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The most recent comments from the Vatican on the Pope’s intentions in his remarks on condom use emphasize his desire to “kick-start” a discussion. It would be fair to ask: a discussion about what? And to wonder if there might be an openness to those who have an alternate vision of human sexuality to that which has dominated official discourse over the last 30 years…

Stories are dangerous. They have the ability to re-make the world. The Harry Potter Alliance was founded to create a Dumbledore’s army of Harry Potter fans that work for justice in the real world.

From his jaw-dropping 88-yard touchdown pass to DeSean Jackson in the first few minutes of the game to what would be a record-breaking performance overall—333 yards thrown, four touchdowns, and a 59-28 blowout against the Washington Redskins—it was Vick’s name that the sportscasters kept coming back to, with awe in their voices. But without the chance to play pro football again and to fill a stadium with wonder, Vick would have been just another celebrity ex-con, not the miracle he’s now judged to be.

An interview with Sarah Zerina Usmen, of Outsourced: “I’ve noticed that in casting calls women are still cast according to descriptions like ‘hot surfer chick.’ For one of my films I’d love to make a casting call for a non-alcoholic, burka-wearing troll and throw them all off!”

The Dalai Lama was just in Atlanta, visiting Emory University’s “Emory-Tibet Science Initiative.” There he spoke about the easy relationship between Buddhism and science. When you whittle it down to its essence, Buddhism is very simple and amenable to Enlightenment types.

“The preschool teacher used to say to the kids, ‘Close your eyes, and ask God to give you a piece of candy,’[…] When the children opened their eyes, and saw there was nothing there, the teacher said, ‘See? God doesn’t exist.’”

For anyone wondering what the “culture” would look like if the Christian Right achieved its dream of “taking it back” from secularists, feminists, and the other dread enemies of God’s plan for a Christian America, the San Antonio Christian Film Festival, which begins next week, provides a telling…

All that and more from this week’s global LGBT recap.

In more ways than have been understood to date, Greece has become Ground Zero of the global meltdown, the epicenter of a shock wave that will yet reveal to us the surprising extent, not just of corporate excess, but of corporations themselves, corporations that now include governments and congregations. We have yet to think through this new way of seeing some very old things: and thus what it means for the Catholic Church or the Orthodox Church to be a transnational corporation today.

Conservatives tell me that when I reject the condemnation of homosexuality I’m selling out to secular values. But the reality is the opposite. Were I not a Christian I would not be so passionate about gay rights. My passion, born from my commitment to an ethic of love, is intensified every time a young person like Zach Harrington comes to me crying out in need or despair, too often in the most tragic terms.