Posts in North America
Halos And Horns: Dolly Parton’s Spiritual Journey

(ANALYSIS) Celebrating the country music legend is an honor “mixed with absolute pride and great sadness,” stressed Bryan Seaver, the son of Parton's sister Cassie Parton, in the family’s announcement of her death.

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Vance’s Faith Memoir Evidences America’s ‘Invigorated Public Christianity’

Little over a decade ago, J.D. Vance was an atheist Yale Law School graduate obsessed with pursuing achievement in private life. Today he is a United States vice president who professes faith in Christ and rejects upward mobility as a means of fulfillment. Things have changed. Vance explains the change in his book “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith,” released this summer.

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Raiders Rookie Quarterback Fernando Mendoza’s Faith Bigger Than Football

Even at the height of his extraordinary 2025 season at Indiana — when he won the Heisman Trophy and transformed himself from an overlooked prospect into the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft — Mendoza repeatedly pointed somewhere beyond the gridiron: God. He enters the NFL this season as a top-rated rookie quarterback not afraid to talk about his faith.

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NJ School District Faces Federal Lawsuit over Christian Student Clubs

What happens in this New Jersey town can have ramifications for the whole country: The Fellowship of Christian Athletes has filed a federal lawsuit against a district, alleging the district unlawfully barred outside volunteers from attending religious student clubs.

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Pastors Wary Of AI To Interpret Scripture, But Still Use Technology

Protestant pastors register the greatest distrust in artificial intelligence interpreting “contested” Scriptures, Barna said in its latest State of the Church release in partnership with Gloo, but few pastors would abandon the technology altogether. Only 5 percent of pastors reject AI as a tool to interpret difficult passages, researchers said, and only 10 percent want AI to proclaim which interpretation is correct.

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Students Advocate For Clarity: Hindu Swastika Different From Nazi Symbol

(ESSAY) It is one of Hinduism's oldest and most sacred symbols, representing peace, prosperity, good fortune and well-being. But Hitler hijacked it, turning it into a universal symbol of hate. My Hindu classmates and I advocated for our history classes to accurately teach the difference.

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Crossroads Podcast: Dolly Parton’s Songs Reveal Her Faith, Heart and Soul

This week’s podcast argues that Dolly Parton’s songs, philanthropy and Appalachian roots reveal far more about her faith, character and worldview than her polished public image. By examining songs like “Coat of Many Colors,” “I Am Ready” and “Horns and Halos,” it challenges conventional obituaries to listen more closely.

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Why We Don’t Really Know What America Believes

(ANALYSIS) Let me start by stating a fact that seems incomprehensible to even type out, but it undergirds almost every single graph that I produce: We don’t actually know the religious composition of the United States with any real precision. I know that sounds bizarre. The truth is that we are relying on a whole bunch of “best guesses” based on sound methodology and replication.

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Before Greek Myths Reached Movie Theaters, They Were Weapons Of Political Satire

(ANALYSIS) Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has brought Homer’s epic tale back to the big screen. The film is the latest retelling of a story that is almost 3,000 years old. But why do these ancient Greek stories continue to captivate new generations? Nolan aside, Stephen Fry’s retelling of Greek myths in 2017 and Disney’s “Hercules” film, for example, are part of a much longer tradition of repackaging the ancient world for contemporary audiences.

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Finding God On The Mat: Yoga Meets Christianity In Colorado

Christian yoga classes in Colorado, are giving women a unique space for exercise, fellowship and spiritual reflection. Led by Charity Morine, the sessions combine movement, prayer, worship music and Scripture, helping participants release stress, confront personal struggles and deepen their relationship with God.

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Dolly Parton, Country Music Icon Who Celebrated Her Christian Faith, Dies at 80

The legendary country singer, songwriter and entertainer died on Tuesday at 80. Raised in a deeply Christian family in Tennessee, she credited her faith in God for guiding her life, music and philanthropy. Her enduring legacy includes countless hit songs, films, charitable work and a message of hope.

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‘Elijah Peel’ Review: Faith-Based Films Are Still Shackled By Inspirational Formula

(REVIEW) “Elijah Peel” follows a world-famous rock musician whose life of success and addiction comes crashing down after suffering a life-threatening heart attack. But the film still wears the inspirational Christian movie formula like a straitjacket, instead of using it as a sturdy foundation.

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How Will Democrats’ Israel Shift Affect Jewish Voters?

(ANALYSIS) Is it conceivable that the 2026 and 2028 election cycles will erode the Democratic Party’s lock on Jewish voters, one of the iron laws of American politics? Or instead, will Jewish Democrats increasingly turn against support for Israel? The results of the upcoming midterm elections could give us a glimpse of what’s to come.

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Do Religious Families Actually Have More Kids?

(ANALYSIS) Confession time: My wife and I watch a lot of reality TV. I’ve always loved it, really. Even back to “The Osbornes” and “Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica” on MTV. When I was in college, we had “Survivor” night. It was always Thursday. We would gather around in someone’s apartment, watch the show, complain about who got eliminated, then walk to the Vespers service across campus.

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When Does Criticizing Israel Become Antisemitism?: Ask Mark Ruffalo

Since the Hamas attack on Israel, the actor has frequently called out Israel’s military action in Gaza, notably wearing an Artists4Ceasefire pin to the 2024 Oscars. In 2024, he was among more than 700 SAG-AFTRA members who signed a letter demanding the actors’ union publicly call for a Gaza ceasefire and protect pro-Palestinian members from what they described as industry blacklisting.

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10 Ways To Recognize Consumerism In Your Church

(ANALYSIS) I’ve recently been with believers from another part of the world, and I was again reminded that our brothers and sisters around the world often pay a heavier price than we pay to follow Christ. I don’t want to overstate the case here, but much of North American Christianity seems to be what I call “Convenience Store Christianity.”

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Orthodox Jews Are Scootering To Synagogue: Will Shabbat Ever Be The Same?

For thousands of years, the Jews have walked. Dispatched by God to the promised land of Canaan, Abraham walked. When the Israelites became a nation in the desert, they camped, kvetched, warred, and worshiped, but mostly walked. And on Shabbat, when the Torah forbids riding horses, carriages, trains or cars, observant Jews have walked — but not anymore.

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Birmingham Bombing Wasn’t Isolated: Black Churches Were Attacked Across The South

(ANALYSIS) This Sept. 15 marks the anniversary of an infamous terror attack: The 1963 bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. On that Sunday morning, members of the Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacist group, planted dynamite on the east side of the brown brick building. The bomb went off in the midst of Sunday school, at 10:22 a.m., murdering four girls.

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