Taking a Break from Blogging

I've decided to take a break from blogging and devote more attention to work, personal matters, and recharging myself right now. I'd like to thank all my readers for visiting Republic of Gilead and sharing comments.

Commentary Tidbits

Overturning Tables: Where’s the Great Conversation, Gutenberg?

Pilgrim's Road Trip: The almost-apologies of Gothard, Phillips, Mahaney, Driscoll

The American Prospect: By Grace Alone

Gay Star News: The rise and rise of the anti-gay religious right

Think Progress: Las Vegas Police Host ‘Choose Purity’ Event Claiming Premarital Sex Turns Girls Into Prostitutes

Huffington Post: Meet Brother Dean Saxton, Who Believes Women Are To Blame For Their Own Rape

Vice: Slut-Shaming Preacher

Stuff Fundies Like: A Timeline

The Local: Despair and poverty turn French to far right

News Tidbits

New York Times: Supreme Court Allows Prayers at Town Meetings

The Province: Trinity Western University launches legal action in defense of its homosexuality policy

Los Angeles Times: Vatican to debate teachings on divorce, birth control, gay unions

United Methodist News: United Methodist body considers change to sexuality stance

Newsweek: Women Come to Power in the Vatican

Raw Story: Kentucky spends $18 million busing kids to religious schools in spite of state constitution

Ms. Magazine: Google Removes Misleading Crisis Pregnancy Center Ads

Religion News Service: Pastor John Makokha Welcomes Persecuted LGBT Community To His Church In Kenya

Pink News: Christians who believe gay parents ‘blight’ a child’s development hold London conference

3 News: New Zealand: Pahia’s controversial 'gay healer'

News and Commentary: Vatican Hearing Edition

For the second time this year, the Catholic Church is being held accountable on a world stage for clergy sexual abuse of minors. Back in January, Vatican representatives appeared before the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, after which the committee released a hard-hitting report on the Holy See's responses to clergy abuse, institutional maltreatment, and LGBTQ issues.

This week, the Catholic Church has been pressed once again to explain its response to clergy abuse. The U.N. Committee Against Torture (under the aegis of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) questioned Holy See representatives at a hearing in Geneva on May 5-6. The hearing is part of the committee's monitoring process of the U.N. Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which the Vatican ratified in 2002.

For your edification, I have gathered news articles and commentary pieces on the hearings below.



New York Times: Vatican Envoy Questioned at U.N. Over Response to Abuse

Washington Post: At UN, Vatican sex abuse compared with torture

Los Angeles Times: Vatican panel on sexual abuse meets, plans to tackle church coverups

The Guardian: Vatican releases figures on how it disciplined priests accused of sex abuse

NPR: Vatican Tells U.N. Committee That Abuse Claims Have Dropped

BBC News: Vatican: States must tackle child abusers among clergy

The Center for Constitutional Rights: Understanding Clergy Sexual 'Abuse' as Torture

RH Reality Check: At UN, Vatican Continues to Claim Limited Jurisdiction on Sexual Abuse of Children by Priests

The Daily Beast: Torture the Little Children? The Catholic Church Says It’s Not Responsible

American Culture Warriors in Africa

Political Research Associates and Rev. Dr. Kapya Kaoma are raising awareness of the American Religious Right's anti-gay activism in Africa with a new book. American Culture Warriors in Africa: A Guide to the Exporters of Homophobia and Sexism highlights America Religious Right figures who are spreading homophobia across the globe through "culture war" campaigns. The book offers strategies for concerned Americans who want to tackle the export of homophobia.

American Culture Warriors in Africa: A Guide to the Exporters of Homophobia and Sexism will be released on May 19th, the same date PBS is schedule to broadcast the documentary God Loves Uganda.