As we celebrate the U.S.’s 250th birthday, the question of whether or not America is a Christian nation continues to show its face. Three professors try to provide an answer in Religion Unplugged’s latest podcast.
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(ANALYSIS) Whether cities or villages, many communities across Europe spend the day and night of June 24 celebrating Midsummer. Congregating around bonfires, or sometimes maypoles, sporting handwoven wreaths of wildflowers or oak leaves, they’ll sing, jump, dance, eat, drink, catch up and celebrate the arrival of the longest day of the year.
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(ANALYSIS) One lesson from the study is that people may apply political principles differently depending on where they see their own group in a conflict. Indian American politics therefore cannot be understood only through U.S. party identity. A person may support the Democrats in the United States and Modi in India because the two political settings place that person’s group in different positions.
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(ANALYSIS) As Canada marks National Indigenous Peoples Day, the often-overlooked partnership between evangelicals and Indigenous leaders deserves recognition. From Elijah Harper’s Sacred Assembly to ongoing reconciliation efforts, Canadian evangelicals have helped advance healing, Indigenous rights and renewed relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
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(ANALYSIS) Memorable goals are generally linked to the players who scored them. Few can be recalled without mention of the individual — or even the team — involved. Yet, two goals in one game 40 years ago have attained that status. One is known universally as the “Hand of God,” and the other is widely acknowledged as the “Goal of the Century.” Both were scored by Diego Maradona.
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(ANALYSIS) It’s the “cry more, libs” approach for Republicans. A Democrat will demonize or mischaracterize the other side of the argument because this helps them justify their own voting choices. It really goes both ways. But now that we have data from the 2025 Cooperative Election Study, we can actually dig into how vote choices are relating to approval ratings of Donald Trump.
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(ANALYSIS) Blaise Pascal, born in 1623, showed that being intelligent doesn’t solve the problem of being human. He was a great scientist and mathematician. Yet he knew neither discipline could explain purpose, meaning or death.
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(ANALYSIS) Democrats hope Texas state legislator and Presbyterian seminarian James Talarico can win a U.S. Senate seat by appealing to religious voters. Republicans are highlighting his progressive positions on gender, sexuality, abortion, and church-state issues as evidence he is out of step with Texas conservatives.
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(ANALYSIS) I am back home, writing at my desk in the Southern Highlands after two weeks visiting Scotland, Ireland, Wales and thereabouts. I remain a bit jet-lagged, as is common for folks of my age, but there is work to be done.
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(ANALYSIS) The amount of cynicism in the world is sometimes hard for my mind to grasp. I really struggle watching TV shows and movies that have a really bleak view of the world. I don’t want to watch ”The Golden Girls” all the time (although it is a really great thing to put on the TV right before bed), but I just can’t spend a lot of my time meditating on the evilness of the human experience over and over again. I think it’s bad for my soul, to be honest.
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Texas Senate candidate James Talarico's theological views are drawing attention as he campaigns while preparing for Presbyterian ordination. Questions about the resurrection, abortion, sexuality, gender identity and denominational controversies could test whether his blend of progressive politics and Christianity resonates with voters.
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(ANALYSIS) Ten years after “Hillbilly Elegy” catapulted its author into public view, JD Vance is publishing a new memoir, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith.” The vice president explains the book as a sort of self-help guide for the spiritually lost: “… by sharing my journey I might be helpful to others — Catholic, Protestant, or otherwise — who are seeking reconciliation with God.”
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(ANALYSIS) This World Cup held in the United States, Canada and Mexico — with its unprecedented global outreach — offers a unique opportunity to observe the values, beliefs and relationships that soccer players choose to display on their bodies. In some ways, tattoos can be seen as a small window into the players’ souls.
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In Christianity, Buddhism and Judaism, religious teachings consistently emphasize caring for others — whether through love of neighbor, generosity as spiritual practice or the moral obligation to give. In fact, charity is one of the Five Pillars of the faith but potentially the least discussed. It’s the Third Pillar and is called zakat (Arabic for “almsgiving”) — an annual obligation to give a portion of one’s wealth to those in need.
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(ANALYSIS) A new national survey finds that nearly 76% of Americans support public education for all children regardless of immigration status and religion, despite partisan differences. The findings come as some state lawmakers and conservative groups seek to challenge longstanding legal protections for undocumented students.
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(ANALYSIS) I’ve said offhand a few times that PR people are not my favorite folks on Earth and there’s a reason for that. Their job and my job are not the same job. Actually, many times they are diametrically opposed to each other. Folks who work in public relations want to cast their organization in the best light possible. I want to try and get to the unvarnished truth about what’s actually going on behind the headline numbers.
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(ANALYSIS) On July 5, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is encouraging its American members to participate in a special fast: a day to “express gratitude for religious liberty and to pray that it be strengthened throughout the world,” in the words of its top three leaders.
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On Jan. 18, a cell of anti-ICE demonstrators crashed a Sunday service at the Cities Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in St. Paul, Minnesota. Debates about the legality of this protest have been defined by the Red vs. Blue divide in American politics, which has dominated the Donald Trump era. On the cultural right, this protest was seen as a violation of the First Amendment religious-liberty rights of the worshippers. On the left, efforts to prosecute the activists were seen as a violation of their First Amendment free-speech rights.
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(ANALYSIS) Once the cranes disappear, the basilica will cease from being an evolving construction project and instead become something more fixed — a monument subject to preservation battles, increased tourism pressures and the inevitable weight of history. Nonetheless, Pope Leo’s Spain trip, with a stop in Barcelona, represents the fulfillment of decades of hard work.
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(ANALYSIS) G.K. Chesterton blended humor and philosophy; he turned belief into something wondrous, culturally alive, and fiercely imaginative. The man made God fun. That sounds like a modest achievement until you consider how desperately the task still needs doing, and how spectacularly everyone since has failed at it.
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