Religion: How Do Americans Feel About Women, Gays in the Pulpit?

Americans support women in the pulpit and in senior leadership positions within the church. But they are more hesitant when it comes to supporting openly gay and lesbian religious leaders.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 60% of American Adults favor women in the pulpit, while just 16% are opposed. Twenty-five percent (25%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Even more (74%) support women in leadership positions in their respective faiths. Just nine percent (9%) are opposed, with 17% undecided.

Just 43% of Americans favor openly gay and lesbian individuals in the pulpit. Thirty-eight percent (38%) are opposed. Nineteen percent (19%) are undecided.

Forty-six percent (46%) support open gays and lesbians holding senior leadership positions in their respective faiths. Thirty-four percent (34%) do not, while 19% are not sure.

The more one attends religious services, however, the less supportive he or she is of women, gays and lesbians in the pulpit.

Evangelical Christians are less supportive than those of other faiths when it comes to women in the pulpit but are equally strong supporters of women in leadership positions in their faith. Evangelicals are much less supportive than the others, though, when it comes to open gays and lesbians in the pulpit and in leadership roles.

Read more: How Do Americans Feel About Women, Gays in the Pulpit? - Rasmussen Reports™

Set-Back for Gays: Catholic bishops veto gay-friendly statements leaving Pope Francis the loser - by Lizzy Davies

Pope Francis appeared on Saturday night to have lost out to powerful conservatives in the Roman Catholic church after bishops scrapped language that had been hailed as a historic warming of attitudes towards gay people.

In the final report of an extraordinary synod on the family which has exposed deep divides in the church hierarchy, there is no mention – as there had been in a draft version – of the “gifts and qualities” gay people can offer. Nor is there any recognition of the “precious support” same-sex partners can give each other.

A paragraph entitled “pastoral attention to people of homosexual orientation” – itself a distinctly cooler tone than “welcoming homosexual persons” – refers to church teaching, saying there can be “not even a remote” comparison between gay unions and heterosexual marriage.

“Nevertheless,” it adds, “men and women of homosexual tendencies must be welcomed with respect and sensitivity.” They should not suffer from discrimination, it adds. But the shift in tone is clear. And, in a potentially stark sign of the discomfort provoked among many bishop, even this watered-down passage failed to pass the two-thirds majority needed for it to be approved.

Read more: Catholic bishops veto gay-friendly statements leaving Pope Francis the loser | World news | The Observer

Egypt Today: A controversial film breaks open the taboo topic of homosexuality and Islam - by Ethar El-Katatney

For the complete report from Egypt Today click on this link

Homosexuality is not a comfortable, much less a popular, topic among Muslims. Broach the subject in the Middle East, and you’re likely to hear a response like the one Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave US audiences last year: “In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals, like in your country.” At best, society adopts a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ approach – do what you will, just don’t advertise it. A controversial new documentary, A Jihad for Love, is shattering that taboo by interviewing homosexual Muslims, including an Egyptian gay man ‘outed’ by his arrest during the 2001 Queen Boat raid and an Egyptian lesbian still hiding her sexuality from society. Filmmaker Parvez Sharma had dual motivations: first, to challenge the mindset that Muslim and gay are mutually exclusive, and second, to challenge the Western world’s own Islamophobia.

Born and raised in India, 34-year-old Sharma is currently touring the world, screening his 81-minute documentary in Canada, South Africa and Europe. Released in September 2007, A Jihad for Love is his first venture and an emotional opus; it cost $2 million and took six years to complete, with filming in four continents, 12 countries and nine languages.Hendricks’ research included interpretation of the Qu’ran in a modern context and studies of inconsistencies in the hadith. He eventually came to the conclusion that consensual homosexual relationships were permissible in Islam. Hendricks now travels around the US giving workshops to Muslims about homosexuality in Islam and offering a critical look at hadith (sayings of Prophet Muhammad [PBUH]), from which most of the condemnations of homosexuality come.

Net News Publisher: Moldova ‘gay bashing’ victim granted EU asylum after police brutality

For the complete report from the NetNews Publisher click on this link

Moldova ‘gay bashing’ victim granted EU asylum after police brutality

A British judge has documented evidence of police beatings and general prejudice against gays in Moldova, and has ruled that it is unsafe for a Moldovan ‘gay bashing’ victim to return to his native country. According to the court, being homosexual today in Moldova is in some cases life-threatening. In a written ruling, judge Colin MacAulay QC allowed a Moldovan asylum seeker to stay in Great Britain because to return to Moldova would put his life in danger for being gay. Describing the case of Andrei Ivanov, a homosexual man from Moldova, the judge wrote that: “He was assaulted by the police and told to leave town, otherwise he would be killed and his house would be burned down.” Andrei Ivanov, 24, fled his native Moldova after police in the country attacked him. After beatings and death threats, the victim of ‘gay bashing’ by police was forced to flee to the West to save his life.

GayNZ.com - Europe: Anti-gay violence on the rise

For the complete report in GayNZ.com click on this link

Europe: Anti-gay violence on the rise

A new survey of hate crimes in Europe by a leading human rights organisation finds a rising level of crimes committed against individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation. The report was released yesterday by Human Rights First. Their most recent report examines hate-driven violence in the region from the Russian Federation and the Central Asian states across Europe to North America.