by Johnny Townsend The religious right is ramping up for a modern-day crusade. That’s not a metaphor. Racially motivated killings are in the news every day. Homophobic and transphobic murders are committed regularly. Poor men and women are forced to work in conditions that will kill a significant portion of…
Category: Religious Right
A War on Religion
by Johnny Townsend Religious conservatives often accuse secular or inclusive people of conducting a “War on Christmas!” or “War on Religion!” or “War on God!” I would rephrase that. I and many others are anxiously engaged in conducting a war against ignorance, a war against bigotry and selfishness and greed…
Moral Tyranny
by Johnny Townsend Elder Boyd K. Packer, as president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the LDS Church, said back in the April 2013 conference what many of us had long understood and what is still true today. For Mormons, it is a sin to be tolerant. Packer…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Still not OK edition!
So, the reason I didn’t get SiOB done yesterday is explained in this helpful comic. I was thinking that rounding up this past week’s Mormon discussion would distract me from our current crisis of democracy, but it appears that the LDS-interest bloggers are also still talking about the election. Well,…
Thoughts on RFRAs and Nondiscrimination
Renewed interest in Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (e.g., Indiana, Arkansas) has arisen because everyone knows the US Supreme Court will okay gay marriage for the country in a few months. Conservative religious people and entities want to be in a comfortable position when this uncomfortable reality hits — they want…
ANOTHER GAY MANIFESTO: MY PROBLEM WITH THE MORMON CHURCH
What Can I Say…I Am Still Gay! I have never been known to stay where I am not wanted. My present Bishop and Elder’s Quorum President do not like me because I am now openly Gay and they know it. They are both very Homophobic. L Therefore, I have been…
Those Uppity Gays
The whole Chick-fil-A controversy reminds me of a period of time in recent American history when a segment of our society that tried to assert what it believed to be its civil rights and dignity was brutally repressed, particularly in a certain section of the country. I refer, of course,…
Would Romney dare choose a Female VP?
I assume Romney’s gonna win the GOP nomination. Currently, some of the other candidates are playing populist cards to try to paint Romney as a “vulture capitalist,” and the rest of the GOP is folding in on itself, wondering whatever happened to the party that supported laissez-faire capitalism. Meanwhile, evangelicals…
A noteworthy pair of serial answers to Dallin H. Oaks and Robert P. George
Alan Westermark @ Scrum Central: Oaks Rebutted, Chapter One: New Mexico photographer; Oaks Rebutted, Chapter Two: New Jersey pavilion; Oaks Rebutted, Chapter Three: Illinois and Wisconsin professors; Oaks Rebutted, Chapter Four: Georgia and Michigan grad students; Oaks Rebutted, Chapter Five: The Valiant Little Pastor; Oaks Rebutted, Chapter Six: Catholic Charities…
Elder Oaks and Dr. John C. Eastman
I was perusing the blogosphere reading about Elder Oaks’ talk at Chapman University, the talk where he said religious freedom is under attack by secularists and gays. (Roll eyes here.) The talk didn’t surprise me. But a photo on the Church News website of Elder Oaks walking next to a…