(ANALYSIS) As summer winds down and Americans gather with family and friends for barbecues and beach trips, the first Monday of September offers more than just a long weekend. Labor Day, often treated as the unofficial end of summer, has deeper roots. It’s a holiday born out of struggle — of marches, strikes and a nationwide push to recognize the dignity of workers.
Read MoreThe brouhaha over a certain country-themed restaurant/store’s brand redesign touches on a topic that churches encounter at some point. “Someone in your congregation should want to get a cap or t-shirt with your logo on it, and wear it,” said author Mark MacDonald. “It actually represents them, since they are the church.” It goes much deeper than a shirt and expands beyond the church’s walls.
Read MoreReligious demand for wildlife products can be just as relentless as demand for items used in traditional medicine, status symbols or investments. From African elephant ivory carved into crucifixes for Catholics to Islamic prayer beads and Coptic crosses to amulets and carvings for Buddhists and Taoists in Thailand, the list is very long.
Read MoreOn India’s busy streets, vehicles adorned with Hindu symbols are more than just modes of transport — they have increasingly become mobile expressions of political and religious identity. The proliferation of these Hindu stickers has transformed everyday commuting, a phenomenon deeply intertwined with rising religious tensions.
Read More(ANALYSIS) This is not about rejecting technology. This is about resisting moral drift. It’s about remembering that not every innovation is an acceptable invitation. The church should be discerning enough to see that just because crypto is legal doesn’t make it righteous. If God’s messengers hope to offer moral clarity, they can’t do so while pocketing digital currencies that may be soaked in sin.
Read MoreFor nearly 100 years, the Central Church of Christ preached the Gospel and welcomed the vulnerable. Now, the one-time downtown anchor — founded by A.M. Burton, great-grandfather of Grammy-winning singer Amy Grant — faces an uncertain future. Former members attribute the changes to Shawn Mathis, who became the Central church’s third elder in 2017.
Read MoreBetween 2010 and 2020, global religious affiliation shifted significantly, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis. While Christianity remains the world’s largest religion, its growth lagged behind overall population growth. Christians increased by 122 million to 2.3 billion, but their share of the global population fell. At the same time, Islam saw a global surge.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Déjà vu is a common occurrence in sports and the Edmonton Oilers are no strangers to repeat matchups. The team faced off against the New York Islanders in both 1983 and ’84 for hockey’s biggest prize. In this year’s Stanley Cup finals, the Oilers will try to avenge their 2024 loss to the Florida Panthers.
Read MoreThere may be more than one reason Generation X is dubbed the Forgotten Generation. According to a Giving USA survey, they are being surpassed by their younger counterparts — millennials — when it comes to charitable giving. However, baby boomers surpass everyone.
Read MoreA week doesn’t go by without President Donald Trump talking about “needing” to acquire Greenland. As reporters rush to cover this mysterious territory, much has been said the island’s politics and melting ice — but nothing about the island’s eclectic religious mix of Lutherans, Pentecostals, Baptists, Baha’is and Catholics.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Now we are in the phase of cellphones, screen time and socialization. The data about the social lives of high school students is incredibly bleak and honestly makes me very worried for the next generation. Let me show you what I mean by generating a handful of graphs from this great dataset called Monitoring the Future.
Read MoreAttempting to determine which American city is the “most Christian” is no easy task. The outcome of a new study came with some surprises. The survey, out in time for Easter, has determined that the urban center with the highest religious engagement for Christians, using a variety of metrics and factors, is New York.
Read MoreThere’s no doubt that like a religion, giving value to crypto requires faith. Those evangelizing for it certainly seem to be on a moral mission. For now, they seem unstoppable — and there’s more than the hard-earned savings of believers at stake. A glance at X is enough to demonstrate how much crypto has become not just another spurious get-rich-quick scheme, but a new way of life.
Read MoreWith 26,000 federal jobs axed and widespread layoffs in the name of government efficiency, pastors in the Washington, D.C., area and Christians working in civil service have seen morale plummet. Those who felt called to live out their faith and serve their country in federal jobs worry that the moves threaten their mission and livelihood.
Read More(ANALYSIS) This fertility issue has both political and religious (#DUH) implications.
Read More(ANALYSIS) If Musk is anything, it’s audience-savvy. To get to the position he now finds himself in, aligning with Christian values wasn’t just wise, it was necessary. With the MAGA base increasingly rallying against progressive secularism, Musk’s newfound faith acts as a bridge to this vital demographic. Cynical? Absolutely. But the wealthiest man in the world didn’t build his empire by ignoring optics.
Read MoreThe partisan divide between how Americans view family and the importance of marriage is growing — although most agree that economic challenges continue to be a major concern, a new survey reveals. The annual American Family Survey found that 71% of respondents identified the economy as one of the most important issues affecting families today.
Read MoreIn November, Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube announced that starting this month, churches in the country would be expected to pay taxes. The announcement caused apprehension among religious leaders, prompting the country’s tax agency, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, to clarify that the new tax would apply only to churches’ trading income, not tithes and offerings.
Read MoreA Lifeway Research study of U.S. Protestant pastors finds few hold or teach beliefs connected to the prosperity gospel, the theological movement that teaches God wants to make followers materially wealthy and will do so if individuals hold certain beliefs or perform specific actions.
Read MoreThe rise in land disputes involving religious institutions in Uganda has triggered a trend of demolishing of churches and mosques throughout the country, raising religious freedom concerns over safety regarding places of worship. The issue has become a major problem across the country, a trend that has intensified over the last four years.
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