(ANALYSIS) Political shamelessness threatens democracy by weakening leaders’ respect for ethical principles and the rule of law. Drawing on Plato’s Laws, this article explores reverence as a virtue that encourages humility, self-restraint and recognition of human limitations, arguing that responsible leadership requires accountability and respect for principles beyond personal interests.
Read MoreA new report released revealed that several large banks may have followed practices and policies that affected the availability of financial services to groups based on their political or religious beliefs, as well as legal business practices.
Read MoreThere used to be only a few regionalized mainline churches to choose from and husbands were once in total control of family decisions. When the African continent started to rapidly urbanize, family dynamics changed and it has become common for marriages to form across different church denominations, sparking a trend called “two-church families.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) Congregants described how belief and belonging helped them overcome challenges such as loneliness, “feeling stuck” due to their legal precariousness and being exploited at work. I heard stories of employers holding migrants’ passports hostage, or refusing to pay construction workers seriously injured on the job. Migrants told me their churches empowered them.
Read MoreA recent news release from Christianity Today touted the magazine’s “new editorial leadership team.” It failed to mention the latest round of journalist layoffs that has critics questioning the magazine’s commitment to reporting.
Read MoreThis week’s topic was religion-news coverage of the White House call to execute Major Nidal Malik Hasan by firing squad, in response to the U.S. Army psychiatrist’s 2009 mass-murder of 13 soldiers at Fort Hood, while injuring 32 others.
Read More(ESSAY) Beliefs and expectations shape our reality. Maybe nothing really spooky happened to either of us. We were just trying to explain the world with what we knew. For both of us, that knowledge was informed by Taiwanese culture, religion and superstition. Our reactions told us something about the world around us — but maybe even more so, they said something about ourselves.
Read More(ANALYSIS) President Donald Trump’s decision to cancel a planned Pentagon livestream of the execution of Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan illustrates the competing pressures that can shape his approach to controversial questions of punishment, national security and public morality. Although Trump supported broadcasting the execution, he reversed course after widespread criticism.
Read MoreWell over half, 58 percent, of white evangelical Protestants said they approve of Trump’s job performance, with 40 percent voicing disapproval. But Trump’s approval has fallen among white evangelical Protestants since his term began, when 78 percent approved.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Journalists called Bakker a “televangelist,” but he never showed interest in being a pastor or an evangelist. His hero was Johnny Carson. Moore noted that Bakker's “goal was clearly to be a talk-show host. That was his life. ... He loved sitting behind that desk in front of the cameras.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) For hundreds of years, people from different religious traditions across South Asia have retold the “Ramayana” through dramas, narrative poems, shadow puppet plays, pageants, folk songs, comics, television shows and many other mediums. Director Nitesh Tiwari’s upcoming “Ramayana” film is the latest retelling of this epic tradition.
Read More(REVIEW) “Fjord” explores the tensions between religious freedom and secular society through the story of a Romanian Christian family facing accusations of child abuse in Norway. With nuanced storytelling and stark cinematography, the film challenges viewers on tolerance, cultural conflict and competing moral values without offering easy answers or choosing sides outright.
Read More(ANALYSIS) With barely two weeks remaining before Israel’s Oct. 27 election, the country has been consumed by an extraordinary confrontation between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior former aides over what he knew before the Hamas massacre of Oct. 7, 2023, what he did with that knowledge and whether his office subsequently sought to rewrite the historical record.
Read MoreLong before scientists began tracking ocean temperatures with satellites, buoys and computer models, fishermen along the Pacific coast as far back as the 1600s were watching the seas for signs of change. They noticed that every few years, waters that were normally cool would become unusually warm.
Read MoreA Lifeway Research study found 93% of U.S. Protestant pastors say they don’t plan to endorse candidates for public office during a worship service, despite the IRS saying it will allow churches to do so without losing their tax-exempt status.
Read MorePope Leo XIV underwent surgery on Tuesday in Rome that confirmed he has lung cancer. Doctor’s removed the lower lobe of the pope’s right lung after tests confirmed the diagnosis. A Vatican statement made no mention of treatment going forward. The Vatican, however, said doctors were not currently speaking of chemotherapy or other therapies.
Read MoreDefying all odds, the man who has done arguably the most convincing work in proving the scientific viability of reincarnation was an American psychiatrist who died in 2007. On this week’s podcast: A look back at the life and work of Dr. Ian Stevenson.
Read MoreLeaders across the religious spectrum have condemned U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plan to livestream the firing-squad execution of convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, warning that the decision risks turning state-sanctioned killing into public entertainment.
Read More(REVIEW) Lucio Fontana’s radical slashed canvases sought to transcend the limits of painting, opening onto infinite space and spiritual possibility. Exploring his Spatialist works alongside his religious sculptures and ceramics, this article examines the connections between abstraction, Christian theology and the unknowable nature of God.
Read More(ANALYSIS) You can probably guess where this post is going. The Canadian General Social Survey is fielded every year, but it doesn’t ask about religion in every wave. However, it did include a battery of questions about religious affiliation, importance, and attendance in 2003, 2008, 2013, and 2020. This gives me ample data to test the theory of a religious revival in Canada.
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