.” Even if one affirms the belief that marriage is between a man and a woman, this statement seems unusually divisive. (I thought Al Mohler’s defense of the Nashville Statement in this […]