Religious Institute Charges DC Catholic Charities with 'Religious Hypocrisy'
In response to the recent decisions by Catholic Charities to stop providing spousal benefits to its employees and to abandon its adoption and foster care programs in Washington, D.C. -- both in order to exclude same-sex couples -- the Religious Institute issued the following statement from Rev. Debra W. Haffner:
"The decisions by Catholic Charities are religious hypocrisy. For an organization that seeks to serve children and families, its actions undermine anyone's definition of family values. Gay men and lesbians may be the targets of these decisions, but it is children and families who will suffer the collateral damage.
Last month, in our report Sexuality and Religion 2020: Goals for the Next Decade, the Religious Institute called for the full inclusion of LGBT persons and their families in faith communities and society. Today we call on progressive religious leaders, in denominations and congregations, to speak out against the injustice of Catholic Charities' actions, and to examine their own record of inclusion where adoption and spousal benefits are concerned. It is not enough to fault Catholic Charities for its lack of family values; progressive religious leaders must also ask whether their policies and programs truly embrace all families."
Believe Out Loud: New initiative promotes LGBT inclusion in faith communities
A collection of religious and secular advocacy organizations has launched a collaborative program to accelerate the movement toward full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons in communities of faith.
Believe Out Loud, which debuted on Valentine's Day, aims to increase the number of religious individuals and institutions who actively support LGBT rights; equip religious leaders to begin the conversation about LGBT inclusion in congregations; and support advocacy efforts within denominations and society at large. The Believe Out Loud website promotes strategies such as advertising and community organizing, and offers tools and resources for clergy, lay leaders, youth, advocates and allies.
Last year, the Religious Institute introduced Acting Out Loud, an online, multifaith resource for clergy and congregations that want to move beyond welcome toward a wider embrace and deeper involvement of LGBT persons and their families in congregational life. The guide provides background on the diversity of the LGBT population, links to resources across a range of Christian, Jewish and Unitarian Universalist traditions, and ideas and approaches recommended by leading clergy, theologians and advocates. Acting Out Loud also offers guidance for creating ministries and policies that support the diverse needs of LGBT persons, addressing sexuality issues in congregations, leading a congregation through a formal welcoming process, and speaking out on behalf of LGBT concerns.
UUA first denomination to require sexuality competencies for ministers
(Boston -- February 9, 2010) -- Rev. Peter Morales, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), announced today that candidates for the Unitarian Universalist ministry will be required to demonstrate competency in critical areas relating to human sexuality.
Effective this year, the UUA’s Ministerial Fellowship Committee, the body responsible for the formation and credentialing of ministers, will implement sexuality competencies in a range of subjects pertaining to pastoral ministry, including reproductive health, gender identity, sexual orientation, domestic violence, sexual assault, and sexual ethics and safety within congregations.
New study exposes extent of reproductive coercion
A groundbreaking new study published in the online journal Contraception sheds light on a little-recognized form of abuse in which men use coercion and birth control sabotage to cause their partners to become pregnant against their wills. “Pregnancy Coercion, Intimate Partner Violence and Unintended Pregnancy,” conducted by researchers at the University of California Davis School of Medicine and the Harvard School of Public Health, is the first quantitative examination of the relationship among intimate partner violence, reproductive coercion and unintended pregnancy.
Among the study's key findings:
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Approximately one in five young women said they experienced pregnancy coercion, and 15 percent said they experienced birth control sabotage;
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Fifty-three percent of respondents said they had experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner; and
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Thirty-five percent of the women who reported partner violence also reported either pregnancy coercion or birth control sabotage.
"Pregnancy coercion and birth control sabotage are common among young women utilizing family planning clinics," the authors conclude, "and in the context of partner violence, are associated with increased risk for unintended pregnancy."
Join in The American Prayer Hour on February 4
Eight faith-based, LGBT advocacy organizations are joining forces this week (Feb. 4) to launch The American Prayer Hour, with events scheduled in seven cities nationwide. The American Prayer Hour, created to celebrate diversity and inclusive values, also counters The National Prayer Breakfast, whose sponsors include organizations linked to the proposed anti-gay legislation under consideration in Uganda.
Sponsors of The American Prayer Hour Hour include: Religion and Faith Program, Human Rights Campaign; National Black Justice Coalition; Religion, Faith and Values Program, GLAAD; National Religious Leadership Roundtable, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; PFLAG;Metropolitan Community Churches; Full Equality Now DC; and Truth Wins Out. Their announcement -- including ways you can get involved -- appears below.
We are about to embark on a historic mission to stop persecution of LGBT people in Uganda and we want you to be a key part of our vision.
On February 4th, we are launching The American Prayer Hour. It is a multi-city affirmation of inclusive values and a celebration of diversity. It is also an action to protest the sponsors of The National Prayer Breakfast, which will take place on February 4 in Washington, DC.
While The National Prayer Breakfast is ostensibly a benign event, it is hosted by a secretive fundamentalist organization, The Family, which is directly tied to the draconian “Kill the Gays” bill in Uganda. We strongly urge those invited to the National Prayer Breakfast to reconsider attending the event. Instead, they can join us at our American Prayer Hour.
The American Prayer Hour will be anchored by events in the following cities:
- Dallas—Creating Change (Sheraton Dallas – Dallas Ballroom A)
- Chicago Theological Seminary (The Chapel)
- Berkeley–Pacific School of Religion (The Chapel)
- Washington, DC (Calvary Baptist Church, Chapel)
- Anchorage, AK (Church Life Alaska)
- Boynton Beach, FL (Church of Our Savior, MCC)
Get Involved
If you live in a city where an American Prayer Hour event is already occurring, please consider attending.
- If you are interested in creating an American Prayer Hour event in your hometown, please contact Wayne Besen, wbesen@truthwinsout.org.
- Spread the word about the American Prayer Hour and the truth behind the National Prayer Breakfast
- Pray where you are—wherever you are—for a world safe for all families regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Following decade-long decline, U.S. teen pregnancy rate increases as both births and abortions rise
Gap Between Blacks and Hispanics Has Closed, But Rates Among Both Groups Remain Significantly Higher Than Among Non-Hispanic Whites.
For the first time in more than a decade, the nation’s teen pregnancy rate rose 3% in 2006, reflecting increases in teen birth and abortion rates of 4% and 1%, respectively.
These new data from the Guttmacher Institute are especially noteworthy because they provide the first documentation of what experts have suspected for several years, based on trends in teens’ contraceptive use—that the overall teen pregnancy rate would increase in the mid-2000s following steep declines in the 1990s and a subsequent plateau in the early 2000s. The significant drop in teen pregnancy rates in the 1990s was overwhelmingly the result of more and better use of contraceptives among sexually active teens. However, this decline started to stall out in the early 2000s, at the same time that sex education programs aimed exclusively at promoting abstinence—and prohibited by law from discussing the benefits of contraception—became increasingly widespread and teens’ use of contraceptives declined.
New report reveals disconnects between beliefs and behaviors among sexually active singles
Nearly all unmarried young adults believe in planning for pregnancy and say that it is important for them to avoid pregnancy right now. Yet only half of them use contraception regularly, including nearly one in five who are sexually active and have not used any contraceptive method for the past three months.
These findings are part of a new report from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, titled The Fog Zone: How Misperceptions, Magical Thinking, and Ambivalence Put Young Adults at Risk for Unplanned Pregnancy. The report is the first to focus in depth on the attitudes and behaviors of young single men and women regarding pregnancy planning, contraception and related issues.
Read the report here.
Listen to Secretary Clinton's major address on international family planning this Friday
Listen to Secretary of State Clinton give her major address regarding international family planning this Friday at 2:30 pm EST. To listen online, go here.
For more information, refer to the State Department's press release here.
Increased global investment could sharply reduce maternal and newborn deaths, new report indicates
Maternal deaths in developing countries could be reduced by 70% and newborn deaths cut nearly in half if global investments in family planning and pregnancy-related care were doubled, according to a new report by the Guttmacher Institute and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. Currently, more than half a million maternal deaths and 3.5 million newborn deaths, many of them easily preventable, occur every year in developing countries.
The new report, titled Adding It Up: The Costs and Benefits of Investing in Family Planning and Maternal and Newborn Health, found that investments in family planning boost the overall effectiveness of every dollar spent on the provision of pregnancy-related and newborn health care. Simultaneously investing in family planning and maternal and newborn services can achieve the same dramatic outcomes for $1.5 billion less than investing in maternal and newborn health services alone, the report says.
The Religious Institute has announced a new program for 2010, the Rachel Sabbath Initiative, to engage faith communities in educating their congregants about the crisis of maternal mortality worldwide. To learn more, click here.
World AIDS Day
Tuesday December 1, 2009 is World AIDS Day
Read about World AIDS Day 2009 on the UNAIDS: The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS website here: http://www.unaids.org/en/default.asp.
Read Rev. Debra Haffner's piece, "World AIDS Day --We Remember" on our website here: http://www.religiousinstitute.org/sexuality-and-religion
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