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If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Lent is an opportunity to right-size our personal commitments and realign our priorities. We loosen our attachment to even seemingly innocuous or good things that hinder our spiritual growth because they consume a disproportionate amount of focus, energy or time.
Many queer people walk away from the only kind of church they ever know, and they never look back. But Joey, with his boldness to integrate the faith of his childhood and the sexuality with which God has blessed him, has forever reframed Lent for me.
Never the media superstar that his predecessor was, Pope Benedict XVI, a lifelong scholar, exuded his own brand of charisma, which came from his profound theological acumen and his personal relationship with Jesus.
Could this be the grand finale? The glorious death knell for the ugliest portions of organized religion and its relentless, impressive beat-down of the stubborn female species for lo these past 2,013 years? Can we at least hope?
The Catholic Church must be viewed as an institution the by-laws of which were stipulated by Christ himself. As a result, the ultimate role of the pope is that of a custodian. If a pope were to be a revolutionary, he would fail at his job.
God-guided evolution is intelligent design creationism. How many American Christians believe in evolution, as it is understood by science? The data indicate none.
We live in a time when Catholic priests are an aging and shrinking group, damaged in morale and reputation, overstretched in their monopolization of all sacramental services. What we really need are no priests.
With his resignation Pope Benedict -- arguably one of the most powerful people in the world -- has chosen to give up that temporal power to align himself with the sick, the weak, the frail. In doing so he's affirming the central Christian truth that "when I am weak, then I am strong."
For the fifth time (at least) in the history of the Church, the pope is throwing in the towel. The essential element of each act of legally valid abdication -- including the current pope's -- is his freely expressed will.
Only when partisan evangelicals earn a reputation for sincere regard for religious freedom -- for all people's religious freedom -- will complaints about non-evangelical presidents and their supposed assaults on liberty ring credible.
Fordham student health insurance covers contraceptives. However, because Fordham follows rules promulgated by Catholic bishops, the university prohibits the actual distribution of birth control prescriptions at campus health centers. This policy has inspired discontent among reproductive rights advocates.
When it comes to any political issue that steps into ethical controversies, Colombians have always tended to synchronize their views with those of the Church. But this inclination is not truly a case of authentic dogmatic devotion.
The infamous "culture wars" officially declared in the Reagan era and then hissed forth through the years by everyone from George W. Bush to Rick Warren are essentially over.
In the basement Grandpa is tucked in a recliner, surrounded by his card-playing buddies from the Knights of Columbus who have come to say their goodbyes. He uses all of his energy to force, in a barely audible voice, these words: "This is my granddaughter, the one who wrote a book."
Many American Catholics took exception to this decision and have engaged in four decades of political action to reverse this outcome. There might have been a time when this strategy was viable. No longer.
Today's religion reads: A Catholic hospital says that a fetus is not a person, secular groups examine gender divides in their communities, the priest of the "cross lobby" gets his day in in the spotlight, and Pope Benedict XVI tells us that social media is the real thing.
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